South East Asia Regional Consultation for UN Secretary General's Study on Violence against Children
South Asian UN Conference on Violence against Children Confirms Treaties, Affirms Action for Infirmities
By Dr. Farooq Hassan, President, Family Forum
It is the aim of this report to examine the details and conclusions arrived at during the first regional meeting dealing exclusively with violence against children. The South Asia Regional Consultation for “UN Secretary General's Study on Violence Against Children” is the first of a series of meetings being organized by the UN for having worldwide awareness and consultations on the crucial issue of violence to children. This conference was held Islamabad May 19-21.
The three-day intergovernmental meeting called for South Asian countries at the request of the UN was to devise means to prevent physical-cum-psychological harm to children. Representatives from all governments in the region took part in this meeting as a part of the global “consultation” for the UN Secretary General's Study on ‘Violence against Children'; it thus became a pioneer effort in this determined international campaign to “secure” for the children an atmosphere of violence-free societal living. This international drive began by securing the willingness of the South Asian countries towards this objective. The conference analyzed the following thematic articulations:
- The state of international legal regime presently existing amongst the participating states,
- To find ways to combating the infirmities exposed during this study.
First lady of Pakistan Begum Sheba Musharraf chaired the opening session of the conference and encouraged the initiative to discuss issues affecting millions of children in the region. Begum Sehba Musharraf said that violence has a grave impact on the personality of children and is disapproved by all societies and religions.
"We need to move beyond rhetoric," the first lady said, adding that there was a need for coordinated efforts in forwarding the cause of child protection initiatives in the region by engaging civil society, development partners and media. She emphasized that Pakistan was a signatory to all major human rights treaties affecting children and would ensure that its international obligations, which were only the minimum threshold requirements, would be totally met in the country. A Commission of Children was already in existence and overseeing the work towards implementing the international standards. Indeed all the preparatory work for this international meeting was undertaken by this commission.
Mrs. Zubeida Jalal, Minister for Social Welfare and Special Education, explained the government of Pakistan 's stand on such issues. She remarked that despite enlightenment in modern societies, children are still exposed to abuse and exploitation. She said that this “consultation” is a continuation of Pakistan 's efforts for advancing the children's cause that began 10 years ago. Pakistan and five other countries initiated the process that led to the largest gathering of world leaders at the UN for the World Summit for Children.
Mrs. Jalal pledged commitment to evolve a “legally protective environment” for children. She particularly thanked the UN Secretary General and UNICEF, which had deputed special experts for providing to the participants information on technical and substantive legal matters about children. She hoped that this conference would benefit in combating the emergent issues at the national and international level by providing the basis of a working model for testing the success of landmark treaties such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child. In the light of the later speeches and addresses, it is manifest that while referring to the legal umbrella of protecting children from violence, Begum Musharraf indicated that this protection would be all-embracing in its application. That is to say it would provide cover for all types of aggression against the children, whether at home or in the society.
UNICEF's Regional Director Cecilia Lotse said the meeting is extremely important and comes at a time when there is more and precise knowledge about “abuses that go unseen.” The global consultation calls for reports to focus on how children are affected, as she maintained, by possible violence in five settings emanating from and around:
- the home,
- the family,
- schools and other educational & training institutions,
- work situations and in the community and
- in the streets.
Lotse said that a large number of children in South Asia are extremely vulnerable and called for taking up the challenge collectively. She articulated that the study will focus on “preventive strategies through identification” of best practices in stopping all kinds of violence directed against children. The South Asia contribution to the consultation process will highlight specific issues on gender-related violence, child sexual abuse and physical and psychological punishment. She pledged that her agency would work with regional countries, families and children to end corporal punishment, early marriage and do more to ensure that street children are better protected.
It is clear to me that the reference to corporal punishment was inclusive of the so-called “spanking controversy.” I have used the word “clear” advisedly. No one really made any distinction with regards to its application at home, in the family or in the school. It remains to be seen how far this matter is really debated, if at all, in the region at governmental levels. Similarly, the deprecation of early marriage is a direct indictment of the widespread social practices in South Asia of children marrying when barely beyond puberty. The admonition against this “evil” practice, as it was referred to by some speakers, is in principle applicable to all countries of the world.
A unique and trailblazing scientific laboratory of knowing about the actual injustices to children through violence was planned by the organizers through a two-day meeting of children from across the region. These children were to present their views -- based on their experiences -- to participants of the consultation. Representatives from the governments of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka were to contribute to this process, which has been innovatively labeled as “consultations” rather than mere addresses or speeches between the participating countries.
The government representatives from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka delivered their speeches on the same lines. They said that South Asian countries can share their experiences and then try to evolve the best practices by learning from each other how to eliminate violence against children. While most of these addresses were clearly based on well known and established realities of this topic, and could be termed almost rhetorical, the point of relevance for the pro-traditional family protagonists was that both the “home” and the “family” were mentioned prominently as the starting point and of high relevance for most of the violence against children in this region, and arguably in the international domain as well. This is also the foundation of several ills of other forms of “violence” against children, such as child labor and prostitution, which more often than not begin at home.
In the concluding session of this event, Prime Minister Shauna Aziz announced the formation of a Child Welfare and Protection Centre in Islamabad to serve as a model for other Pakistani cities which would provide a number of facilities for identification, reporting, investigation, treatment and followup of child maltreatment and abuse. This center was said to have at the beginning only a national outlook, but it would be so established as to eventually provide international and regional working capabilities.
The Pakistani premier termed “education and health” of the children as the key to transforming societies and urged the need to direct the both government and private resources in bringing a qualitative improvement in respect thereof. He said the government in Pakistan was providing free education up to secondary level, free textbooks, scholarships and nutritional food to girls as an incentive to enroll in schools and cut down on dropouts.
The prime minister then addressed an important aspect of this subject. He said existing laws on children were being assessed and new legislation for “child protection” was in the final stages of preparation to ensure that the country not only met its international responsibilities but its national aspirations based on Islamic directives of state policy. Mr. Aziz stressed urgent and effective national and international action to counter the threats from social inequality, inadequate economic conditions, armed conflicts, displacement and exploitation and asked for implementation of the UN's Millennium Development Goals.
He said despite the almost universal ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), millions were still subject to violence, child labor and trafficking and lived in sub-human conditions. As a signatory of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and among leading advocates, Pakistan is committed to provide an enabling environment to the children to harness their full potential, without fear and abuse. He stressed the building of partnerships between private and civil sectors to motivate and mobilize the community to take action on violence against children. He also pointed to the role of media in sensitizing the masses, formulating opinion and urging people to take action.
UN Secretary General's independent expert Prof. Paulo Sergio Pinheiro expressed hope that the consultation would serve as a springboard for positive action on issues facing children. He pointed out the latest ideas in this field and stressed that despite the availability of the CRC, poverty, religious misconceptions and other forms of primitive behavior or thinking was the basis of most violence to children.
The end of the formal sessions of the conference witnessed some moving scenes. For example, the prime minister went to a child from Pakistan , nine-year-old Mohammad Shiraz, from Quetta, hugged him and complimented him for his excellent recitation from the Holy Quran during the conference. This child had the phenomenonal memory of remembering the entire Quran by heart and could recite any part of it without text before him. Such prodigies are given the social and highly valued title of a “Hafiz” in Muslim societies. Other children then told the audience of their own experiences, which were to say the least, most moving and telling.
Conclusions
The main conclusion to emerge is that this UN conference acted as a catalyst for massive awareness among the concerned institutions about the problem of violence to children. The touchstone of the standard internationally accepted for determining what constitutes violence was that of the CRC. It transpired that Pakistan, ostensibly and behind the scenes, played a pivotal role in the ultimate holding of various international milestones for the creation or recognition of the rights of the children.
In this context, the good work of the CRC and its international monitoring group -- the Committee of the Rights of the Child -- were widely lauded. The call for the creation of an ombudsman for children was not formally made, but its general equivalent was widely accepted as being a workable modality of redressing the grievances of children. In Pakistan, the Commission for Children was formed some time ago and the prime minister announced the creation of a new Federal Center for the Children. While its remedial powers have still to be worked out, I see it is a step in that direction. The relevant non-government organizations were to make available their thoughts on how to improve such ideas for the assistance of this institution's working.
At least in the South Asian regional context, it was considered necessary to point to the phenomenon that the “family and home” environment were essentially responsible for some of the worst forms of social violence imaginable to children. Amongst the worst of these wrongs are the pernicious evils of child prostitution and child labor. Prosecutions have been launched in Pakistan against parents who had unlawfully sent their small sons (ages 7-11) to the gulf states for participating in the sport of camel racing in return for monetary rewards.
The controversial issue of spanking by parents could not be deeply analyzed as it was not directly raised. However, no one demurred when it was affirmatively proclaimed by several addresses that the touchstone of the legality of such conduct was the criteria of the CRC and other international norms on this subject.
The high significance of this conference can be evaluated from this fact alone that it was inaugurated by the first lady of the country and closed by the prime minister. Its arrangements were most impressive and its audience among the most educated in Islamabad 's diplomatic setting. By holding this conference and that of family planning within two weeks of each other, Pakistan has really become an important country in the human rights area of the institution of the family.
For the moment, it is sufficient to make these submissions as they adequately cover the ethos of the deliberations. There are a number of other points which are inextricably intertwined with my analysis and ideas about many issues raised in the conference which will be presented at another time. One such aspect is that of Islamic jurisprudence and its content vis-à-vis the rights of the family over its children.
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