UNICEF Pakistan provided technical support in drafting the policy, ensuring alignment with international standards. The Punjab Cabinet, under the leadership of Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, has officially approved the province’s first comprehensive Child Protection Policy, marking a significant milestone in the protection of children’s rights. The policy, developed by the Child Protection and Welfare Bureau, aims to provide a structured and effective roadmap to prevent child abuse, neglect, violence, and exploitation. It was approved
Child Rights in Focus
In this clip, host Mehnaz Parveen talks to Usama Khilji (Director, Bolo Bhi) about online harassment, the issue of private video sharing, and the legal routes available in Pakistan. From the role of the FIA to the support offered by Digital Rights Foundation, here’s what you need to know.
UNICEF’s National Ambassador for Child Rights, Saba Qamar, highlights the impact of child marriage on young girls’ futures and calls for unified action to protect children.
PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa health department has initiated the process to extend the Medical Teaching Institutions Reforms Act to Khyber Institute of Child Health Peshawar and Saidu Group of Teaching Hospital Swat. In a letter, the department directed the medical superintendent of the SGTH Swat and director of the KICH to “provide budgetary details on priority to proceed with the plan of bringing both institutes under the Medical Teaching Institutions Reforms Act (MTIRA).” They
KARACHI: The Sindh Education Department has stated that five million sets of books have been printed and delivered to government schools free of cost. In a statement issued here on Sunday, the department said that the Sindh Textbook Board (STBB) has completed the distribution of free textbooks across the province for the academic year 2025–26. Out of the five million sets, 4.5m were allocated to public schools, while 500,000 were provided to schools under
PESHAWAR: Chief Minister Ali Amin Khan Gandapur here on 1st June announced to provide furniture to all enrolled students of government schools under the educational emergency. He directed relevant authorities to ensure that provision of furniture to every government school was completed during the next fiscal year. He said that no students in public sector school should sit on floor owing to non-available of furniture, according to an official statement. It said that chief
SUKKUR: The Sindh Human Rights Commission (SHRC) has urged the establishment of remand homes, women and children police stations and shelter homes for senior citizens in Sukkur to help pave the way for a more inclusive and supportive society. SHRC chairperson Iqbal Ahmed Detho said at a training session on capacity building of police officers in human rights education organised by his organisation here on May 31 that remand and shelter homes were important
“Recent studies show that school and college students are using e-cigarettes and other smokeless tobacco (SLT) forms, more than adults everywhere, and about 37 million young population aged 13-15 is using tobacco globally. Surprisingly in Pakistan, 1,200 to 1,500 youngsters begin smoking every day, and this results in hundreds of thousands of new smokers each year, many of whom will suffer from tobacco-related illnesses in the future.” These views were shared by Muhammad Qasim,
LOWER DIR: Despite Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government’s claims of imposing an ‘education emergency’, the dismal condition of a primary school in Tangu Manz area of Rabat Dara paints a different picture. During a visit to the school on Saturday, social activist Daim Shah told journalists that over 700 boys and girls were enrolled in the school, yet a majority of them were forced to study under the open sky due to a severe shortage of
KARACHI: The academic year in schools across Sindh started in April but despite the passage of around two months, there is a persistent shortage of textbooks for classes one to matric as hardly any class’s complete course pack is available in the market. A visit to the Urdu Bazaar has shown that there is a particular shortage of mathematics, English, biology, Urdu and Islamic studies books at most stores while even other books are
BAJAUR: A student was injured after he was allegedly tortured by teacher of a government primary school in Lowi Mamond tehsil here on 31st May, the victim’s father and police said. Talking to reporters, Mohammad Bilal, a resident of Kitkoot area, alleged his 11-year-old son, Mohammad Hazrat, a student of Government Primary School, Kitkoot No 1, was wounded after teacher, Zoobir Khan, beat him up with a stick. Accompanied by family members and villagers,
GILGIT: Despite rain and winds in different parts of Gilgit-Baltistan on 31st May, government schoolteachers continued to boycott classes and hold a protest sit-in for a sixth consecutive day to press the authorities for their one-point agenda of long overdue promotions. Academic activities at government schools across Gilgit-Baltistan have been suspended since last week, as thousands of teachers announced that they would call off their protest only when their single-point demand was fulfilled. For the