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THE CHILDREN OF PAKISTAN:Law Reforms, National Plan of Action

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Lesson 17
THE CHILDREN OF PAKISTAN
Note: The text of this handout is excerpted from the publication titled: "State of Pakistan's Children -
2004" complied and published by the Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (SPARC) whose
Head Office is located in Islamabad and which publishes such an Annual Report each year.
SPARC is led by a group of volunteers who serve as its Board of Directors whose Chairman happens to be
the lecturer for this series.
Having completed over 10 years of existence under the able leadership of Advocate Anis Jillani, SPARC seeks
to monitor the condition of children with special reference to access to education, health and basic services as
well as their legal and social rights. Primarily functioning as an advocacy group, SPARC also does a limited
amount of service delivery work.
The handout focuses the attention of students on the need for Pakistan to bring its own laws and policies in
line with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and refers to comments made by the Geneva-based
UN Committee which deals with this particular subject.
Students are advised that if they wish to obtain further information about SPARC, they should contact
organization at: http://www.sparcpk.org, email: sparc@comsats.nt.pk.
There are several other organizations in Pakistan doing commendable work on behalf of children.
Excerpt:
Implementing the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in Pakistan (UNCRC)
Pakistan signed and ratified the UNCRC effective December 12, 1990 and, earlier in the year in September,
co-hosted the World Summit for Children. The year 2004, also designated as the "Year of Child Welfare and
Rights" thus marks the fourteenth year of a major international commitment. Unfortunately, Pakistan's
progress towards meeting this obligation has been slow and measures required for implementation of the
UNCRC have been weak on all counts. The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child in its Concluding
Observations to Pakistan's Second Periodic Report, which was reviewed in 2003, made a number of
recommendations to improve upon the implementation status of the UNCRC.
Law Reforms
A UNICEF study of the implementation process initiated in 50 countries after the adoption of the UNCRC,
with particular focus on legal and institutional reforms at the national level, shows that the Convention has
been incorporated into the national legal framework of most of these countries. In some countries, it was
automatically integrated into the legal framework by existing constitutional principles, while in others; it was
incorporated into national law by legislation adopted specifically for this purpose. In some, there has been a
more gradual reform of different legislations concerning children, while some have only focused on the
design and implementation of programs, rather than law reform.
In Pakistan, international legal obligations can only become part of national law through enabling legislation
developed for this purpose. There have been no steps taken to incorporate the Convention into domestic
legislation. The existing legislative framework is inadequate and lacks harmonization with the provisions of
the UNCRC. Even specific laws for protecting children against violence and exploitation or for promoting
their rights are either not enforced, or poorly implemented. Then there are legal provisions that actually
discriminate on the basis of gender, and even condone violence against children. In addition, laws that are
enforced in the rest of the country are not de facto applied in the Northern Tribal Territories, and therefore
children living in these territories do not fully enjoy their rights. The Committee on the Rights of the Child
has reiterated in its recommendation that Pakistan should scrutinize carefully existing legislative and other
measures, both at the federal and provincial levels, with a view to ensuring that the provisions and principles
of the Convention are implemented throughout the territory.
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As a measure of compliance with the UNCRC, the Government of Pakistan, in 2003 initiated a process of
review of child-related laws in order to bring them into conformity with the Convention. A report on its
findings and recommendations is still awaited. This piecemeal approach to legislative reform, as adopted by
Pakistan, which only brings part of the national law into conformity with the UNCRC, will not provide the
protection that a national law, which incorporates the whole range of rights set forth in the UNCRC can.
The temporary repeal by the Punjab High Court of a juvenile justice related law is a case in point.
The only major step taken to enact legislation according to the UNCRC provisions was the promulgation of
the JJSO (Juvenile Justice Systems Ordinance 2000). The JJSO was hailed as an important breakthrough in
bringing a major law in conformity with international law, incorporating, as it did, many of the fundamental
principles for the administration of juvenile justice. In the past four years, even though the law was not
effectively implemented, it had begun to make a difference. There was increased recognition of the rights of
juveniles, due in great part to the efforts of the Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child under its
project with DSC, and initial steps had been taken to conform judicial practices to the new standards.
Unfortunately, this one and only positive step suffered a major setback by the Lahore High Court judgment
of December 6, 2004, which struck down the JJSO on grounds of it being unconstitutional, unreasonable and
impracticable. The UNCRC was cited as a major justification for JJSO's enactment and its continuity; and
the Court expressed its inability to enforce and conform to the principles of the Convention as it said
UNCRC is not part of the domestic law of the country. The Bench also ordered the abolition of juvenile
courts and transfer of all cases pending with them to the ordinary courts of competent jurisdiction in the
Punjab. The Bench was critical of the concessions given in different sections of the law, in particular those
pertaining to the abolition of death penalty and the introduction of the new ceiling of age. The move, which
ironically came in the "Year of Child Rights and Welfare", indicates the level of awareness regarding the
provisions of the UNCRC and government's international obligations as well as the gap between
internationally accepted principles and local legislation.
On a subsequent appeal to the Supreme Court filed by the Society for the Protection of the Rights of the
Child, the Supreme Court suspended the judgment of the Punjab High Court, thus reviving, till the final
conclusion of the hearing by the Supreme Court on the petition, the validity of the JJSO.
Independent Human Rights Institutions for Children
Establishing independent children's rights institutions is considered a reflection of government's commitment
to achieving effective implementation of the UNCRC. A number of countries, following ratification of the
UNCRC have made progress on this front and have set up, through law, such independent monitoring
structures, in the form of a children's ombudsman, children's commissioners or focal points within existing
national human rights monitoring structures.
The UN Child Rights Committee expressed its concern at the lack of an independent monitoring structure in
Pakistan, with a mandate to regularly evaluate progress in the implementation of the Convention, and that
would also be empowered to receive and address individual complaints of violations of the rights of the child.
The Committee recommended the establishment of an "independent and effective monitoring mechanism in
accordance with the Principles relating to the status of national institutions for the promotion and protection
of human rights (the Paris Principles, General Assembly resolution 48/134) and taking into account the
Committee's general comment number 2 on the role of independent human rights institutions, ensuring that
it is provided with adequate human and financial resources, and which should be easily accessible to children.
It should have a mandate to monitor the implementation of the Convention as well as to receive and address
complaints from children, and do so in a child-sensitive and expeditious manner.
What is a National Plan of Action?
A National Plan of Action is a statement by a government of the key issues for children in that country. It
indicates how the government will:
·
Keep the promises it made at the United Nations General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS), and
who is responsible for doing so.
·
Adopt the goals of the UNGASS to make them relevant to the specific reality and needs of that
country.
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·
Develop specific national goals and targets which can be measured to see how far they are being
achieved.
·
Take practical steps to achieve the goals and targets.
·
Build these goals and targets into other policies, plans and programs.
·
Find the money and other resources to achieve the goals and targets.
·
Check on the progress it is making towards the goals and targets.
·
Work with other stakeholders, such as children and NGOs.
·
Once National Plans of Action have been prepared they will be implemented, i.e. put into action.
Over time, they will need to be monitored to ensure that they are achieving what was planned.*
* National Plans of Action for Children involving Children and Young People in their Development.
www.savethechildren.ca/specialsession.
National Plan of Action
An important step towards the implementation of the UNCRC is the development of comprehensive
national plans of action, linked with the goals agreed upon at the World Summit for Children and the
UNGASS on Children. At the UNGASS, world leaders committed to meet the unfinished agenda of the
World Summit for Children, and agreed on a number of goals to be met by 2010.  These goals set
intermediate targets and benchmarks in line with the Millennium Development Goals agreed upon in 2000 at
the Millennium Summit.
Following the Special Session, countries were expected to prepare, as `a matter of urgency' national plans of
action for children with a set of specific time-bound and measurable goals and targets. The 190 governments
represented at the Special Session agreed that all this work should be completed `if possible by the end of
2003'.
The governments also committed to implementing the national plans of action through consideration of such
measures as:
·
Putting in place, as appropriate, effective national legislation, policies and actions plans and allocating
resources to fulfil and protect the rights and to secure the well-being of children.
·
Establishing or strengthening national bodies, such as, independent ombudspersons for children,
where appropriate, or other institutions for the promotion and protection of the rights of the child.
·
Developing national monitoring and evaluation systems to assess the impact of our actions on
children.
The UN Committee also recommended that this process should be completed as soon as possible and that
necessary measures, including budget allocation, review of legislation, monitoring and evaluation, be taken to
fully implement the Plan of Action. It also recommended that a child-rights based approach be adopted in
the new National Plan of Action.
In order to develop Pakistan's plan of action, a national-level Expert Committee was established, through a
notification number 4-1/2002-NCCWD dated September 12, 2002, to lead the process and also to look into
the causes as to why the first NPA became redundant early in its implementation course. It was further
hoped that the revised NPA would be a document developed through a participatory decentralized process
given the rights based framework, and the new realities of devolution. Almost three years have passed since
the UNGASS; the previous NPA lapsed almost five years ago, and the new National Plan of Action remains
to be finalized. Till the end of 2004, a year after the deadline, a draft was shared with stakeholders for review
but the Action Plan remains to be officially adopted. The draft NPA is a vast improvement on the previous
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one and also includes provincial and regional plans, with targets, indicators, responsibilities as well as
budgetary requirements. Annual reviews and a final assessment at the end of year 2015 are also factored into
the NPA.
Permanent Institutions Responsible for the Implementation of the UNCRC
There is a vast range of mechanisms and institutions within governments with the responsibility to coordinate
efforts for the implementation of the UNCRC, including children's units in the offices of heads of state or
government; committees and commissions for children; departments for children's rights; ministries for
children and/or youth; and national councils for children and the rights of the child.
In Pakistan, the NCCWD (National Commission for Child Welfare and Development) acts as the advisory
body to the government and works under the Federal Ministry for Social Welfare. It is in charge of policy
making, implementation of policies for the welfare and development of children in Pakistan, and for
coordinating activities relating to the implementation of the Convention. The NCCWD has provincial
chapters and following devolution, district level commissions are being set up. These Provincial and District
Commissions however, have limited financial, material and human capacity, and rely on financial support
from international and bilateral donors. The UN Committee has recommended that the government take
measures to strengthen coordination among the different bodies of the Government at the federal, provincial
and local government levels and to ensure that the intended Pakistan Commission for the Welfare and
Protection of the Rights of the Child is provided with adequate financial and human resources.
The Government of Pakistan had announced its intention to establish the Pakistan Commission for the
Welfare and Protection of the Rights of the Child, which is intended to replace the existing NCCWD. There
has been no development on this matter.
Allocation of Resources to Ensure the UNCRC Implementation:
Implementation of the UNCRC and achieving the goals set out in the NPA require the allocation of
significant additional human, financial, and material resources. Pakistan's social indicators relating to children
speak of the persistently low budgetary allocations, far below the internationally recommended standards for
developing countries, to critical sectors of education and health. In the education sector, Pakistan spends
2.2% of its GDP whereas Unesco recommends 4% of GDP for the education sector. In the health sector,
the government spending has only recently been increased to 0.9% of its GDP. The expenditure on health
per capita is $16, out of which the government spends only $4. The WHO recommends $36 for a package of
essential health services. How these meager resources are spent is also a matter of concern: equitable
distribution of resources is of essence in a rights-based approach to development. In Pakistan, the rural and
remote areas of the country remain deprived of many essential social services. The flexibility allowed by the
UNCRC's Article 4, which refers to `maximum extent of available resources' has become a ready excuse for
justifying poor performance in this area.
Despite the commitments made by the State Party (i.e. Pakistan) at the fifty-ninth session of the UN
Commission on Human Rights to invest liberally in the health, education and development of children, the
UN Child Rights Committee expressed its concern at the limited resource allocations for children, and at the
modest portion of the budget that is allocated for social activities, such as health and education. The
Committee noted that not enough attention has been paid to allocating budgetary resources "to the maximum
extent of ... available resources" for the implementation of the Convention and recommended that the State
Party give priority to increasing budget allocations for children, ensuring a judicious distribution of the
resources between different fields, and paying particular attention to enhancing the budget allocations for
social activities, in particular health, education and child development.
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Table of Contents:
  1. THE UNIQUE NATURE OF THE PAKISTANI NATION-STATE
  2. “PAKISTAN: THE FIRST 11 YEARS 1947-1958” PART 1
  3. “PAKISTAN: THE FIRST 11 YEARS 1947-1958”PART-2
  4. ROOTS OF CHAOS: TINY ACTS OR GIANT MIS-STEPS?
  5. “FROM NEW HOPES TO SHATTERED DREAMS: 1958-1971”
  6. “RENEWING PAKISTAN: 1971-2005” PART-I: 1971-1988
  7. RENEWING PAKISTAN: PART II 1971-2005 (1988-2005)
  8. THE CONSTITUTION OF PAKISTAN, PARTS I & II
  9. THE CONSTITUTION OF PAKISTAN, PARTS I & II:Changing the Constitution
  10. THE POLITICAL SYSTEM OF PAKISTAN:Senate Polls: Secrecy Breeds Distortion
  11. THE ELECTION COMMISSION OF PAKISTAN:A new role for the Election Commission
  12. “POLITICAL GROUPINGS AND ALLIANCES: ISSUES AND PERSPECTIVES”
  13. THE LEGISLATIVE PROCESS AND INTEREST GROUPS
  14. “THE POPULATION, EDUCATION AND ECONOMIC DIMENSIONS OF PAKISTAN”
  15. THE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENT POLICY 2005:Environment and Housing
  16. NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY 2005:The National Policy, Sectoral Guidelines
  17. THE CHILDREN OF PAKISTAN:Law Reforms, National Plan of Action
  18. “THE HEALTH SECTOR OF PAKISTAN”
  19. NGOS AND DEVELOPMENT
  20. “THE INFORMATION SECTOR OF PAKISTAN”
  21. MEDIA AS ELEMENTS OF NATIONAL POWER:Directions of National Security
  22. ONE GLOBE: MANY WORLDS
  23. “THE UNITED NATIONS” PART-1
  24. “THE UNITED NATIONS” PART-2
  25. “MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS (MDGS)”:Excerpt
  26. “THE GLOBALIZATION: THREATS AND RESPONSES – PART-1”:The Services of Nature
  27. THE GLOBALIZATION: THREATS AND RESPONSES – PART-2”
  28. “WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION (WTO)”
  29. “THE EUROPEAN UNION”:The social dimension, Employment Policy
  30. “REGIONAL PACTS”:North America’s Second Decade, Mind the gap
  31. “OIC: ORGANIZATION OF THE ISLAMIC CONFERENCE”
  32. “FROM SOUTH ASIA TO SAARC”:Update
  33. “THE PAKISTAN-INDIA RELATIONSHIP”
  34. “DIMENSIONS OF TERRORISM”
  35. FROM VIOLENT CONFLICT TO PEACEFUL CO-EXISTENCE
  36. “OIL AND BEYOND”
  37. “PAKISTAN’S FOREIGN POLICY”
  38. “EMERGING TRENDS IN INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS”
  39. “GLOBALIZATION OF MEDIA”
  40. “GLOBALIZATION AND INDIGENIZATION OF MEDIA”
  41. “BALANCING PUBLIC INTERESTS AND COMMERCIAL INTERESTS”
  42. “CITIZENS’ MEDIA AND CITIZENS’ MEDIA DIALOGUE”
  43. “CITIZENS’ MEDIA RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES”Exclusive Membership
  44. “CITIZENS’ PARTICIPATION IN PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING”:Forming a Group
  45. “MEDIA IN THE 21ST CENTURY”