IT is a matter of satisfaction that the Sindh Government, led by Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, is firm on its commitment to protecting rights of all marginalized segments of the society. The province is implementing a five year policy, which was approved last year, to promote rights of unprivileged sections of the society including women, children, labourers, minorities, differently-abled and transgender persons. It also established a Child Protect Authority, which has taken a series of measures since 2018 to ensure safeguarding of rights of children in the growing complex environment.
These steps are in line with the avowed commitment of the PPP leadership including President Asif Ali Zardari and Chairman of the party Bilawal Bhutto Zardari to the legal and financial empowerment of the disadvantaged segments of the society. The credit goes to the party leadership for launching the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP), which has become the largest poverty alleviation programme of the country and a source for empowerment of the country’s womenfolk. It may be pointed out that the human rights policy, finalized after detailed input from various departments and stakeholders, is an all-encompassing document to safeguard rights and promote welfare of the downtrodden people. It addresses two categories of rights: civil and political rights (CPR) and economic, social and cultural rights (ESPR). The policy sets a range of targets in various sectors which among others include introduction of the Human Rights Degree Programmes at the university level; taking proactive measures to protect places of worship of minorities; bringing reforms in the curriculum to promote tolerance and discourage hate speech against religious minorities. Special attention is being given to protection of rights of children as Child Protection Units are now functional in thirty districts of the province and enforcement of the Sindh Child Marriage Restraint Act 2013. Hopefully, these and other measures would go a long way in promoting the human rights situation in Sindh making it a model for other provinces.
