Over 1.47 lakh children lost their parents due to COVID and other reasons since April 2020
NCPCR to SC
New Delhi (PTI): The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has informed the Supreme Court that a total of 1,47,492 children since April 1, 2020, have lost either their mother or father or both parents due to COVID-19 and other reasons.
Giving the details in a suo motu matter on children in need of care and protection due to loss of parents during the COVID-19 pandemic, the NCPCR said its figures are based on data uploaded by states and Union Territories on its 'Baal Swaraj Portal-COVID care' up to January 11.
That it is most humbly reiterated that the data of children uploaded on the 'Baal Swaraj Portal-COVID care' by the States/UTs comprises of both categories of children, wherein the child has lost both or either of the parent to COVID-19 disease or otherwise from April 2020 onwards , the affidavit filed through advocate Swarupama Chaturvedi said.
The Commission said the data uploaded up to January 11 showed the status of children in need of care and protection included orphans (10,094), lost either parent (1,36,910) and abandoned (488) taking the total to 1,47,492.
In the gender-wise break-up, the commission said, out of the 1,47,492 children, there are 76,508 boys, 70,980 girls and four transgender.
It said that the maximum number of children are between the age group of eight to 13 years (59,010), followed by children in the age group of 14 to 15 years (22,763) and age group of 16 to 18 years (22,626) and four to seven years (26,080).
The Commission also gave the current status of shelter of children and said that maximum of the children are with their single parent -1,25,205, while 11,272 children are with family members, followed by 8,450 with guardians.
It said that 1,529 kids are in children's homes, 19 in open shelter homes, two in observation homes, 188 in orphanages, 66 in special adoption agencies and 39 in hostels.
Giving the state-wise details of children who lost either their mother or father or both parents to COVID and other reasons since April 2020, the Commission said that the maximum number of such children are from Odisha (24,405), followed by Maharashtra (19,623), Gujarat (14,770), Tamil Nadu (11,014), Uttar Pradesh (9,247), Andhra Pradesh (8,760), Madhya Pradesh (7,340), West Bengal (6,835) Delhi (6,629) and Rajasthan (6,827).
The Commission said that it is taking steps to ensure that children should not be or are less adversely affected in the pandemic.
In this context, NCPCR has been conducting virtual meetings with state commissions for protection of child rights of each States/UTs to know the updated status of preparedness in the event of a third wave of COVID pandemic, if at all such a wave comes , it said.
The Commission informed the top court that it has been conducting zone-wise meetings with SCPCRs of each state/UT and a virtual meeting with North-East states is scheduled to be held on January 19.
The discussions with the SCPCRs are being done to take an updated status of health care facilities, institutions for Children-schools/residential educational institutions, child care institutions, children in street situations and status of implementation of court's order , it said.
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World seeing near breakdown of international law amid wars in Gaza and Ukraine, Amnesty says
London (AP): The world is seeing a near breakdown of international law amid flagrant rule-breaking in Gaza and Ukraine, multiplying armed conflicts, the rise of authoritarianism and huge rights violations in Sudan, Ethiopia and Myanmar, Amnesty International warned on Wednesday as it published its annual report.
The human rights organisation said the most powerful governments, including the United States, Russia and China, have led a global disregard for international rules and values enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, with civilians in conflicts paying the highest price.
Agnes Callamard, Amnesty's secretary general, said the level of violation of international order witnessed in the past year was "unprecedented".
"Israel's flagrant disregard for international law is compounded by the failures of its allies to stop the indescribable civilian bloodshed meted out in Gaza," she said. "Many of those allies were the very architects of that post-World War Two system of law."
The report highlighted the United States' failures to denounce rights violations committed by Israel and its use of veto power to paralyse the UN Security Council on a cease-fire resolution in Gaza, as well as Russia's ongoing aggression in Ukraine. It also pointed to China's arming of military forces in Myanmar and the way Beijing has shielded itself from scrutiny over its treatment of the Uyghur minority.
"We have here three very large countries, superpowers in many ways, sitting on the Security Council that have emptied out the Security Council of its potentials, and that have emptied out international law of its ability to protect people," Callamard told The Associated Press in London.
The report, which detailed Amnesty's assessment of human rights in 155 countries, underlined an increasing backlash against women's rights and gender equality in 2023.
It cited the brutal suppression of women's protests in Iran, the Taliban's decrees "aimed at erasing women from public life" in Afghanistan, and legal restrictions on abortion in the US and Poland, among others.
The rights organisation also warned about the threat of new technologies if left unchecked, saying the rapid advancement in artificial intelligence and mass surveillance tools could be deployed to stoke conflict, encroach on rights and freedoms and sow discord in a landmark election year.
Unregulated tech advances "can be weaponised to discriminate, disinform and divide," Callamard said.
