Abbreviation | SPARC |
---|---|
Formation | December 17, 1992 |
Type | NGO |
Purpose | Child rights |
Headquarters | Islamabad,lahore |
Region served | Pakistan |
Membership | Private |
Website | sparcpk |
The Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (SPARC) is a Pakistani independent non-governmental organization dedicated to protecting the rights of children.
SPARC was established as an advocacy group for children's rights. [1] Initially focused on promoting and protecting breastfeeding, it has expanded to child labour, juvenile justice, education and violence against children. [1] It has held "children's parliaments" [2] [3] and worked to end corporal punishment in Pakistani schools. [4] [5] [6]
SPARC was officially established on December 17, 1992, in Islamabad, Pakistan. [1] SPARC's governing body is run by a board of directors. [1] While the headquarters is located in Islamabad, it has offices in Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar and Quetta, Hyderabad, Multan and Nowshera. [1] 54 Child Rights Committees consisting of local activists operate at the district level. [1]
SPARC has consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council and the United Nations Department of Public Information. [1] It is a partner of Defence for Children International. [1] In 2003, SPARC received the United Nations Recognition Award for highlighting the plight of children and promoting the rights of children in Pakistan. [1] In 2006, SPARC received USAID certification. [1]
SPARC is a member of the Pakistan National Alliance [7] and the International Baby Food Action Network. [8]
The Protection of Breastfeeding and Young Child Nutrition Ordinance, drafted by founding SPARC member Anees Jillani, was signed in October 2002 and came into force in 2010. [9] [10] It superseded the National Infant Feeding Board Rules of 2004. [11] The ordinance has also been adopted by Gilgit-Baltistan, which has special status under a Presidential Order. [12]
A corporal punishment or a physical punishment is a punishment which is intended to cause physical pain to a person. When it is inflicted on minors, especially in home and school settings, its methods may include spanking or paddling. When it is inflicted on adults, it may be inflicted on prisoners and slaves.
The administrative units of Pakistan comprise four provinces, one federal territory, and two disputed territories: the provinces of Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Balochistan; the Islamabad Capital Territory; and the administrative territories of Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit–Baltistan. As part of the Kashmir conflict with neighbouring India, Pakistan has also claimed sovereignty over the Indian-controlled territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh since the First Kashmir War of 1947–1948, but has never exercised administrative authority over either region. All of Pakistan's provinces and territories are subdivided into divisions, which are further subdivided into districts, and then tehsils, which are again further subdivided into union councils.
The judiciary of Pakistan is a hierarchical system with two classes of courts: the superior judiciary and the subordinate judiciary. The superior judiciary is composed of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, the Federal Shariat Court and five High Courts, with the Supreme Court at the apex. There is a High Court for each of the four provinces as well as a High Court for the Islamabad Capital Territory. The Constitution of Pakistan entrusts the superior judiciary with the obligation to preserve, protect and defend the constitution. Neither the Supreme Court nor a High Court may exercise jurisdiction in relation to Tribal Areas, except otherwise provided for. The disputed regions of Azad Kashmir and Gilgit–Baltistan have separate court systems.
The Frontier Crimes Regulations (FCR) were a special set of laws of British India, and which were applicable to the Tribal Areas. They were enacted by the British Empire in the nineteenth century and remained in effect in Pakistan until 2018. They were extended to the Gilgit Agency in Jammu and Kashmir in 1901 and to Baltistan in 1947, remaining in effect till the 1970s.
The Pakistan Monument is a national monument and heritage museum located on the western Shakarparian Hills in Islamabad, Pakistan. The monument was constructed to symbolize the unity of the Pakistani people. It is dedicated to the people of Pakistan who sacrificed their "today" for a better "tomorrow".
Pakistan is a federal republic with three tiers of government: national, provincial and local. Local government is protected by the constitution in Articles 32 and 140-A, and each province also has its own local-government-enabling legislation and ministries responsible for implementation. District councils and metropolitan corporations are respectively the highest rural and urban tiers of local government in the provinces. Both urban and rural local government have two or three tiers in all provinces except Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where councils are not identified as either urban or rural. There are 129 district councils across the four provinces, 619 urban councils made up of one city district, four metropolitan corporations, 13 municipal corporations, 96 municipal committees, 148 town councils, 360 urban union committees, and 1,925 rural councils. Additionally there are 3339 neighbourhood, ‘tehsil’ and village councils in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Pakistan:
Gilgit-Baltistan, formerly known as the Northern Areas, is a region administered by Pakistan as an administrative territory and consists of the northern portion of the larger Kashmir region, which has been the subject of a dispute between India and Pakistan since 1947 and between India and China since 1959. It borders Azad Kashmir to the south, the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to the west, the Wakhan Corridor of Afghanistan to the north, the Xinjiang region of China to the east and northeast, and the Indian-administered union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh to the southeast.
School corporal punishment is the deliberate infliction of physical pain as a response to undesired behavior by students. The term corporal punishment derives from the Latin word for the "body", corpus. In schools it may involve striking the student on the buttocks or on the palms of their hands with an implement such as a rattan cane, wooden paddle, slipper, leather strap or wooden yardstick. Less commonly, it could also include spanking or smacking the student with an open hand, especially at the kindergarten, primary school, or other more junior levels.
The Balawaristan National Front is a defunct political party which sought Independence for Gilgit-Baltistan, claimed as Balawaristan, as well as claims in certain regions of the Indian-Administered Kashmir, Kargil and Ladakh, as part of its historical territory.
The first ever children parliament of its kind was launched on Friday 14 November 2008 by Society for the Protection of the Rights of Child (SPARC) to raise awareness and promote child rights in Pakistan.
Child labour in Pakistan is the employment of children to work in Pakistan, which causes them mental, physical, moral and social harm. Child labour takes away the education from children. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan estimated that in the 1990s, 11 million children were working in the country, half of whom were under age ten. In 1996, the median age for a child entering the work force was seven, down from eight in 1994. It was estimated that one quarter of the country's work force was made up of children. Child labor stands out as a significant issue in Pakistan, primarily driven by poverty. The prevalence of poverty in the country has compelled children to engage in labor, as it has become necessary for their families to meet their desired household income level, enabling them to afford basic necessities like butter and bread.
The history of Azad Kashmir, a part of the Kashmir region administered by Pakistan, is related to the history of the Kashmir region during the Dogra rule. Azad Kashmir borders the Pakistani provinces of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to the south and west respectively, Gilgit–Baltistan to the north, and the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir to the east.
Juvenile justice in Pakistan deals with crimes committed by Pakistani children. The minimum age for criminal responsibility in Pakistan is seven years. According to a SPARC report published in 2012 there were 1500 to 2000 juveniles imprisoned in Pakistan. This figure, however, excludes thousands of under trials whose number is unknown. Anees Jillani opines that one of the reasons for the large number of children coming into conflict with the law is the low age of criminal responsibility, which is seven years under section 82 of the Pakistan Penal Code 1860 Additionally, section 83 of the Pakistan Penal Code says that nothing is an offense which is done by a child above seven years of age and under the age of twelve, who has not attained sufficient maturity of understanding to judge the nature and consequences of his or her conduct on that occasion.
Human rights abuses in Kashmir have been perpetrated by various belligerents in the territories controlled by both India and Pakistan since the two countries' conflict over the region began with their first war in 1947–1948, shortly after the partition of British India. The organized breaches of fundamental human rights in Kashmir are tied to the contested territorial status of the region, over which India and Pakistan have fought multiple wars. More specifically, the issue pertains to abuses committed in Indian-administered Kashmir and in Pakistani-administered Kashmir.
Punishment for rape in Pakistan under the Pakistani laws is either death penalty or imprisonment of between ten and twenty-five years. For cases related to gang rape, the punishment is either death penalty or life imprisonment. DNA test and other scientific evidence are used in prosecuting rape cases in Pakistan.
The legality of corporal punishment of children varies by country. Corporal punishment of minor children by parents or adult guardians, which is intended to cause physical pain, has been traditionally legal in nearly all countries unless explicitly outlawed. According to a 2014 estimate by Human Rights Watch, "Ninety percent of the world's children live in countries where corporal punishment and other physical violence against children is still legal". Many countries' laws provide for a defence of "reasonable chastisement" against charges of assault and other crimes for parents using corporal punishment. This defence is ultimately derived from English law. As of 2023, only three of seven G7 members including seven of the 20 G20 member states have banned the use of corporal punishment against children.
Pakistan's estimated population was 207,774,520 according to the provisional results of the 2017 Census of Pakistan. Pakistan is the world's fifth-most-populous country.