RAWALPINDI: Participants at an awareness-raising session on 16 May 2024 unanimously supported amendment to the law to raise the minimum age of marriage for girls in Punjab to 18. The session was organised by Promoting Human Rights in Rural Areas (PODA) at the Sardar Ishaq Khan Hall of Rawalpindi District Bar Association. PODA is implementing a three year project titled `Reduce Early Marriages to Enhance Gender Equality’ in 41 districts of the Punjab province,
Child Rights in Focus
MITHI: As many as 80 girls were gifted bicycles at Government High School Malanhore Veena on 15 May 2024 under “Pedaling Towards Education” project. The bicycles were handed over at a ceremony organised by the Thar Education Alliance in collaboration with Indigo Textile, UNDP (SDG Unit), and district education department of Tharparkar. The project was aimed at addressing transportation challenges faced by girls, which often hindered their attendance in schools. Acknowledgement: Published in Dawn
OKARA: City B division and Gogera police have registered two separate cases against members of a gang allegedly involved in trapping and blackmailing young boys through social media platforms and forcing them to develop sexual relations with them, arresting its `ringleader`. As per police sources, in the first case the complainant Asad Ali`s orphaned nephew, a 9th class student, was befriended by a ‘girl’, introducing herself as Aysha, on a social media platform, some
In the educational trinity — teachers, parents and students — which regulates parents-teachers meetings (PTMs), the second is parents (first one discussed in the previous article) who, as per the issues discussed and the level of their engagement in these PTMs, can be grouped into four broader categories. First is the concerned parents (CPs) who keep an eye on the progress of their children in studies. They get their presence recorded through active involvement
SWAT: A 70-year-old man married a 13-year-old girl in Nagoha area of Barikot Tehsil in Swat district, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He has eight children and several grandchildren. The girl, a student of grade six, informs Voicepk that she found out about her marriage to the old man on her way back from school. “When I reached home, my family told me to dress up as I had an event to attend.” She adds, “I don’t
LAHORE: The Lahore High Court has taken notice of non implementation of its guidelines to curb child marriage by the nikah/marriage registrars. Justice Anwarul Haq Pannun observed that apparently, the marriage registrars, without relying upon any document, mention the age of the bride as 18 years or above in clear violation of the law. In a verdict issued on a habeas corpus petition by a woman seeking recovery of her underage daughter from the
LAHORE: The Punjab government will provide eyeglasses and hearing aids to 700,000 students having weak eyesight or hearing disability in the province. `The students in the schools across Punjab will be subjected to medical check-up of their eyesight and hearing abilities. Those students having weak eyesight and hearing disabilities will be provided with spectacles and hearing aids. The screening process in the government and private schools across Punjab will be launched soon,` Chief Minister
The report “A Compilation of Food and Nutrition Laws in Pakistan” is a comprehensive compilation of federal and provincial laws in Pakistan related to food and nutrition to raise awareness among the general public about these laws and their implications. The report includes a wide range of laws, regulations, and ordinances at both the federal and provincial levels. It covers key laws pertaining to food safety, standards, licensing and control of various foods including
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
“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