ISLAMABAD:
The National Assembly has underlined the collective responsibility of legislators to ensure a safe and nurturing environment for all children of Pakistan.
The call was made during a session of the Parliamentary Group on Children’s Rights (PCCR) in Parliament on Sunday.
The meeting, chaired by PCCR Coordinator and Parliamentary Secretary for Science and Technology, Dr. Nikhat Shakeel Khan, deliberated on the alarming rise in cases of child abuse across Pakistan.
It focused on reviewing trends in child violence, abuse and exploitation and examined current conviction rates in these cases.
Dr. Nikhat inaugurated the session by welcoming members and distinguished guests, emphasizing the collective responsibility of legislators to create a safe and nurturing environment for all children in Pakistan.
Highlighting the urgent need to improve prevention and justice mechanisms, he called for identifying legal and institutional gaps and encouraged active parliamentary participation to develop effective policy recommendations.
The Sustainable Social Development Organization (SSDO), represented by its Executive Director Syed Kausar Abbas, gave a comprehensive presentation detailing the prevalence of child abuse, child labour, early marriages, trafficking and other forms of exploitation.
The report also provides statistics of convictions obtained under the Right to Information Act from law enforcement agencies in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan and Islamabad.
He shared a detailed presentation on reported cases and conviction rate over the past six years (2019 to 2024).
The data presented to the parliamentary group was collected using the right of access to information laws of the provinces and federal laws and in accordance with Article 19-A of the Constitution of Pakistan.
Another qualitative report on Good Touch & Bad Touch, a development study of Islamabad schools, was presented by SSDO Program Director Maryam Jawad and Research Associate Yusra Khurram Butt.
The parliamentarians gave their suggestions and recommendations on the report and it will be published soon for greater dissemination on the subject.
During the open debate, several constructive proposals were made to strengthen child protection efforts.
Parliamentary Secretary Zeb Jaffar advocated workshops in Islamabad schools to educate children and parents about physical safety through storytelling focusing on “good touch, bad touch”. Dr Shahida Rehmani urged integrating bullying awareness into school curricula, while MNA Syeda Shehla Raza highlighted the effectiveness of visual media such as films in raising awareness among parents, children and teachers.
Syeda Nosheen Iftikhar shared findings from her constituents that emphasized the risks of leaving children unsupervised with family members or domestic staff. With APP input
