The UNFPA State of World Population 2024 report, titled “Interwoven Lives, Threads of Hope,” focuses on ending inequalities in sexual and reproductive health and rights. It celebrates 30 years of progress since the landmark International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo in 1994, while also addressing the persistent challenges that remain. The report emphasizes the need for concerted efforts to ensure that no one is left behind in the pursuit of sexual and
Child Rights in Focus
“State of Human Rights in 2023” is a report of Human Right Commission of Pakistan which provides a comprehensive overview of the human rights situation in Pakistan during the specified year at federal and provincial levels. The report highlights various issues such as violations of freedom of expression, attacks on journalists, enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, torture, and the marginalization of religious and ethnic minorities. It also sheds light on the challenges faced by women,
THE recent judgement of the Lahore High Court in ‘Azka Wahid vs Province of Punjab’ has declared the arbitrary distinction in the legally prescribed minimum age of marriage in the Punjab Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1929 18 years for men and 16 years for women as unconstitutional. Decades of lobbying and bona fide legislative attempts in the past to correct this differentiation in the law were almost always thwarted through forceful opposition that labelled
ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training has sought Rs200 million for smooth operation of buses of educational institutions. The ministry, besides school and college bus services, has decided to ply 20 buses from city to rural areas dedicated for girl students and female teachers of both public and private schools. These 20 buses will take five rounds each daily to accommodate students, teachers and other working women. Speaking to Dawn, Federal
ISLAMABAD: As the world has made strides in sexual and reproductive health and rights over the last 30 years, the number of women who cannot benefit from this is still in millions. These observations were made on Tuesday when UNFPA launched the annual report on the State of the World Population 2024 under the theme `Interwoven Lives, Threads of Hope: Ending Inequalities in sexual and reproductive health and rights`. It said the way forward
GUJAR KHAN: A constable of the Anti-Corruption Police was booked in Jhelum for allegedly raping an 18-year-old girl on 6 May 2024. According to police sources, the accused was posted in Rawalpindi and escaped after committing the crime. A case was registered with Civil Lines police station on the complaint of his wife. According to the first information report (FIR), Sumera Bano, a resident of Islampura Mohallah in Jhelum, stated that she had been
DADU: Police arrested a primary schoolteacher posted in a village near Jhol town in Sanghar district on 7 May 2024 on charges of raping a girl student of class fifth. Jhol police registered an FIR against the teacher under Section 338-A (Punishment for Isqat-i-haml) of the Pakistan Penal Code on a complaint lodged by the victim`s mother. Sanghar SSP Aijaz Ahmed Shaikh told Dawn that police had the 14-year-old victim checked up at a
BAHAWALPUR: Two minor girls, one of them a student of a madressah, were allegedly raped in separate incidents occurring in Mailsi, Vehari district, and Basti Malook near Lodhran. According to police sources, Mureed Hussain complained to the Mailsi city police that his 15-year-old daughter was alone in his house in Razaabd locality, when the suspect, a resident of Dharampura locality, barged in and allegedly raped her. The police, on the father`s complaint, registered an
SWAT: The police on 6 May 2024 detained several individuals for their alleged involvement in solemnising marriage of a teenage girl to a 70 year-old man. Among those apprehended were the Nikah Khawan, the girl’s father, and witnesses to the ceremony. Initial reports from Ghaliegey police had stated that the bride was a 13 year-old girl, who had recently been promoted from fifth to sixth grade. Local sources disclosed that a substantial amount of
Education is essential for every child as it provides a pathway to a better standard of living, self-awareness, a promising future, and understanding of our responsibilities and rights. However, it’s alarming that 26.2 million children in Pakistan are out of school, representing 39 per cent of the school-age population. This problem is rooted in factors like poverty, familial issues, parental ignorance, unemployment, and neglect. Financial constraints prevent many children from accessing education, as around
Pakistan has many legislations for the protection of women and safeguarding women’s rights but the burning question is the implementation of those laws and delayed justice. According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) approximately 1,000 women are killed in honour killings annually. These figures differ and do not fully reflect the scope of honour killings because these crimes are often underreported and stigmatised in society. The majority of the cases are reported
This video discusses Muslim family law and the law on the custody of children in Pakistan in the case of parental separation. It explains that under Islamic law, children’s custody is initially granted to the mother until the age of 7 for boys while she retains the daughter’s custody till her puberty. However, the father is still responsible for the children’s expenses and welfare even when in the mother’s custody.