Perspective - Page 42

Insights From the 2023 Census Report

The 2023 Census conducted by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics released its complete report in July 2024 indicates that the total population of Pakistan is 240 million out of which the population of children under 18 is 112 Million (47% of the total population). Children Population (under 18) Population under 18 Total Male Female Transgender Pakistan 112,472,700 58,099,978 54,370,121 2,601…

Permitted age for employment of children as domestic workers

Do you know what the minimum age is for children in the different provinces of Pakistan to be employed as domestic workers? Child labour is a provincial subject in Pakistan after the 18th Constitutional Amendment in 2010. The 18th Constitutional Amendment devolved the issue of labour and employment to the…

Juvenile Offenders in Punjab

The total number of convicted and undertrial juveniles imprisoned in various borstal…

Transport For Schooling

A JUDGE at the Lahore High Court recently ordered that schools should arrange for…

The Case of Missing Children

In the recently-published annual report of Roshni Helpline 1138, a non-profit from Karachi, a total of 2,633 cases of missing children were reported in the country from January to December 2023. Of those, 1,942 were successfully recovered and reunited with their parents. However, the organisation, which focuses on missing children…

Children at work

Survey for K-P in 2022-23 reveals that 922,314 children are engaged in work constituting 11.1% of population Even though, child labour is prohibited in Pakistan with several laws mandating action against employers, millions of children across the country are currently working across different sectors. The first Child Labour Survey for…

Countering child marriage

For decades, the menace of child marriage has cast a shadow over Pakistani society, shattering the futures of countless children. Despite the presence of laws prohibiting the practice, child marriages continue at an alarming rate across the country. A provincial-level consultation workshop was organised in Peshawar to address the issue.…

Reforming School Exams in Pakistan

The school exam is the cornerstone of any educational system which is responsible for assessing the academic performance of students based on a prescribed curriculum and textbooks, certifying that the students have met certain standards, and evaluating the education system’s performance for the purposes of accountability. School exams exert a…

Unspoken Barriers

RECENTLY, at a history conference on academic freedom held at SZABIST, a session was devoted to analysing the culture of silence that has come to prevail in our academia. It was attributed to the penchant of the powers that be to clamp down on the free expression of opinion by…

Eliminate Child Marriage

This impactful animated video by UNICEF emphasizes the urgent necessity of eradicating child marriage and promoting access to education for children.…

Child Domestic Labor as Modern-Day Slavery

14-year-old Rizwana was allegedly subjected to brutal torment over a sustained period of some six months by her employer in Islamabad. When her parents received Rizwana, the child was in critical condition. They went to the police station to lodge a first information report (FIR) against the employer, the wife…

The Crises of Malnutrition in Pakistan

Hailing from Gharo, Lachmi, aged two months and weighing just eight kilogrammes, was brought to our clinic by her very worried mother, who reported that she was not able to breastfeed Lachmi as she could not afford meals most days. Lachmi underwent various tests before being diagnosed with Severe Acute…

deficiencies in Pakistan's education system

The Impact of Pakistan’s Education System

What PM Shehbaz Sharif blurted out recently isn’t quite a national secret. Though none in high office can admit it publicly, in a moment of despair he admitted that wherever he visits, disdain is written on the faces of hosts. Respecting those who keep asking for loans and rollovers is…

National Human rights institutions in Pakistan

Challenges and Obstacles for Human Rights Commissions in Pakistan

National and sub-national human rights commissions, established under the Paris Principles, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1993, are independent institutions responsible for protecting and promoting human rights at the national and regional levels. In simple terms, these commissions act as watchdogs and advocates, who keep a close…