Provision of quality education, heath facility top priority: Asad Qaisar
ISLAMABAD, Nov 19 (APP):National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaisar on Tuesday said that provision of quality education and health facility was top priority of the government.
Speaking at a reception titled “Reviving Pakistan’s Parliamentary Commitments on Child Rights,” organized by Special Group of the National Parliamentary Task Force on SDGs for child rights, he said it was the responsibility of the state to provide equal opportunities of education and health to the masses. There was dire need to work jointly in this regard above politics, he added.
He said investment in children education and health could bring revolution in the country as positive changes could only bring in the society through imparting quality education.
The NA speaker appreciated the Special Task Force for organizing the reception and stressed the need for effective legislation for protection of the child rights.
He said children were the key to Pakistan’s future prosperity and its future depended on the realization of child rights, including their rights to survival, development, protection and participation.
Recalling Pakistan Threek-e-Insaf led provincial government performance in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Asad Qaisar said that record fund was allocated for the uplift of education sector in the province during the last five years. New education institutions were established across the province particularly in far-flung areas, he added. Missing facilities were provided in the education institutions, he added.
He urged the task force to sign Memorandum of Understandings (MoU) with all provincial governments for effective legislative on child rights to protect their future.
Earlier, speaking on the occasion Chairperson Special Group on Child Rights of National Parliamentary Task Force on SDGs Mehnaz Akbar Aziz said year 2020 was dedicated as “Child-Friendly 2020” at the National Assembly to mark the 30 years of government of Pakistan’s ratification of UN Child Rights Convention (CRC1990).
Country Representative UNICEF Aida Girma said that 30 years, world leaders made a historic commitment to the world’s children by adopting CRC on November 20, 1989.
The international agreement was the most widely ratified human rights treaty in history, which created a set of universal, inalienable, indivisible, interdependent and justifiable rights for all children, she said.
She said Pakistan was the 6th country of the world which ratified the convention in 1990. Tremendous progress had been made since then, despite many challenges faced by the country.
She said to commemorate the 30th anniversary, UNICEF Pakistan technically supported the Parliamentary Special Committee on the Rights of the Child to undertake systemic review of the child rights legislation at national and provincial levels. Convener National Parliamentary Task Force Riaz Fatyana also spoke on the occasion.
