The active role of the deputy commissioners across Karachi was also acknowledged KARACHI: A delegation from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Polio Branch discussed sustaining momentum toward eradication goals, including continued CDC technical assistance and capacity building of health department staff. The critical role of NSTOP officers in supporting District Emergency Operations Centers (DEOCs) was highlighted as a key element of the response structure. The CDC Polio Branch delegation was
Child Rights in Focus
The highlights of the Pakistan Economic Survey 2024-25 showcase economic improvements, including a projected GDP growth of 5.7% and a primary surplus of 3.0% of GDP. Inflation has reached a record low of 0.3% in April 2025, while the current account surplus stands at $1.9 billion, bolstered by high remittances. For more details, check out the Economic Survey Highlights 2024 – 2025.
ICT Child Marriage Restraint Act, 2025 marks a pivotal step toward a safer, progressive Pakistan KARACHI. Child rights organisations and advocates, along with concerned citizens, have warmly welcomed the passage of recent legislation on child marriages, describing it as a landmark step toward protecting the rights and well-being of children. “The passage of the ICT Child Marriage Restraint Act, 2025 is a defining moment for Pakistan. This legislation affirms our national commitment to protecting
RAWALPINDI: After the police enlarged the scope of their investigation to determine the real circumstance surrounding the murder of a toddler allegedly by her 10-year-old cousin in Ratta Amral, it emerged that the suspect was mentally unstable. This was revealed by the grandmother of the juvenile suspect during police investigation. The suspect’s mother had left her husband’s house, along with her two children, including the 10-year-old boy, and started living with her parents in Ratta Amral.
ISLAMABAD: In the context of the recent murder of a TikToker, Pakistan’s National Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) has issued an advisory, noting that women continue to face persistent threats such as image-based abuse and digital harassment in Pakistan. The advisory — titled Safe, Diligent, and Responsible Usage of Social Media — has painted a stark picture of the digital threat landscape in Pakistan, highlighting risks that affect millions particularly children, women, and elderly
In the quiet courtyards of rural Pakistan, a 13-year-old girl is pulled from her school desk and handed a bridal dress. Her childhood ends not with celebration, but with chores, early pregnancy, and a silence enforced by custom. This is not a regional anomaly; it is a national emergency. According to one UNICEF report, based on the Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey (PDHS) 2017-18, one in six women aged 20–24 in Pakistan was married before
CHILD marriage persists in Pakistan for many reasons, and ending the practice requires measures that are sensitive to the problem’s complexity. Debates on child marriage tend to reduce this complexity to two opposing legal positions. Proponents of gender equality and child welfare support higher minimum age limits for child marriage and harsher criminal penalties. Religious parties and lobbies, on the other hand, claim that lower minimum age limits are consistent with Islamic law. Discussion
ISLAMABAD: A local court on 4th June approved a 14-day judicial remand for Omar Hayat, the prime suspect in the murder of social media influencer Sana Yousaf, to facilitate his identification parade. The accused was presented before Judicial Magistrate Ahmed Shehzad Gondal by the federal police. Tensions rose in the courtroom when the magistrate noticed the absence of both the prosecutor and the district public prosecutor. Expressing his displeasure, Magistrate Gondal said: “Where are the
The Islamabad IG has rightly called this a case of ‘repeated rejections’. Another young woman has been silenced, not by society’s disapproval of her ambitions, but by its refusal to protect her from male entitlement and rage. The brutal murder of 17-year-old social media influencer Sana Yousaf in Islamabad, allegedly by a man who could not handle rejection, is a terrifying reminder that Noor Mukadam was not a tragic anomaly, but a chilling precedent.
A law banning the marriage of children under eight years of age has been challenged in the Federal Shariat Court (FSC) in Islamabad, arguing that it was against the Constitution as well as the tenets of Islam and should be abolished. The bill, which sought to protect the rights of children and eradicate marriages of children under the age of 18, was signed into law by the president on May 27 after sailing through both houses of
ISLAMABAD: The capital police on 3rd June announced the arrest of the suspect in the murder case of a social media influencer, who was gunned down at her house in G-13 on 2nd June. Addressing a hastily-called news conference, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Syed Ali Nasir Rizvi said after the murder of 17-year-old Sana Yousuf, seven police teams were formed under the supervision of DIG Operations Jawad Tariq. These teams conducted a technical
ISLAMABAD / LAHORE: The government has dismantled an international child exploitation network operating out of a so-called gaming club in Muzaffarabad, where children aged six to 10 were lured, abused and filmed for the sake of selling their videos on the dark web, Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry said on 3rd June. Speaking at a press conference alongside National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) Director General Dr Waqaruddin Syed, the minister said