ISLAMABAD: Despite limited progress overall, some regions of the country did show significant gains in reducing childhood stunting between 2011 and 2018, two major national and global studies published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition have revealed. In parts of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces, stunting rates declined at an average rate of 1.6 percent per annum. Despite its fragile socio-economic indicators, the country showed modest gains in linear growth among children under
Child Rights in Focus
ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of National Health Services, Regulation and Coordination (NHSR&C) reported to the National Assembly that from 2018 to 2024, the average number of children vaccinated with the polio vaccine in the nationwide campaigns annually has ranged from 39.3 million to 44.9 million. In a reply to a question from Asiya Naz Tanoli, the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination said to achieve herd immunity against the poliovirus, children under the
KARACHI: The Sindh cabinet on Tuesday ordered a high-level inquiry into irregularities in all educational boards across the province and allowed extra marks to thousands of students who had appeared in first year exam conducted by the Board of Intermediate Education Karachi (BIEK) last year. The cabinet meeting, chaired by Sindh CM, expressed displeasure over the performance of educational boards in the province and directed the chief secretary to constitute a committee comprising upright officers to
In a tragic incident in Qila Sahib Singh, a suburban area of Punjab’s Hafizabad district, three children lost their lives while five others are reported to be in critical condition after having “poisonous” sweets, according to the first information report filed by police. According to the FIR, “all eight children fell seriously ill after consuming the poisonous sweets and were immediately taken to the District Headquarters Hospital in Hafizabad on Monday evening.” A statement
A 17-year-old girl died by suicide after she was allegedly raped and impregnated in Punjab’s Muzaffargarh, police said on April 13. According to a first information report (FIR) dated April 12, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, the girl had informed her father and elder sister that her uncle and cousin raped her two months ago after which she became pregnant. Her body was found at around 4pm, the victim’s father said in
In this thought-provoking video, Harris Khalique shares a powerful message on Pakistan’s identity, its post-colonial legacy, and the urgent need for a transformative approach to education—one that values not only economic progress but also the richness of arts and culture. Watch as he highlights why true development must begin in the classroom.
Children given in the custody of childless couples are vulnerable to mistreatment LAHORE. Till date, Pakistan has not been able to devise formal legislation on the practice of child adoption, despite the fact that a significant number of married couples are given temporary custody of abandoned children each year. As a result, no effective monitoring system exists to prevent the mistreatment of adopted children, who are orphaned twice in the face of unreported exploitation,
Case was initially reported as a suicide; postmortem, forensics proved otherwise KARACHI: The Civil Lines police have arrested a woman for allegedly murdering her 15-year-old daughter in what was initially reported as a suicide case. According to SHO Muhammad Khan, on April 5, police received reports of a suspected suicide at a residence near Street No 12 in Hijrat Colony’s D-2 Area. The deceased, identified as Erum, was initially believed to have taken her
KARACHI: Federal Health Minister Syed Mustafa Kamal said on 13-April-2025 that there is no valid justification to refuse polio drops to eligible children in Pakistan, especially when the Taliban regime in neighbouring Afghanistan is supervising a door-to-door anti-polio immunisation drive. The minister disclosed that 85,000 people in Pakistan refused polio vaccination for their children, including 34,000 in Karachi. Of these, 27,000 refusals were reported in Karachi’s District East alone. He was talking to media
Lack of textbooks, trained teachers and proper labs cited as the cause Rawalpindi. In the new academic session 2025-27, the number of academic groups offered for Matric (9th and 10th grade) has been increased from three to six. However, a lack of preparedness for the newly introduced groups has caused serious delays in education for thousands of students enrolled in them. The new groups Agricultural Science, Fashion Designing, and Health Science, were introduced without
A road traffic accident (RTA) in Baldia Town claimed the life of a four-year-old boy on 12-April-2025, while a motorcyclist injured in a hit-and-run incident near the Golimar pedestrian bridge a day earlier breathed his last during treatment. In Baldia’s Abidabad area a speeding water tanker ran over four-year-old Affan Jasim, who was returning home after playing at a nearby ground. The boy died on the spot. The body was taken to Dr Ruth
ISLAMABAD: City managers have decided to set up the first ever adventure park in Islamabad. The decision was made in a meeting, which was chaired by Secretary Interior Mohammad Khurram Agha and attended by CDA Chairman Mohammad Ali Randhawa, the member environment and other relevant senior officers. The meeting discussed the establishment of an Adventure City Park at an appropriate place in Islamabad. This will be one of the best tourist places in the