Srinagar, Dec 2: In a significant development, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), which works for children’s rights across the globe, is exploring options to intervene vis-à-vis child rights issues in Jammu and Kashmir.
 Informed sources told Greater Kashmir that the two member team of the UNICEF—headed by Louis Georges Arsenault, the representative in India, and Urmila Scarcer, chief of education at UNICEF India—had been on visit to J&K last month to “find out possibilities of their involvement and assistance in child rights sector in the State.”
 During their three-day tour, the sources said, the delegation met Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, higher-ups in education and social welfare departments besides representatives of international, national and local non- governmental organizations presently working in the state to find targets for their intervention.
 “The delegation also visited a government school in south Kashmir’s Islamabad (Anantnag) district to get a first- hand account of the requirements in educational sector in Kashmir,” they said.
 Sources said during the meeting, the Chief Minister underlined the need for intervention of the UNICEF in providing technical assistance in educational sector.
 “The rights body is scheduled to carry a follow- up visit in the third week of December for further assessment,” they said.
 When contacted, Caroline den Dulk, Chief, Advocacy & Partnerships, UNICEF India, in an email to Greater Kashmir said: “Recently the Country Representative for UNICEF India did visit Jammu and Kashmir as part of exploring options for UNICEF’s next five year country programme of cooperation with the Government of India, which provides an excellent opportunity to review our strategies, focus areas and approaches in making sure they respond to the existing situation of children in the country.”
 She wrote: “We are currently in the process of finalising the details of our engagement in India over the next five years.”
 Pertinently, the international organizations working in the social sector have very limited presence in the State and their non-presence is mainly attributed to security hurdles and non-clearances.
 Pertinently the Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection Department of the European Commission (ECHO), formerly known as the European Community Humanitarian Aid Office, is intervening in different areas in JK in the past one decade. The ECHO is also rendering financial assistance to the children who were injured during last 20 years of conflict, including the 2010 unrest in Kashmir.

Lastupdate on : Sun, 2 Dec 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sun, 2 Dec 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Mon, 3 Dec 2012 00:00:00 IST