PESHAWAR
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa minister for Social Welfare Syed Qasim Ali Shah on Monday said that the provincial government was taking pragmatic steps to protect children rights and establishing child protection units across the province.
He was addressing a two-day consultative workshop on strengthening alternative care system for children without parental care in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) organized by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Child Protection and Welfare Commission (KPCPWC) in collaboration with UNICEF.
He acknowledged UNICEF’s contributions and appreciated all key stakeholders on holding a very successful workshop and reaching the consensus to further understand the issues of children without parental care from the policy and reform perspective.
He emphasized the significance of establishing a monitoring mechanism for children in alternative care, committed to supporting the policy reforms needed in this area and suggested to receive a roadmap with clear timelines to further the discussion and dialogue with the government on this for policy-based solutions.
He also expressed that the provincial government is committed to expand the network of Child Protection Units to all districts across KP.
The workshop brought together relevant stakeholders to deliberate on the existing landscape of alternative care mechanisms and services for children without parental care and building consensus on a reform agenda and recommendations to the government for regulating such alternative care services in the province.
These relevant stakeholders included both government and non-governmental organizations including representatives from Madaris currently providing care, shelter and guardianship services to children in the province.
The workshop commenced with a warm welcome from Ijaz Muhammad Khan, Deputy Chief of KP-CPWC, who emphasized on the importance of discussion on alternative care for children without parental care, as a social problem demanding policy solutions in the province.
He delivered a detailed presentation on the legal framework that currently exists in Pakistan and KP in relation to the alternative care of children and the lack of proper regulation and oversight over such mechanisms and services operational in the province.
Sharing from the actual child protection cases regularly reported to the Child Protection Helpline 1121 and 21 District Child Protection Units currently functional in the province, he educated the forum on the increasing number of cases of abandoned children reported to them as well as children on the streets, children of foreign origin and other provinces in need of family reunification and suitable alternative care.
In the given backdrop he encouraged all relevant stakeholders to inform the KP-CWC on the legal, policy and operational challenges they are currently faced with and their recommendations which will help the KP-CPWC to formulate an advocacy package to the government for consideration and reforming the existing alternative care governance in KP.
Sohail Ahmad, Child Protection Specialist in UNICEF, delivered a comprehensive presentation outlining key focus areas specific to children without parental care in the context of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and global standards and norms.
Ahmad discussed the significance of right based approach to understanding the care and protection of children without parental care, highlighting the key principles of necessity, suitability and constructiveness and the child’s best interest in the review of cases requiring alternative care.
He also referred to the relevant provisions in the Child Rights Convention and related guidelines highlighting the significance of addressing the causes that parents face to ensure quality care of their children, preventing family separation and exploring other family and community-based care options for children without parental care and using institutional care only as a last resort having minimum standards of care accredited and monitored by a competent authority.
He also appreciated all stakeholders building consensus on the need to reform the alternative care governance in the province and KP-CPWC and the Minister for Social Welfare providing leadership and policy direction on this very important social and child protection problem in the province.
In a notable address, Syed Nazar Hussain Shah, Secretary of the Social Welfare, Special Education and Women Empowerment Department, KP, thanked the participants for their dedication to the welfare and protection of children in need of alternative care. He committed to taking steps toward improving alternative childcare services, including establishing a committee for child care institutions review and finalize the draft Child Protection Policy.
Throughout the workshop, participants were engaged in group works, contributing valuable insights on the socio-economic challenges parents are faced with that is affecting their capacity to provide proper care of their children and how children without parental care are faced with various protection and welfare problems including orphans, abandoned children and children on the streets.
They also provided valuable inputs into a roadmap to reform the governance of alternative care for children without parental care in KP, while unanimously agreeing on the importance of preventing family separation and promoting family reintegration in the best interest of children.
The two-day event marked a significant step toward strengthening the alternative care system in the province, with a clear commitment from all the relevant stakeholders to work collaboratively under the leadership of KP-CPWC having a dedicated Steering Committee constituted to facilitate the government in taking forward the necessary reforms to ensure quality care and best interests of children without parental care in the province.
