We are proud to announce the launch of the policy brief on street-connected children in Pakistan in collaboration with the National Commission on the Rights of the Child (NCRC) and UNICEF, on 21st April at Margalla Hotel, Islamabad. The event was attended by over 150 guests including activists, civil society and government officials, as well as senior journalists. It was widely covered by broadcast as well as print media – the collated links to print media coverage from Dawn News, Gulf News and more is available here.
The welcome address was given by Ms. Afshan Tehseen, Chairperson of the NCRC, who drew attention to the invisibility of street children and shared her own experience of working with them over the years. Madeeha Ansari (Founder, CfC) shared the findings of the policy brief in detail and talked about the importance of ensuring every child has the right to a childhood. Susan Andrew (Child Protection Specialist, UNICEF) applauded the rights-based approach adopted in the policy brief. Other distinguished panelists included representatives from civil society as well as the media.
Madeeha Ansari (CfC Founder)
Click here to read the full policy brief on street-connected children.
The policy brief launch is a huge milestone in our journey towards making sure street-connected children be seen, heard and counted. Our engagement with policy-makers began exactly a year ago on International Day for Street Children, 12 April 2021, when we organized a National Parliamentarians Consultation to start a conversation around adopting a rights-based approach towards street-connected children in Pakistan. Since then, we have been engaging with civil society as well as government to address the pitfalls of the current system and developing policies that best suit the issues on hand.
The next steps involve a call to action on implementing the policy brief and partnering with policymakers to make sure the recommended steps from the brief are turned into policies to bring a real system-wide change.
Afshan Tehseen (NCRC, Chairperson)
Some of the key recommendations that were pointed out included reviewing and amending relevant federal and provincial legislation affecting street-connected children, removing barriers to formal schooling such as the requirement for B-forms and age-related barriers, expanding the availability of drop-in spaces or non-residential facilities and establishing a case management system.