The Child Complaint Office (CCO) will launch a report "The State of Children in Pakistan" on September 24 to identify gaps of children' access to their rights and suggesting a way forward for policymakers.
The report is a thorough picture of the current status of children with respect to five thematic areas including Health, Education, Juvenile Justice, Child Labour and Violence against Children, said Ejaz Ahmad Qureshi, Chairperson CCO.
The study is commissioned by the federal and provincial CCOs and supported by United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), he said adding, this study is a milestone in the domain of child rights protection, as it is the first government endorsed thematic study on the status of children covering federal, provincial levels and special status regions.
Talking to APP here on Sunday he said, based on these findings, the study posits workable policy recommendations for the federal and provincial government and the special status regions in order to address the gaps identified in child rights protection with respect to the five themes of the research.
The study entails both primary and secondary data which is qualitative and quantitative, a thorough analysis of the findings by the researcher, and involved an extensive process of consultation with child rights stakeholders in finalising the policy recommendations of the study, Qureshi informed.
"The objective of this research was to strengthen child rights in the country by identifying existing gaps in the policy with respect to child rights and providing solutions for decision makers to address them", CCO chairperson stated.
The study was a joint effort of the federal and provincial Children's Complaint Offices which not only served to provide greater autonomy to the provinces in accordance with the 18th amendment but also paved way for more co-ordinated efforts of the federal and provincial CCOs in working jointly for children's welfare.
The Children's Complaint Office (CCO) was established under the Responsive Enabling and Accountable System's for Children's Rights (REACH) Project (a joint collaboration of UNICEF and the Wafaqi Mohtasib Secretariat (WMS) to serve as a dedicated forum for addressing children's complaints against the federal agencies.