IRIN
PAKISTAN: UNICEF and government start child registration
1 November 2005


[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United 
Nations]

ISLAMABAD, 1 November (IRIN) - The United Nations Children's Fund 
(UNICEF), together with the Ministry of Social Welfare (MoSW), has begun 
the massive task of registering all children currently living in 
emergency settlements across quake-hit areas of Pakistan and 
Pakistani-administered Kashmir.

"Registration that has started in the cities of Mansehra and 
Muzaffarabad will soon be expanded to other areas. It would help to have 
some sort of statistics of affected children including those 
unaccompanied, with specifications regarding their age and gender groups 
to facilitate us in future planning," Serap Maktav, UNICEF's South Asia 
regional adviser on child protection said in the Pakistani capital 
Islamabad on Tuesday.

As of today, at least 1,100 children up to 18 years of age have been 
registered in one Jalalabad emergency camp of Muzaffarabad city. Another 
3,000 minors have been recorded in three emergency settlements in the 
Balakot area of Mansehra district in North West Frontier Province 
(NWFP).

According to UNICEF, more than 17,000 children were killed and between 
1.6 and 2.2 million were affected by the quake that devastated the 
region and left at least 58,000 people dead.

In a joint effort with the International Committee of the Red Cross 
(ICRC), the National Database Registration Authority (NADRA) and several 
other national and international NGOs, MoSW intends to devise a 
comprehensive strategy to deal with the problems of orphaned, 
unattended, separated, injured and missing children.

Based on information from registration forms, "ICRC will help the 
separated children in tracing their family roots through various means, 
such as community meetings and gathering information from various 
sources. While, in some areas, we have already started working," Antonia 
Spanaki from the tracing unit of the ICRC said in Islamabad.

Following the chaos and confusion immediately after the earthquake, the 
Pakistani government imposed a national ban on the adoption of children 
for a period of six months. Islamabad has also restricted the relocation 
of children from quake-affected areas to prevent the abuse and 
trafficking of quake children.

"The government is trying to address the issue on a priority basis. 
Several monitoring teams are presently on the ground to assess the 
situation of children in emergency settlements as well as other open 
places both in NWFP and Pakistani-administered Kashmir," Muhammad Hassan 
Mangi, a MoSW child protection expert said in Islamabad.

MoSW has set up six 'Child Care and Rehabilitation Centres' to house 
orphaned and unattended children from quake-hit areas where they will be 
provided with education, health and emotional support.

"Three centres with an extended capacity to house 700 children have been 
set up in Islamabad, while three others are in Mansehra, Muzaffarabad 
city with 500 capacity each and in Bagh with a capacity of keeping 200 
children," Mangi said.


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Copyright (c) UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 
2005


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