Review Report

Children’s Complaint Office

January – April 2011

CHILDREN’S COMPLAINT OFFICE

WAFAQI MOHTASIB SECRETARIAT

ISLAMABAD
 Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION 1

COMPLAINTS AND INVESTIGATIONS 1

MODES OF COMPLAINTS 1

COMPLAINTS STATUS 1

REVIEW OF CASES/COMPLAINTS: 3

An 11 year olf orphan requiring NIC 3

Discrimination in not sending a nominated student to Japan by the FDE 3

Discrimination in sending admission as a regular student 4

Shift from Evening to Morning classes 4

UPDATE ON THE CCO’S ACTIVITIES 4

Consultancies 4

SOCIAL MOBILIZATION 5

Meetings with CSOs and Media 5

HCCO’s visit to Provinces (Punjab) - (January, April 2011) 5

HCCO’s visit to Provinces (Khyber Pukhtunkhwa) - (February, April 2011) 6

CCO Training Modules to be included in the Curriculum of NSPP 6

National Plan of Action for Children 7

AWARENESS CAMPAIGN 7

Media coverage 7

Online Awareness 8

Website 8
 Acronyms

Wafaqi Mohtasib Secretariat WMS

Responsive, Enabling and Accountable Systems for Children’s Rights REACH

Children’s Complaint Office CCO

United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child UNCRC

Head of Children’s Complaint Office HCCO

Regional Office RO

Federal Directorate of Education FDE

National Plan of Action NPA

Child Rights Steering Committee CRSC

Complaint Management Information System CMIS

Civil Society Organization CSO

National Database and Registration Authority NADRA

National School of Public Policy NSPP

National Commission of Child Welfare and Development NCCWD

Federally Administered Tribal Areas FATA

 INTRODUCTION

The Children’s Complaint Office (CCO), established under the Responsive, Enabling
and Accountable Systems for Children’s Rights (REACH) project, serves as a
dedicated instrument for receiving and resolving complaints from and about children,
against maladministration in any federal agency.

Protection of the rights of children constitutes an important aspect of the

responsibilities of the State and this project will help Pakistan in implementing the
United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), with special
reference to Article 12 which is as follows:

“A child shall in particular be provided the opportunity to be heard in any

judicial and administrative proceedings affecting the child, either directly, or
through a representative or an appropriate body, in a manner consistent with
the procedural rules of national law”

COMPLAINTS AND INVESTIGATIONS

The Children Complaint Office can investigate complaints about services provided to
children and young people under 18 years of age by federal agencies. CCO is
promoting children’s rights and welfare by providing an independent voice on behalf
of children and young people in Pakistan and affording children and young people
opportunities to be heard in relation to issues that affect them.

Complaints can be made by adults and children. Before the Office can investigate a
complaint made by someone under the age of 18, it must inform their parents or
guardians.

MODES OF COMPLAINTS

Complaints to the ombudsman can be made by telephone, mail, fax, email, or by

submitting an electronic complaint form which is accessible on the Wafaqi Mohtasib
Secreteriat (WMS) website. The WMS is required by law to keep the identity of
complainants confidential unless the complainant gives the ombudsman permission
to disclose his or her identity.

COMPLAINTS STATUS

For the month of March 2011, a total of 14 complaints were lodged. All of these
complaints were directly submitted online to the Complaint Management Information
System (CMIS).

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The number of complaints received compared to last month is the same. The graph
below shows the total number of complaints received month-wise for the year 2011:

Complaints Received
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
January February March April

January February March April

Out of the 15 complaints received, none were found to be admissible.

For the month of April 2011, 9 complaints were registered at HO Islamabad, 2 each
at RO – Lahore and Multan, 1 each at RO – Karachi and Peshawar.

The total number of complaints, in different categories, received for the year 2011 is
as follows:

Months Admissible Not-Admissible

January 3 12
February 4 10
March 2 12
April 0 15
Total 9 49

For the month of April 2011, cases were lodged against the following organizations:

 Capital Development Authority (CDA),

 Provincial Education Department,

 Federal Directorate of Education,

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  Provincial Police Department (Khyber Pukhtunkhwa)

 Education Division,

 Provincial Health Department (Punjab),

 Provincial Home Department

Overall a number of 58 complaints have been received from 1st January 2011 till 30th
April 2011. Out of these complaints, 49 were found to be not-admissible, and 10 are
under process.

REVIEW OF CASES/COMPLAINTS:

AN 11 YEAR OLF ORPHAN REQUIRING NIC

An orphan who lost both his parents and most of his family in the catastrophic
earthquake of 2005 filed a complaint against NADRA for not issuing him a B-Form.
The reason stated was that the child had no proof of parentage.

Since he was being taken care of by a guardian, NADRA does not have any policy
on issuing B-Forms to orphans without any details of his/her father.

The case is under process for arranging alternate documents before calling on
NADRA for the needful.

DISCRIMINATION IN NOT SENDING A NOMINATED STUDENT TO JAPAN BY THE FDE

A girl reported that she got second position in her class should have been part of a
team of the top three position holders in Grade 5 to visit Japan. While students who
got 1st, 3rd, and 4th position in Grade 5 were sent to Japan instead.

The IO has asked the FDE for a detailed report regarding this issue.

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DISCRIMINATION IN SENDING ADMISSION AS A REGULAR STUDENT

A girl filed a case against OPF Girls College that the principal of the school had
forced her to send her admission for Board Examination, as a private candidate.

Upon investigation, the IO concluded that the agency was correct in its decision as
the complainant had a poor attendance record and secured less that 53% marks in 5
subjects.

The findings are ready for submission to HWM for approval. As the HWM has not
been appointed, this case is pending.

SHIFT FROM EVENING TO MORNING CLASSES

An aggrieved father complained that his children whose elder son is in class 2 and
younger daughter in class 1, should both be sent to the morning shift rather than the
son and daughter in the evening and morning shift respectively.

The IO has asked for detailed response from the FDE.

UPDATE ON THE CCO’S ACTIVITIES

CONSULTANCIES

Study on International Best Practices of Child Rights Monitoring

The CCO had outsourced a Study on International Best Practices of Child Rights
Monitoring. The overall objective of the study is to strengthen the children’s rights
monitoring mechanisms of the Children’s Complaint Office and in due course pave
the path for a Children’s Ombudsman. The study is expected to propose options for
a child rights monitoring mechanism that is relevant to Pakistan’s context and
conditions. The CCO awarded the contract to Ms. Natasha Simonsen -an
international consultant- to carry out the study.

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The final draft of the report has been reviewed. A working paper developed by the
CCO and approved by the HWM, has been developed based on the report’s
recommendations, which would be shared with the concerned
ministries/departments and CSOs.

The printing of this report is being arranged by UNICEF and is expected to be printed
by the end of May, 2011.

SOCIAL MOBILIZATION

MEETINGS WITH CSOS AND MEDIA

Recognizing the significance of interaction with the media, the HCCO while visiting
Provincial HQs has had meetings with media representatives that included:

 Waqt TV,
 Daily Jang,
 Ausaf,
 Express Tribune,
 Daily News,
 Aaj Kal.

HCCO’S VISIT TO PROVINCES (PUNJAB) - (JANUARY, APRIL 2011)

The HCCO met the designated Investigation Officer for children’s complaints in
Wafaqi Mohtasib Regional Office at Lahore and discussed proposals on improving
interaction with local CSOs and the media. A list of local CSOs dealing with child
protection was shared with them.

Additionally the HCCO held meetings with the Advisor to the CM on Social Welfare
and reviewed the child protection measures and some new initiatives, their
department planned to take with the assistance of UNCICEF.

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The HCCO also held meetings with Ombudsman Punjab, Secretary Provincial
Ombudsman to discuss the CCO’s progress, planned activities and areas of joint
coordination.

A Children Welfare Home – a setup by the Child Protection and Welfare Bureau was
also paid a visit which is providing shelter services, clothing, vocational training and
legal ait to destitute and neglected children.

HCCO’S VISIT TO PROVINCES (KHYBER PUKHTUNKHWA) - (FEBRUARY, APRIL 2011)

The HCCO along with officers from UNICEF met the Provincial Minister for Social
Welfare to discuss child protection measures. Matters regarding functions and
mandate of various authorities working in the department on child protection were
reviewed.

Meeting held with the Provincial Ombudsman for finalising the setup of a Children’s
Complaint Office.

The HCCO met the ACS (FATA), in which child protection measures and the
situation of children in FATA were discussed, who have become victims of militancy
and the military operations. Discussion on setting up innovative institutional
mechanism for the redress of complaints by the general public as well as children
against government departments and agencies working in FATA were prioritised,
with the proposed setup of an Ombudsman Office along with a CCO.

CCO TRAINING MODULES TO BE INCLUDED IN THE CURRICULUM OF NSPP

A major activity in the work plan of the CCO is the introduction of CCO training
modules to be incorporated in the curriculum of the National School of Public Policy
(NSPP), so that senior civil servants are sensitized and oriented to child rights
issues.

A proposal has been put forward to the Rector of the NSPP to work out modalities
for implementation.

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NATIONAL PLAN OF ACTION FOR CHILDREN

The Children’s Complaint Office is facilitating the implementation of the National Plan
of Action (NPA) for children. The CCO is reviewing the progress of the National Plan
of Action developed by the National Commission of Child Welfare and Development
(NCCWD) in 2005. Specific goals have been distilled from the NPA and the
concerned ministries-Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Labour and
National Commission for Child Welfare- were asked for progress reports. The reports
will be reviewed in the Child Rights Steering Committee (CRSC).

The CRSC of 20 members has been formed and its first session was held in
September 2010 at the Wafaqi Mohtasib Secretariat (WMS). The CRSC will
strengthen and institutionalize CCO’s linkage with the Civil Society Organizations.
The committee is going to monitor the National Plan of Action for Children, look into
systemic issues and oversee Pakistan’s compliance with UNCRC.

The members of the CRSC have already been sent the next meeting’s structure and
are expected to modify the NPA matrix if required from their end, so as to eventually
form the final matrix.

The second CRSC meeting will be held upon the appointment of the HWM.

AWARENESS CAMPAIGN

MEDIA COVERAGE

 CCO sent its information material to its eight regional offices and four office s
of provincial Ombudsman for dissemination purpose. This IEC material
includes 2400 handouts, 1200 UNCRC brochures, 1200 CCO newsletters
(Khabarnama-e-Atfal) and 200 CCO profiles.

 Additionally 48 posters were sent to eight regional offices.

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ONLINE AWARENESS

Besides physically going to different schools to increase CCO’s awareness among

the children, one other effective medium of communication has been establishing the
CCO Page on Facebook (social networking website.) The usage of Facebook is
rapidly increasing among the members of all ages, especially children.

To date there are 43 members of the CCO Facebook Page. This number is steadily
increasing and there have not been any un-subscriptions which is a positive sign.
The CCO Page has relevant pictures, videos and press clippings.

The CCO Facebook Page url is: http://www.facebook.com/CCO.Pakistan .

WEBSITE

The CCO’s website, integrated with the WMS website, is available both in
English and Urdu.

The URL of the official CCO website is http://www.mohtasib.gov.pk/cco .