Press briefing of Cabinet Decision taken on 2024-02-19 (Subject to Confirmation at the next Meeting)

Drafting the Rights of Child Compact Act

- Ensuring the children's protection and well-being is a challenge owing to the recent changes in the entire society. Especially, many cases have been reported regarding the children being the victims of various abuses, making them engaged in various abusive activities and losing the opportunities to enjoy their rights. Therefore, it has been proposed to formulate a Compact Act to secure all the rights mentioned in the Convention on the Rights of the Child in addition to the existing legal provisions which are to ensure the protection and safety of the children in Sri Lanka. The approval of the Cabinet has already been granted to introduce a new Act named, “ Child Care Act” by the Cabinet decision dated 2023-01-09 titled as “Next 25 Years”. Accordingly, the proposal made by the Hon. President in his capacity as the Minister of Women, Child Affairs and Social Empowerment to instruct the Legal Draftsman to prepare the Rights of Child Compact Bill, was approved by the Cabinet.