The filmmaker behind Yasir Hussain and Ayesha Omar’s film on Javed Iqbal, Pakistan’s most infamous murderer, recently changed the film’s name to Kurki and resubmitted it to the censor board for approval. The director, Abu Aleeha, made the necessary changes to the film and announced that it has been cleared by the censor board for release on May 19th. The director explained that the new name was based on Javed Iqbal’s nickname, derived from
Child Rights in Focus
UNICEF released it flagship report “The State of World’s Children 2023” on a theme “For Every Child, Vaccination”. According to UNICEF, world is facing a red alert for children’s health: During the COVID -19 pandemic, vaccination coverage dropped dramatically, leaving millions of children unprotected against some of the most serious childhood diseases. In addition, many millions of children from some of the world’s most marginalised communities have not received life-saving vaccinations for a long
Daily Dawn in its editorial on April 19, 2023 highlighted the issue of malnourished children and urged the state to address the nutritional needs of vulnerable children in flood-affected areas. “Although the waters of 2022’s devastating floods have receded, the long-term impacts of the climate event continue to haunt the victims, particularly children. According to the UN, the number of malnourished children in the flood-affected areas has increased greatly, even though malnourishment was already
It is heart-rending to see how some issues may hold enough negativity to seed nothing but differences amongst societal units; or perhaps it is our irritating tendency to fail when it comes to dealing strategically with challenges as a nation. Last month I attended a seminar. Once the presentation by the chairperson of Punjab Higher Education Commission (PHEC) was over, a lady addressing herself as a public school teacher raised her concern over how
This report presents an analysis of data collected by PCE members during a Budget Tracking Activity aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of budget allocation and expenditure at the district level in promoting gender-responsive, disability-inclusive, and disaster-responsive public education. The data was collected from 12 districts through various sources, including one-on-one meetings with District Education Offices, education census reports, and government data portals. The report assesses the success of budget allocation and expenditure in achieving
The Peshawar High Court has ruled that a juvenile accused charged with terrorism-related offence should be tried by a juvenile court notified under the Juvenile Justice System Act, 2018, and not by an anti-terrorism court. A single-member bench consisting of Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim accepted plea of an under-trial juvenile accused and directed that his case should be forthwith transferred to Peshawar juvenile court. The petitioner was arrested after a firing incident on the premises
Daily Tribune in its editorial on 16 April 2023 stressed the need for the government of Pakistan to do everything possible to promote and include all groups in society. According to Daily Tribune, “In 2020, a NADRA survey revealed that there are as many as 371,833 differently-abled children in Pakistan. Despite their large number, we rarely come across persons with disabilities (PWDs) in public spheres due to widespread discrimination and negative attitudes towards them.
Director Shoaib Sultan surprised many by announcing a new film titled “Gunjal,” which focuses on a genre that is rarely explored in Pakistan. While audiences are eagerly awaiting the release of upcoming light-hearted comedy Eid films, Gunjal revisits the murder of child activist Iqbal Masih in 1990s Pakistan. The film stars Ahmed Ali Akbar, Resham, and Aamna Ilyas in lead roles, with Syed Muhammad Ali and Ahmed Ali Butt in supporting roles. Produced by
The International Labour Organization (ILO) conducted a qualitative study on child labour in the Pakistani domestic work sector as part of the Asia Regional Child Labour (ARC) Project. The study examined the lives of these children engaged in domestic work and looked at micro-level “push” factors such as social support, the home environment and children’s and parents’ attitudes towards child labour. At the meso level, the study identified “pull” factors such as working conditions,
THE sentiment to ‘reimagine’ is commendable. We haven’t done well in many things, and should, if possible, ‘reimagine’ and try to do things better. But reimagining doesn’t mean that the solutions we come up with will be easy or straightforward or quickly implemented for results. ‘Reimagining’ may give solutions that require hard work and lots of time to implement. ‘Simple’ and ‘easy’, in policy space, are often not the best or most-needed solutions. Is
The Gilgit Baltistan Child Labour Survey 2018-2019 is the first child labour survey conducted in the territory of Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan. It was conducted as part of a nationwide survey intended to cover all provinces and territories. It addresses the prevalence of child labour in the region, the causes and consequences of child labour, and additional socio-economic indicators that provide information on the living conditions of children in the region as well as
A team of experts from all provinces and federating units has prepared and endorsed a national curriculum for grades 9 to 12, which will soon be presented to the education minister for final approval. The national curriculum for grades 1 to 8 is already in place in most provinces, except for Sindh. However, experts from Sindh have also endorsed the curriculum for grades 9 to 12. It is expected that students in these grades