KARACHI: The Sindh Assembly has passed the Child Protection Authority Amendment Act, 2021, on Friday (today).
On a social media website Twitter, Sindh government Spokesperson Senator Murtaza Wahab, who confirmed the development, said the new law will help the government address issues pertaining to child protection.
Murtaza Wahab said, “Proud to have been part of this initiative, adding that he is grateful to the PPP for giving him such an opportunity.”
Very happy to inform that #SindhAssembly has today passed the Child Protection Authority Amendment Act, 2021. This new law will help us address major issues pertaining to child protection. Proud to have been part of this initiative. Thank u #PPP for giving me this opportunity
— Murtaza Wahab Siddiqui (@murtazawahab1) April 23, 2021
Prior to the enactment of the new act, the province had the Sindh Child Protection Authority Act, 2011, in place.
Back in January, PPP’s Shamim Mumtaz, who is also a member of the Provincial Assembly, was appointed as the new chairperson of the Sindh Child Protection Authority.
According to the website of the Sindh Child Protection Authority, the Sindh Child Protection Act, 2011, was passed to “facilitate the cases of abuse and violence against children.”
Since 2016, more than 350 children, including 250 boys and 100 girls, have fallen prey to various forms of abuse in the province. Over 116 of these minors were targeted in Karachi alone.
While the provincial government has produced laws to safeguard the rights of children, there has been little thought spared to the implementation of the said rules. The most recent example of this comes from the decade-old Sindh Child Protection Authority Act 2011, which despite tall claims, seems to have missed its mark in the last nine years.
Even as it had failed thus far to implement the law passed in 2011, the Sindh government has now proposed another amendment to the bill and sought feedback from the provincial assembly’s standing committee.
