Sindh Govt, UNICEF To Launch Child Protection Program

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah and UNICEF Country head Abdullah A Fadil agreed to launch a Child Protection program to strengthen evidence-based policy and legislation

KARACHI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 16th May, 2024) Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah and UNICEF Country head Abdullah A Fadil agreed to launch a Child Protection program to strengthen evidence-based policy and legislation.

In a meeting held here at CM House on Thursday, the chief minister and the UNICEF Country representative discussed matters related to Child protection program.

Minister of Health Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho, Chief Secretary Asif Hyder Shah, Secretary School Education Zahid Abbasi, Secretary to CM Raheem Shaikh, Secretary Health Rehan Baloch, Secretary Social Welfare Sajid Jamal Abro, PD Zubair Channa were also present on the occasion.

The UNICEF delegation members include Chief Field Officer Prem Chand, Executive Officer Ms. Xene, health Specialist Dr Kamal and others.

The CM and the UNICEF Country chief after a thorough discussion, agreed that UNICEF would foster enabling environment to strengthen evidence-based policy and legislation under child labour survey, child protection policy, birth registration by-laws, protection from child online abuse and exploitation and prevention strategies would be carried out to reduce child protection violations and harmful traditional practices.

The key points of the program for child protection include prevention of child marriage, parenting packages for positive parent-child interaction, Child Online Protection- ethical and safe use of cyber technology. Strengthening of community-based protection structures, Service Strengthening to deliver equity-based gender-responsive services for children and adolescents, Case management and referral system including Certified of Proficiency in information system management (CPMIS), Capacity strengthening of the child protection workforce and Community-based mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) including in humanitarian situation were discussed in detail.

The CM was told that UNICEF was supporting strengthening the health system for inclusive, resilient, equitable and gender-responsiveness within the framework of Universal Health Coverage (UHC).

UNICEF also supports improving Maternal and Neonatal Child Health (MNCH) services for equitable access and utilisation,” he said.

The meeting agreed that UNICEF would support the health department for the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) for better immunisation services for full immunisation of all children.

In the meeting, the chief minister and the UNICEF Country chief agreed to launch a strong nutrition-responsive system in the health department to ensure optimal nutrition for mothers and children, improved nutrition for adolescents and middle-aged children, functional multi-sectoral coordination for Early Childhood Development (ECD) and nutrition.

UNICEF committed $300,000 for a responsive system for which the CM directed the Health Department to fulfill the requirements so that funds could be channelized.

The chief minister said that the eradication of Polio was the top priority of the government. He added that his government with the support of UNICEF and other partners had controlled polio.

Shah said that the Health Department was working for better integration of EPI and expanded delivery of additional services to priority communities, as well as cultivating opportunities for increased community engagement.

The CM was told that UNICEF was working with the school education department on certain initiatives such as the Robust Out-of-School Children Initiative with a focus on social mobilization and institutional strengthening and scale-up of professional development of teachers.

The chief minister and the UNICEF Representative discussed the Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) program.

It may be noted that UNICEF provides technical support to the provincial government on climate-resilient infrastructure through urban and rural water supply and sanitation structures along with community mobilization for the sustainability of services. Moreover, UNICEF also provides technical support to the Government in improving monitoring, information management, climate resilience, and environmental degradation.