ISLAMABAD, Feb 17 (APP):Federal Minister for Human Rights Mian Riaz Hussain Pirzada on Friday chaired the third meeting of the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) Child Protection Advisory Board as its patron in the Ministry of Human Rights.
The objective of this meeting was to discuss the pending issues of the Child Protection Institute (CPI) and Zainab Alert Response and Recovery Agency (ZARRA).
The Advisory Board is mandated, under the Child Protection Act, 2018 to advise the government on matters relating to policy, legislation and implementation of the rights of children at the ICT level. In addition to this, u/s 4 of the ZARRA Act, 2020 the superintendence of the ZARRA agency also vests with the ICT Advisory Board.
In the meeting, Board unanimously approved to move for certain amendments in the relevant section/clause of the act to change the composition of the Advisory Board to make it more practical and viable. Further, the Director General CPI Rabeea Hadi requested the representative of the Inspector General of Police in Islamabad for more coordination and support in the tracing of Afghan Children, their reunification and particularly in the rehabilitation of drug addict children those are handed over to CPI by the police, said in a press release issued here on Friday.
During the meeting, issues of relocation and construction of the customized building of CPI, resource allocation, drafting of supplementary rules, the institutionalization of Helpline 1099, Prime Minister Performance Delivery Unit and ZARRA and recruitment of staff for both CPI and ZARRA also came under the discussion. Moreover, the board discussed the proposal to move for necessary legislation for the adoption of unclaimed children from the CPI.
Minister Riaz Hussain Pirzada urged the Islamabad Police to make sure the availability of lady police while handing over the custody of children to CPI for making this process more protected.
The minister also advised the concerned authorities of CPI and ZARRA to fully utilize the human, tangible, and financial resources to make both CPI and ZARRA fully functional and effective for the better safety of children in ICT.
