Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Economist Mr. Kaiser Bengali emphasized the need to design a public education program built on value system not only for children but also for elderly and other underprivileged groups. Public education campaign that ‘children have to be cared for’ are important as the parents send children to school because of the value system of the society andnot because of any MDGs or SDGs he added.

While summing up the discussion at a Virtual meeting on ‘Child-Sensitive Budgeting and Role of Parliament’ on Monday organized by the Special Committee on Child Rights – CRC of the National Parliamentary Task Force on SDGs he suggested school campuses with 300 to 500 enrollments instead of one-room schools. Children in these schools should be transported from villages near by. He said these schools should be a feeding place and should also have a clinic.  Once it is there parents will definitely send the children to school,as they themselves cannot afford feeding their children or taking care of their health issues. These schools will become center of fulfillment of children’s basic needs related to nutrition and health care.

The key speakers of the discussion included Mr. Zain Qureshi Parliamentary Secretary Ministry of Finance, Ms. Annabel Gerry Head of DFID, Mr. HarisGazdar Coordinator to CM Sindh on Social Protection, Economist Mr. Kaiser Bengali, Dr. Abdul Alim Regional Advisor for Social policy UNICEF, Dr. MariumChughtai, Associate Dean & Associate Professor LUMS School of Education, Luis Gorjon Chief Social Policy Unit UNICEF Pakistan

Earlier  MNA Ms. Mehnaz Akber Aziz Convener Special Committee on Child Rights of the Parliamentary Taskforce on SDGswhile opening the discussion said that investing in children is a fundamental pre-requisite to equal rights for girls and boys, to achieve international peace, security and economic development. With in this framework she added parliaments have a unique responsibility; guaranteeing the required human & financial resources for the fulfillment of the rights of every child.

She observed that the successive national and provincial budgets have failed to adequately address children’s issues such as poverty, health, immunization, malnutrition, education or child protection. She said that the allocations in the budget 2020-2021 are meager for health & education sector.

An analysis of budgetary allocations indicates that the total allocation for children specific programs has remained around 0.74% of the total public expenditure of the Federal government in 2017-18 and less than 1.8 % of GDP during the last four years. This makes it imperative for programs, interventions and policies to champion the rights of the child effectively.