Suffering of affected children continues
Karachi:Children continue to throng centres of the Society for the Protection of Rights of Children (Sparc) in the earthquake-affected regions of the country, even after two years. This, say officials of Sparc, is proof that the living conditions of survivors have not improved over the past two years.
According to a statement released on Monday, the pace of development work is not satisfying, as thousands of families are still confined to tents at the onset of the third winter after October 8, 2005.
“The government’s promises of a home have yet not become a reality. The region’s infrastructure will take years to recover completely,” said Asiya Arif, Promotion Officer Sparc.
Tent schools and damaged school buildings are being used by thousands of children. These schools become warm in the summers, causing inconvenience to both the students and teaching staff. Moreover, due to the dilapidated buildings, the risk to human life is a major factor that continues to disturb them.
Qindeel Shujaat, executive director, Sparc, said that, “transparency and monitoring is essential in case of the policies being formulated for the rehabilitation in the earthquake-affected regions.” He added that, “we must make sure that we are taking measures to safeguard life and property from such an eventuality in the future.”
Arif further pointed out that every passing season, especially the early arrival of winter, brings more hardships for vulnerable children. “With the packing up of temporary health facilities, the ministry of health now faces the challenge of providing much-needed medical facilities to survivors in these areas. Many children with amputated limbs are still waiting for prosthetics too,” she said.
Two years down, the picture is still grim for the children who survived the destruction and devastation, say officials. “The protection policy needs to be put in place, adoption ban should be lifted and orphans should be taken care of by the community, and institutional care should be the last resort,” they said.
As more and more children are joining the labour force, attempts must be made to keep track of these children and put them back into schools. It is important for the government agencies and the NGOs working in the area to realise that children have paid the heaviest price in this natural catastrophe, and they need help immediately.
Source: The News
Date:10/10/2007
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