2021-08-06
On 15th June 2021, Zindagi Trust had a meeting with IG Sindh Police Mushtaq Ahmed Mahar at one of our adopted schools, Khatoon-e-Pakistan (KPS). He was joined by the Founder of Zindagi Trust, Shehzad Roy, former Head of Special Programs and Advocacy, Sana Kazmi, CEO Hameedah Sayani, Faiq Ahmed and Manish Kazmi. There, the IG Police was provided an extensive tour of the premises and shown the work that Zindagi Trust has carried out at KPS. After the tour, he had a meeting in which he stressed the importance of the work done by Zindagi Trust in implementing life skills based education (LSBE). He mentioned it was important to create awareness amongst students for child protection against abuse and to encourage reporting to the police. In this detailed conversation he spoke of the importance of working together to address the issues faced by vulnerable stratas of the country (students being one of the most vulnerable) and aimed to improve the situation as best possible.
As a follow up to this meeting, the Sindh Police collaborated with Zindagi Trust to hold an open discussion with relevant stakeholders about how children can be safe guarded. This Child Protection Action Dialogue took place on Wednesday the 28th of July, 2021 at Khatoon-e-Pakistan Government Girls School in Karachi. The host, Zindagi Trust, presented the organization’s experience in prohibition of corporal punishment as well as promotion of life skills based education (LSBE).
All the attendees had an extensive and interactive discussion about their experiences with child protection in each of their respective capacities. This included members of the National Commission on the Rights of Child, the Sindh Child Protection Authority and the Social Welfare Department. The meeting focused on creating coordination between child protection authorities and strengthening their relationship with law enforcement agencies. The Sindh Police provided data of recorded complaints for the year 2019-2020 and promoted use of Child Helpline 1121 and Zainab Alert application to register and report cases.
During the discussion, lack of official identification documents (Child Registration Certificate/B-Form) held by children was highlighted as one of the obstacles in proper documentation of cases, and it was therefore encouraged that all children should get themselves registered with NADRA. Furthermore, the need for psychological experts to work with law enforcement agencies was emphasized to help address mental trauma and invisible abuse amongst our children.
Street children were also cited as victims of abuse and the need for shelter homes as well as elimination of beggary were identified as means to keep them at bay from abuse and affliction. In addition, marginalization of transgender community and religious minorities in the country were also discussed at the meeting.
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