Training on Child Protection Case Management & Referral System (CPCMRS)

PESHAWAR :The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Child Protection and Welfare Commission (KCPWC) with the support of UNICEF organised a three day capacity building workshop for the new recruited staff of Child Protection Units in 12 districts, The training also participated by representatives of health, education, Social Welfare departments and representatives of judiciary.

The purpose of the said training was to strengthen the existing system of child protection of prevention and response by discussing the case management system and referral system.
During the training it is said that The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Child Protection and Welfare Act 2010 recognized the imminent need for an integrated child protection system.

The Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa envisions an effective, integrated system, which can ensure that children who are vulnerable to, or have experienced abuse, are able to have their specific needs assessed and receive timely cross-sectorial support. To protect the children from abuse is the responsibility of all government departments.

The KP Child Protection & Welfare Commission and social welfare Department cannot provide all protection services to children in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Each department has to play their role to protect the children across the province. The training workshop will help to build the capacity on child protection and will help all the collaborative departments to understand how collectively we can protect children from abuse, violence, exploitation, neglect and harmful practices.

Moreover, Government of Khyber Pakntunknwa recently hired social service workforce and establishing child protection units at the district level. This training will be a good opportunity for the newly hired staff to increase their knowledge and learn skills required to deal with children in need of protection services.

Imran Takkar child Rights expert and one of the trainer in the said workshop said that capacity building and coordination among the key department/stakeholders is always key components of a strengthen child protection system. He said it is pertinent to create awareness among the masses keeping in view to prevent children from all kind of abuse and exploitation. He further said that if any case occur the we have to be a strengthen child protection system of case management and referral that to respond the case case efficiently.

At the end Ijaz Muhammad Khan Deputy Chief Ijaz Muhammad Khan said that we are thankful of Unicef and Oxford Management policy for organizing the said workshop, he also said that no doubt that the cases of child protection are increasing day by day but at the same time the KP government is also committed to ensure protection to all the children of the province wherever at risk.

He further said that in this connection the KP government keeping in view to strengthen the child protection system made affective amendments in the laws as well as established 12 child protection units in districts while 8 child courts have already been established in the province with purpose to ensure protection and justice to children.

Need to improve tourism in Pakistan

Pakistan is among the world’s most attractive to tourists due to its linguistic, ethnic, and cultural diversity, and natural landmarks. The hospitality of the Pakistani people also made Pakistan one of the best places for foreign tourists to spend their vacations. Due to these attractions, Pakistan has been categorized as the world’s best adventure travel destination by independent travelers and adventurers. There is no doubt that foreign tourists are drawn to Pakistan because of its picturesque natural landscape. Pakistan’s northern areas including KP and the Northern Areas of Gilgit-Baltistan have no parallel in their natural beauty. But Pakistan is yet far from converting this potential of tourism into strategic strength and there are many internal and external factors behind this.

Not many people from around the world are willing to visit Pakistan due to terrorism and lack of facilities. Pakistan has overcome the problem of terrorism in KP and Newly Merged Districts (NMDs) but the lack of tourism facilities in these areas is still haunting the true potential of tourism in these areas. Prolonged conflict with terrorists has also prevented the development of new tourism spots with international standard facilities. Tragic incidents like Murree last year have also exposed the lack of adequate tourism governance in the country.

Pakistan’s KP province is littered with beautiful natural attractions, but these are not known to the world due to a lack of facilities and exposure in global media. The current KP government is doing its efforts to uplift tourism in Pakistan by developing new spots. In this regard, the KP government in March 2022, has signed MoU to invest in a new initiative called ‘Integrated Tourism Zones’ (ITZs). These MoUs are part of the KP government’s long-term plan to build and introduced 20 new tourism spots in the province. According to an official press release, under the newly signed agreement, new 5-star hotels in Ganol and Mankial facilitate tourists at these tourist places.

Among other challenges, natural calamities like COVID-19 also deterred efforts to uplift the tourism industry in the country. This pandemic has not only brought forward concerns for the tourists but also for the local businesses that depend on tourism. All these concerns are related to any future catastrophe of this nature. These businesses are already struggling to recover from the previous spell of COVID.  Future concerns are related to the fear of indefinite closures and continued lockdowns in the industry.

Globally, such calamities are responded to through the use of advanced technology, customers’ and employees’ willingness, enhanced skills, adherence to standard operating procedures and protective measures, and restructuring via a public-private partnership. But in Pakistan, many of these cannot be implemented or operationalized due to the socio-economic realities, poor education standards, and lack of sound financial backing.

In Pakistan, large-scale hospitality businesses have evolved through the COVID-19 situation and are likely to revamp and revitalize sustainability. According to studies conducted by independent researchers, it has been concluded that Once achieving sustainability, the revamped industry will likely increase revenue, generate employment, and alleviate poverty through thriving public-private partnerships, community involvement, and community well-being without compromising people’s health. But for local, small-scale businesses the story is very different and presents a bleak picture as there is no comprehensive strategy devised by the federal or provincial government.

Pakistan needs to develop a strategic vision for its tourism industry like other developed economies of the world. In this vision, private businesses must be encored and protected regardless of their scale. Small hotels and restaurants must have access to financial facilities with as much ease as large corporate hospitality hotels enjoy. Without the inclusion of small and medium hospitality businesses, no tourism policy can work.

Polio Workers Are Real Heroes

Pakistan has been fighting against the spread of polio virus for last 2 decades with an aim to ensure Pakistan becomes a polio free country but due to various reasons and factors so far these efforts have not met 100% success despite pouring in millions of rupees every year.

Pakistan has been experiencing small number of cases every years in Newly Merged Districts (NMDs), as known as tribal areas. These far-flung areas have been posing serious challenge to the polio workers ranging from logistical troubles to security threats.  Dozens of polio workers have lost their lives in these areas in security related incidents where polio teams were attacked by terrorists.

So far in 2022, 11 polio cases so far and all of these cases were reported in North Waziristan tribal district that borders Afghanistan.

This highlights three major challenges in this polio eradication scheme of government. First being the local that’s law and order situation in these NMDs where terrorist splinter cells are still active and always attack on soft targets like polio teams. While the 2nd challenge is more complex and is related to Afghanistan and ingress of polio virus from there. 3rd challenge is those parents who often refuse to get their children inoculated timely before virus could catch them.

Polio workers are real heroes in this war who are fighting against this disease that’s usher permanent disability among children, like warriors despite risks to their lives. Knowing people will refuse to their pleas of getting local children vaccinated, they still cover each house in each village under every kind of weather.

This year too, Pakistan has launched a nationwide anti-polio vaccination drive that aims to inoculate 12.6 million children, amid an outbreak of the virus in a northwestern district bordering Afghanistan. Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only countries in the world where polio remains endemic. In 2021, Pakistan reported only one case, raising hopes it was close to eradicating polio.

 

The outbreak, after the first polio case of 2022 was registered in the same region in April, is a blow to national efforts to complete eradication of the virus, which can cause permanent paralysis in children.

Government of Pakistan has established Emergency Operation Center (EOC) for coordinating national effort against polio. This center is responsible for monitoring, responding and strategizing steps towards the final goal.  The center is also responsible for distributing and dispatching polio workers in affected areas upon receiving any reports about a new case. Pakistan has for the past 25 years carried out regular inoculation campaigns in which health workers go door-to-door to give polio drops to children. So far this year, the government has carried out three nationwide anti-polio drives — in January, March and in May.

It is important for the governments to understand that the vaccination campaign required deep attention and utmost responsibility to completely eradicate the polio virus from the country. In that respect, it becomes paramount to devise policies to ensure the polio workers can perform their duty without any kind of fear or lack of facilities. In many areas, it has been witnessed that these workers have to walk miles without adequate hydration resources to keep themselves hydrated.

According to reports, the latest polio eradication campaign will cover 25 “very high-risk districts” across Pakistan, including all NMDs, with the help of over 100,000 trained and dedicated vaccinators and other polio workers. These soldiers must be respected and recognized at national level with awards and must be paid financially as well for their services. This year too, a team of polio workers was attacked in which 3 of these heroes lost their lives. Such incidents demand that government must make their security as part of overall polio eradication campaign planning.

Importance of Youth involvement in decision-making of the Country

Pakistan is considered to be the fifth largest young country in the world. Around 63 percent of the population comprises youth aged between 15-33. This can be the greatest dividend for the country if we are able to capitalize in it. As the country has a larger population of youth , it is hence considered to be mandatory to involve the youth in the decision making for the country .

Every person has their own perspective about a certain thing and in Pakistan as it is a economically developing country, it is necessary to have the facts and figures from the youths perspective because they are the future of the country and the nation’s future in terms of economic, social and political sectors can be stabilized. The youth of the country are very active in different spheres of life but their opinion should be looked up to on different topics that involve the decision making for the country .

Currently , if we look at the situation , most of the decision makers are either higher officials or people of older age . But if the youth is involved it can bring a drastic change that will not only be beneficial for the country but also for the people residing in the country. As the youth digs deep into the whats and hows’ of everything and experience everything beforehand, their opinion can and should matter in the decision making of the country .

If we look at other developed nations, we can come to the conclusion that youth involvement is very important and can be of high value in the future.