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Pakistan

Third and fourth periodic reports of States parties due in 2007: Pakistan (CRC/C/PAK/3-4)

Attachments

COMMITTEE ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD
CONSIDERATION OF REPORTS SUBMITTED BY STATES PARTIES UNDER ARTICLE 44 OF THE CONVENTION

Introduction

1. This is Pakistan's third and fourth consolidated periodic report following the initial report submitted in 1992 and the second periodic report submitted in 2002. This report covers the period since the consideration of the second periodic report (2003) and has been prepared in pursuance to the provisions of article 44.1 (b) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child by the National Commission for Child Welfare and Development, Ministry of Social Welfare and Special Education under supervision of a high level multi-sectoral National Steering Committee comprising of relevant ministries and provincial government departments, non-governmental organizations and UN Agencies. This third and fourth Periodic Report on the Convention on the Rights of Child (CRC) is the result of a detailed process that extended for almost a year.

2. The information has been gathered through different participatory methods including the recommendations of the National Steering Committee, regular meetings of five Technical Committees consisting of experts from various sectors, a series of consultations at the national and provincial levels, meetings with different stakeholders including concerned government officials, members of the civil society organizations, UN and other international agencies, parents and children. Individual meetings with government and civil society officials, desk reviews of the laws, policies, research reports, annual reports and magazines etc. and follow up consultations and meetings. The support of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), Save the Children Sweden (SCS), members of the NSC and Technical Committees and all stakeholders including civil society organizations and children in the preparation of this report is gratefully acknowledged.

3. The report is broad-based and representative and details not only the government legislation, programs and data, but also quotes from the reports and data of several non-governmental sources, independent research studies by NGOs and experts and from international organizations.

4. As stipulated in Article 44.3, this report does not deal with basic information provided earlier, but focuses on the implementation of the Convention and difficulties encountered thereafter. As suggested by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child at its thirty-ninth session, information on the suggestions and recommendations of the Committee on the last Periodic Report have been incorporated in the beginning of each cluster of this report.

5. The Government of Pakistan has adopted various measures to give effect to the implementation of the rights of the child in the Convention including introduction of the second National Plan of Action towards the well-being of the Pakistani Children. Changes have been made to different laws related to children; increase in the age for criminal liability and various other major changes and policies of administrative as well as legislative nature are in the process. Due to various changes in the administrative setups of the concerned departments after decentralization and initiating various policies and programs such as Education Sector Reforms (ESR), Health Sector Reforms (HSR), Youth Policy, Gender Reforms Action Plan (GRAP) and Access to Justice program various targets have been achieved and positive changes are evident in the lives of Pakistani children.

6. Pakistan has made progress towards achieving the MDGs. According to Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper report, Gross Enrolment Rate has increased from 72 % in the year 2000-01 to 87 % in the year 2005-06. Net Enrolment Rate (NER) has also shown upward trend as it increased from 42 % in the year 2001-02 to 52 % in the year 2005-06. Pakistan has made sound progress in NER at primary school level. The Ministry of Education launched the National Plan of Action for Education for All (EFA) on 3rd April 2003, for achieving universal primary education by 2015. Gender disparities are being narrowed through mixed primary schools, compensatory programs, focusing on missing facilities in girls' schools and appointment of female teachers. According to EFA goals and targets, by 2015, all children, with special emphasis on girls and children in difficult circumstances, should have access to completely free education. Guided by the objectives of "Education for All", the government aims at improving the access to and quality of primary education.

7. The Education Sector Reforms agenda (ESR) has clearly spelt out its priorities, which are universal primary education, reducing illiteracy by focusing on reducing gender gap and quality education and technical and skill development. During the past several years, actual public sector budgetary expenditure on education has remained around 2% of the GDP. The expenditure on education has been steadily increasing over the last five years or so. It has increased from 1.8 % in 2000-01 to 2.42 % in 2006-07. This shows the government's firm commitment and determination to promote and provide education to every child in the country. In the recent years, the literacy levels in Pakistan have improved over time albeit at a moderate pace. A considerable change has been observed in the Male and Female literacy rates (10 years & above) increased from 58 % in 2001 to 65 % in 2005-06 while it increased from 32 to 42 % for females during the same period. The percentage of children aged 10-18 that left before completing primary level has decreased from 15% in 2001 to 10 % in 2005. This underlines the government's effort to improve the access and quality of education.

8. The government has taken several initiatives to improve and overhaul the existing system of education. It has taken prudent steps towards streamlining the education sector at the national level. Education sector reform Action Plan 2001-2005 is one of the examples of this multi-pronged strategy, which envisages in it the devolution of responsibility of the delivery of the education to local governments along with improving the overall literacy, enrolment and access to education. In addition, the National Education Policy 1998-2010 is currently under review to include participation of all the stakeholders and ensuring ownership of the policy by federating units and other stakeholders.

9. The National Health Policy 2001 was a step forward and the Government has started working on the Health Reforms agenda. The Provincial Governments have established Health Sector Reform Units, since the main responsibility lies with them. The major problems of the health sector are low expenditure, inequity in services, and inadequate Primary Health Care Services. The government is fully committed to improve the situation through Health Sector Reforms Agenda and substantial progress has been made since 2002. Some new initiatives have been launched in the health sector including National Hepatitis Control Program, National Mother and Child Health Care, Maternal and Neonatal Health Services, Prevention of Blindness, Integrated Management of Childhood Illnesses and National Nutrition Program including micro nutrient malnutrition through fortifications, Supplementation and diversification. Infant mortality rate 70 and under five mortality rate 100 are showing exponential decline.

10. National Program for Prevention and Control of Hepatitis was launched in 2005 with the aim to substantially decrease the prevalence, morbidity and mortality due to hepatitis in the country, presently the program is in full pace of implementation. For the fiscal year 2006-07, Rs.450 million was allocated for the program. Whereas, during fiscal year 2006-07 vaccination of 120,000 high risk segments of population was planned with the cost of Rs.30 million. The program is in process of developing national guidelines on Hepatitis. In order to provide the facilities of diagnosis and treatment of viral Hepatitis, 61 Sentinal sites in teaching and DHQ hospitals have been made operational where services of viral hepatitis diagnosis and its management are being provided and necessary equipment worth Millions of Rupees has been installed. During 2006-07 another 40 hospitals have been identified for provision of requisite facilities with a cost of 150 million. The disposable syringes, gloves, needle cutters etc have been supplied to the Provincial Departments of Health.

11. Hospital waste management is another innovative approach of the program. The program is installing incinerators in 48 selected hospitals in the country with a cost of Rs. 72 million. The need assessment has been completed for strengthening of Water Quality Control Laboratory at the National Institute of Health (NIH). The installation of Water purification system at 50 selected hospitals is under way with the cost of Rs. 15 million. The program is providing treatment, free of charge, to deserving patient of hepatitis B and C. The program has provided treatment to 1,815 patients of Hepatitis B and 17,227 patients of Hepatitis C during fiscal year 2005-06.

12. In Pakistan, malaria has been a major public health problem threatening the health of the people due to prevailing socio-economic conditions and epidemiological situation. The transmission has been described as combination of stable and unstable malaria with low to moderate endemicity. It has a tendency for epidemic breakouts over larger area, particularly Punjab and Sindh. The disease is now emerging as a prominent health problem in Balochistan, FATA particularly along the international border. Each year about half a million people suffer from malaria. Pakistan became the member of a global partnership on Roll Back Malaria (RBM) in 1999 and the project of RBM was launched in Pakistan in 2001. The National Drinking Water Policy is also an important step in Health Sector as it provides a framework for addressing the key issues and challenges facing Pakistan in the provision of safe drinking water to the 93% of the population by 2015.

13. In the area of child protection, amendments have been made in the Hadood Ordinance through the Prevention of Anti-Women Practices (Criminal Law) Amendment Act, 2006. The Government of Punjab enacted the Punjab Destitute and Neglected Children Act 2004. Child Protection Policy is drafted through a consultative process; the Government seeks to embed a formal policy to meet its commitment to protect children from all forms of abuse and exploitation. The proposed policy after being implemented would deal with all legal, policy and administrative issues. After the approval of the Child Protection Policy by the Cabinet, Child Protection Bill will be promulgated under which Child Protection Bureaus, Child Protection Courts and Centers will be established through out the country. Furthermore, an assessment of the child protection monitoring and data collection system has been made in the country in 2007 and a Child Protection Monitoring and Data Collection System as recommended by the UN Committee is being devised in consultation with Provincial Governments and will be piloted in the Year 2008.

14. Limited capacity of the concerned government officials to fulfill different obligations under the Convention was one of the major factors affecting the progress. There is lack of trained professionals in the fields relating to children and child rights e.g. child protection, child participation etc. Government has initiated child protection programs and services such as Child Protection Courts, Child Protection Bureaus and Child Protection Centers in various parts of the country in a phased manner.

15. On 8th October 2005, the Northern parts of the North West Frontier Province and Azad Jammu and Kashmir experienced the worst natural disaster in its history. An earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale hit the area drastically altering the lives of the whole nation. Nine Districts were severely affected. The death toll rose to 73,000 and 3.5 million persons were left homeless, of which at least 60 percent were women and children. The earthquake destroyed and damaged majority of homes, leaving approximately 250,000 people homeless and displaced, and also damaged health facilities, schools, transport and communication infrastructure, private businesses and livelihoods. The death of teachers and health workers put additional pressure on an already strained social services delivery system.

16. The economic losses were estimated to be billions of US Dollars. The Government moved swiftly to meet the immediate needs for shelter, food and water, and established camps around the earthquake affected areas. Generous assistance was given from the international donor community to Pakistan especially to areas related to the protection and fulfillment of children's rights.

17. During June 2007 twisters with torrential rains paid havoc on Sindh and Balochistan provinces while killing several, injuring hundreds and disturbing life and livelihoods in the coastal areas of both provinces. Provincial Governments of Balochistan and Sindh initiated a comprehensive program for the rehabilitation of 300,000 vulnerable girls and women in 54 Union Councils of 9 Flood affected districts. The main emphasis of the program was to protect children from violence, abuse, exploitation and neglect by ensuring access to basic and protective services. The rehabilitative services included establishment of 88 mobile child protection teams. 25,000 vulnerable children registered and provided a birth certificate and their families in nine flood-affected districts. To prioritize and recognize vulnerable women and children in their relief efforts in the communities, 100 local government representatives, 84 district level officials and 220 representatives from Civil Society Organizations were trained and sensitized, 51 Women and Child Friendly Spaces were established and 3,500 adolescents impaired during the flood were equipped with life skills.

18. Pakistan continues to wage its battle against poverty, and its attendant negative ramifications, such as a high mortality rates, malnutrition and illiteracy, the greatest victims of which are children. 46.7 % of Pakistan's population consists of children below the age of eighteen years. Pakistan considers it a matter of utmost priority that its children grow and develop in health and happiness, receive education and develop skills, so that they can realize their full potential and effectively participate and contribute to the social, cultural and economic life of our nation.

19. Government of Pakistan is fully committed to universalization of elementary education, by not only making it a fundamental right of all our children, but also as a key strategy to address the problems arising from poverty.

20. Pakistan signed the "SAARC Convention on Prevention and Combating Trafficking in Women and Children for Prostitution". Cross-country trafficking can be addressed effectively through its operationalization.

21. Realization of children's rights certainly requires large resources. However, the key element in this effort is the "will of the community". Taking cognizance of this, the Government declared Year 2004 as "Year of the Child" in which massive awareness raising programs were undertaken together with Provincial Governments and other stakeholders. The progress made in the enjoyment of the rights of the child would be discussed in detail in this report.