LAHORE: The participants in a session on strengthening media engagement for improving child rights were of the view that the media can play a pivotal role in ensuring the effective implementation of children’s rights by fostering accountability and public awareness. They said that media professionals can shed light on compliance with international commitments, the allocation of resources for child protection, and the performance of child-focused institutions through investigative journalism. These critical issues were discussed
Child Rights in Focus
LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) has ruled that biological fathers are financially responsible for children born out of wedlock or as a result of rape, provided their paternity is established. Justice Ahmad Nadeem Arshad issued a 15-page detailed verdict on a petition, filed by Muhammad Afzal, directing the trial court to reassess the maintenance case of a five-year-old girl in the light of new evidence. The court observed that if the mother proves
CHAK JHUMRA: A seven-year-old boy was allegedly subjected to sexual assault. According to the complaint filed by the mother of the victim, her son from her late husband was assaulted when her husband was away at work while she had stepped out for some errands. She said Ali Raza, a resident of Chak 42GB, allegedly lured the boy to the veranda of a nearby government school and subjected him to sexual assault. When her
TOBA TEK SINGH: A drug addict allegedly strangled his five-year-old daughter in Jaranwala tehsil, Chak 240 GB, after his wife refused to give him money to buy narcotics. The wife of suspect Zakir Hussain told police that the suspect, in a fit of anger, grabbed his daughter Aliya Bibi and strangled her. Jaranwala City police have arrested the suspect. Published in Dawn, March 17th, 2025
PESHAWAR. District administration of Peshawar has imposed Section 144, banning sale and purchase of toy guns and fire crackers . The administration has warned that the strict action would be taken against those violating the ban. The decision has been taken due to the law and order situation in the province and the police has been to enforce the ban. News published in the Express Tribune on 17th March 2025
A glaring injustice of this sector is the persistent and disproportionate increase in tuition fees. Education, the cornerstone of progress and national prosperity, is an inherent right of every individual. However, the private education sector has transformed into a ruthless commercial enterprise, prioritising financial gains over intellectual nourishment. Often referred to as the Private Education Mafia, this industry operates with unchecked autonomy, levying exorbitant fees, evading regulation and reducing education to a mere commodity
Studies show that children with a parent in prison are often at greater risk of discrimination. The judicial system of Pakistan leaves behind a sorry trail of distress for families of convicts, including financial strain, emotional turmoil and increased hardships for children. With little to no social or governmental support available, families of incarcerated persons find it challenging to provide for their children’s education and welfare. In a bid to actionably address this issue,
LAHORE: Around 10 million children in Punjab are out of school, a fact sheet issued by a nonprofit organisation has revealed, urging the provincial government to create educational opportunities for them. The report released by Population Council cited shortage of facilities, infrastructure, inflation and unemployment as the major reasons of a high dropout ratio of children from schools. It pointed out that 19,000 more schools were required in the province by 2040 to cater
Federal Health Minister Syed Mustafa Kamal has expressed serious concern over vaccine refusals, stating that nearly 43,000 parents in Sindh — 42,000 of them in Karachi alone —have refused polio vaccination for their children, posing a major obstacle to the eradication efforts. He made these remarks while visiting the Provincial Emergency Operations Centre for Polio (EOC) in Sindh to assess the ongoing eradication efforts. He emphasised that polio could not be eliminated unless every
The Sindh government will fully support the proposal of handing over its school buildings to genuine and committed charities to ensure quality schooling to children from deprived families in the province, said Syed Nasir Hussain Shah. The planning & development and energy minister was speaking at a ceremony held at the Quaid-e-Azam House Museum on Fatima Jinnah Road to celebrate 13 years of uninterrupted service by the non-profit Al-Furqan Welfare Organisation (AFWO) in the
It’s a common scenario. A parent wants to do some chores or wants some free time for his or her self and the child may be causing disruptions or being clingy. Finding no other way to distract the child, the parent gives his/her smartphone to the child to keep them busy. The child’s attention is diverted, glued to the screen for hours, and the parent gets time to do his/her work. It’s also habitual
PAKISTAN’S children in prison have often been treated like adult criminals. The Sindh government’s programme to educate 4,684 children of convicted prisoners in the province is a glimmer of light in a dark space. The scheme — an initiative of the education and prisons departments and Paigham-i-Pakistan — offers complete educational support in private and government institutions to children born in jails. But the government has to be mindful of the fact that its