Equality and Empowerment in Pakistan- An Experience of Street Children (巴基斯坦平等與賦權—流浪兒童的經驗)

Time: 
11/07/2019 - 13:30 to 11/07/2019 - 15:00
Room: 
304a
Type: 
Proposal(Workshop / Presentation)
Coordinating organization: 
Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child
Theme: 
Equality and Economic Empowerment
Language: 
English
Organization Name: 
Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (兒童權利保護協會)
Organization Introduction: 
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. It was established as an advocacy group for children’s rights. Initially focused on promoting and protecting breastfeeding. It has expanded to child labour, juvenile justice, education and violence against children. It has held "children's parliaments"and worked to end corporal punishment in Pakistani schools.

SPARC was officially established on December 17, 1992, in Islamabad, Pakistan. SPARC's governing body is run by a board of directors. While the headquarters is located in Islamabad, it has offices in Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar and Quetta, Hyderabad, Multan and Nowshera. 54 Child Rights Committees consisting of local activists operate at the district level.

SPARC has consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council and the United Nations Department of Public Information. It is a partner of Defence for Children International. In 2003, SPARC received the United Nations Recognition Award for highlighting the plight of children and promoting the rights of children in Pakistan. In 2006, SPARC received USAID certification.

SPARC is a member of the Pakistan National Alliance and the International Baby Food Action Network.
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. It superseded the National Infant Feeding Board Rules of 2004. The ordinance has also been adopted by Gilgit-Baltistan, which has special status under a Presidential Order.
Proposer: jennywei
Describe your workshop/presentation (300-500 words): 
The Mustard Seed Mission involves in promoting, reviewing and finalizing the alternative report of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) in Taiwan. Based on the human-rights approach, our services focus on national children placement issues and overseas children in poverty.

In Pakistan, the estimated number of street children is around 1.5 million. They earn their living or beg for money on the street and mostly return home at night. Live in a difficult circumstance and are a highly vulnerable group, they are at risk of abuse, discrimination, and other human rights violation. Thus, the situation of street children is a rising issue. To respond to the value of CRC, the Mustard Seed Mission cooperate with The Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (SPARC), a local organization in Pakistan, supporting one of their street children centers to improve the quality of life of street children.

The presentation will focus on three aspects. First, analyzing the situation of street children in Pakistan and the difficulties they may face. Secondly, the case study in one of SPARC's street children centers that the Mustard Seed Mission has supported in a slum area of Islamabad. Third, the presentation will explore the issue of international cooperation and the transformation of SPARC that how the SPARC start from doing children right advocacy to also doing practical works now. Through the discussion of the transnational partnership, the presentation will also share how the Mustard Seed Mission support the service of SPARC based on the guiding principle of Survival and Development of CRC to ensure the right of security, health and education.
All Speakers:
Name: 
Sajeeda Nahid
Biography: 
Sajeeda has been working in the social development sector for almost 18 years. She is a master degree holder in Economics.
Mainly she has been working with civil society organizations including national and international NGOs and various research organizations. Her areas of expertise include social audit of governance, gender mainstreaming, planning and execution of capacity building interventions. She also has contributed in implementation & evaluation of a wide range of projects on Gender & Child rights. She also has experience of working at the community level where she implemented tools for gender sensitization such as street theatre, village assemblies and public meetings with marginalized audiences across Pakistan.
Currently, she is working as Manager M&E with a national level organization SPARC since 2012. At SPARC, She is developing and conducting training programs for civil society organizations, children and government officials on areas including gender and child rights.
Name: 
Penny Chen
Biography: 
Penny Chen, registered social worker, is the Director of Research and Development Department of the Mustard Seed Mission. She is also the Director of Children’s Rights Alliance (Taiwan). Graduated with a Master degree in Human Relations in Nottingham University, UK.
She was Adjunct Lecturer on social work department in several universities and Supervisor in the New Immigrants Family Growth Association. She was also a member of Student Gender Equity Grievances Committee when she was a counseling teacher in National Taiwan University of Science and Technology.
Recently, she has researched in the field of community development with local churches. She is also experienced in international collaboration in child’s educational projects with grass-root partners and post-disaster rehabilitation projects in Nepal and Indonesia since natural disaster attacked.
Slides: