IT was on Ashura, Aug 19, 2021, when nine year-old Priya Kumari went missing. Just before her disappearance or abduction she had been happily helping her father a syncretic Hindu who runs a sabeel every year in Muharram in Sangrar, a small town near Sukkur serve sherbet to thirsty mourners. It is a curious case. For one, she `disappeared` from a place that was thronged with hundreds of people, and yet, reportedly, the police
Child Rights in Focus
This document by UNICEF provides a comprehensive analysis of the current state of child poverty in Pakistan, focusing on the factors contributing to this issue and the implications for child well-being. It highlights the lack of access to basic services such as education, healthcare, and sanitation as key drivers of child poverty in the country. The note also discusses the impact of poverty on children’s development, emphasizing the need for targeted interventions to address the
NCRC is strongly advocating to raise the minimum marriageable age for girls to 18 years! The Commission has taken proactive steps by writing to provincial human rights and law departments in Punjab, Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and ICT urging them to support this amendment and promptly present before the legislative assembly so that it can be passed and incorporated into the relevant law. Child marriage is a violation of children’s rights, robbing them of their
KARACHI: The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has blocked more than 1.25 million URLs over objectionable content, the telecom sector regulator told the Sindh High Court on 16 April 2024. The authority submitted its reply to a petition filed against `objectionable, unethical, immoral and unlawful` content being uploaded on social media platforms. The regulator told the SHC that out of the 1,253,522 blocked URLs, 988,659 were banned for indecent and immoral content, 90,980 for content
ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Federal Education on 17 April 2024 directed the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) to make cleanliness drive in schools and colleges a regular feature and ensure availability of cleanliness equipment in institutions as well. ‘If we cannot keep our schools clean how can we keep our communities clean’. We should treat our schools like our homes. Cleanliness is part of our hygiene,` said a brief statement issued by the education
GUJAR KHAN: Police on 17 April 2024 arrested a suspect accused of killing a girl after subjecting her to sexual assault. According to details, a 10-year-old girl who had gone missing around a fortnight ago from her house situated in Dulmi village, in the limits of Gujar Khan police station, was found murdered in a well last 8 April 2024. SSP Operations Hafiz Kamran Asghar said the suspect, identified as Falak Sher, confessed to
PESHAWAR: Ten more people, including nine children, were killed in different parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the aftermath of the torrential rains as the provincial government imposed emergency in 13 districts for provision of relief, restoration of damaged communication networks and water supply according to Dawn report. Six children were killed in separate incidents in Lower Dir district. On Monday night, a roof collapse killed two children and injured three others in Sakhawono village
Pakistan has a population of approximately 235 million, out of which at least 26.2 million children are of school-going age but still out of school. Among several other challenges that Pakistan faces as a developing country, the education crisis is one of the major ones that encompasses issues like access to education and the quality of its provision. Though efforts and improvements have been made over the past few years, there are still some
ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Federal Education and the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) have decided to discontinue the centralised examination system for grade five in Islamabad-based schools. The FDE used to conduct centralised examinations of grades five and eight every year, and students of private schools were also allowed to appear in these examinations. The directorate had a complete directorate, but this year, the results were compiled by a private firm hired for teacher
PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa health department has directed the district health officers in the province to establish medical camps in the inaccessible rain-hit areas to immediately provide medical care to the peopleinneed andpreventthe outbreak of diseases. The DHO will also take steps to `strengthen surveillance to prevent and control waterand food-borne diseases,` according to a notification issued by the director-general (health services). It added that it had become very important due to the continuous
PESHAWAR: As the new academic year in government schools of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa began on Monday, students were troubled by the failure of authorities to provide them with free textbooks, according to Dawn report. Neither the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Textbook Board has printed books nor are they available on the market, according to officials. They told Dawn that usually, schoolchildren received free course books from the provincial government at the start of the academic year in
NAROWAL: The minor girl, who had been abducted six days ago, was allegedly raped and found killed in fields. Muhammad Shakeel, a resident of Marth tehsil, told the police that he had come to his in-laws village Sarai Shah Fateh Tehsil, Pasrur, along with his family. He said on April 11 at 3:30pm, his two-and-a half-year-old daughter, Jannat Fatima, suddenly disappeared while playing outside the house. He said his family members and locals searched