Trafficking also a major challenge
Yasmin Bano / AMN
India’s Home Minister Rajnath Singh today said that sex tourism and child pornography have emerged as the major threats to children in recent times.
Addressing the 4th Ministerial Meeting of the South Asia Initiative to End Violence Against Children, SAIEVAC in New Delhi today, Mr Singh said, protection of children is everyone’s responsibility and hence all must work in convergence with as many stake holders as possible including parents, teachers, children and community.
“With increasing access to information technology and changing nature of the globalized economy, new threats for children are emerging” he said adding that a large number of children are also adversely affected due to rapid climate change, disasters and conflict.
He said, protection of children was necessary for the well being of the society and there is a need to give due respect to the voices of the children and learn to work with them.
He said in India, the government is trying to ensure a protective environment for children by bringing all citizens, including children under the purview of social security by linking them with AADHAAR – Unique Identification number which will empower them to access to their entitlements directly without any hindrance.
He said that Government has set up a National Portal -the Track Child which not only has data on missing children but it also has live database to monitor the progress of the found children who are availing various services in different Child Care Institutions.
The Home Minister said in recent past, a large number of children were rescued and restore them to their families or provide a protected environment to them through a special initiative called Operation Smile – a drive pioneered jointly by Police, Ministry of Women and Child Development, District administration, civil society organisations and community.
He said, safety, security, dignity and wellbeing of the children and young people will determine the wellbeing and strength of the countries.
Mr Singh said, in today’s fast moving world, many challenges exist for the children and despite the economic growth, there is a huge population which still lives in poverty and deprivation which adversely affects the survival, health and overall development of children.
Speaking on the occasion, Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi said, India has offered support to South Asian countries in expanding and upgrading their child helpline services as part of efforts to end trafficking and violence against children. She said, all countries have agreed on a timeline bound goals because all suffer from the same problem.
The three-day ministerial meeting of SAIEVAC, which comprises eight nations, was inaugurated on Monday to set strategies and agree on commitments to ensure protection and security of the children.