The first ever child protection unit has been established in Quetta. It was inaugurated on February 10.
It has been established as part of the Child Protection Act passed by the government in 2016. The act ratifies the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The legislature called for establishment of a child protection unit. This will consist of a core committee and a technical working group, said Nasir Baloch, head of the child protection unit, on SAMAA TV’s show Naya Din Thursday.
The technical working group includes the UNICEF, civil society organisations and government departments. It is a cross-sectoral venture, he said, and a psychiatrist has also been deputed.
This unit will be working for all children whether they’re under parental care, community care or commercial institutes, said Baloch. First they will be given awareness and then taught preventive measures.
A child protection case referral model has been developed, the child protection unit head said.
“We have staff to deal with abuse cases. Child protection officers, case workers and our management information system will all respond immediately through a helpline which has also been established,” said Baloch.
Teams will then respond on ground and go to the site to investigate.
“We shift the children to the unit for 72 hours as part of protocol. If it’s a medical case we will refer them to the hospital. If it’s a police case, we refer them to the police or courts,” he said.
Responding to a question on the statistics of child abuse, Baloch said the social welfare and other government departments did not have any data compilation system earlier to record cases.
There was no physical unit, officers or system to record the data, he said. But now the MIS officers will start working on this.
from SAMAA https://ift.tt/3bx639e
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