This year on Universal Children’s Day, as Pakistan prepares for its 2025 review by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, I’m forced to reflect on a 35-year-old promise. In 1990, Pakistan was one of the six initiators of the World Summit for Children, a champion for the new UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). We ratified it with a speed that signalled leadership and moral clarity. Thirty-five years
Child Rights in Focus
LAHORE: The Punjab government s Kite Flying Ordinance 2025, a far-reaching legal framework aimed at controlling kite flying and eliminating dangerous string, is poised for promulgation next week once the Punjab Assembly session concludes. The ordinance, already approved by the provincial cabinet, cannot be signed by the governor while the assembly remains in session. It will be issued through an official Gazette notification immediately after prorogation and will repeal the Punjab Prohibition of Kite
Rawalpindi: Serious respiratory tract infections including influenza, pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), a life-threatening lung injury, have started hitting the population in this region of the country after the setting in of winter as the healthcare facilities both in public and private sectors are receiving patients with the problems. Both pneumonia, infection in the lung, and ARDS are more fatal forms of respiratory tract infections, which claim a good number of lives
MULTAN: Poor sanitation and lack of cleanliness are contributing to the rapid spread of viral, bacterial and parasitic infections in Multan, health practitioners warned. The unhygienic environment is resulting in fever, fatigue, cough, aches, and other illness-related symptoms. Experts explained that viruses – microscopic agents that invade a host’s cells and force them to replicate – spread through various means, including respiratory droplets, contaminated surfaces, and bodily fluids. The people have urged Punjab Chief
DI KHAN: Unidentified assailants targeted another government school in Tank district on November 28, blowing it up with an explosive device in the jurisdiction of Ghulam Imam Police Station. The Government High School in Akbari village was destroyed after unidentified terrorists planted explosives on the premises, causing significant structural damage. This is the second such incident reported within hours. Earlier in the morning, a girls’ primary school in Kari Umar Khan was also blown
Islamabad:As ensuring safe, disaster-resilient schools is vital for education and development, the UN-Habitat’s Disaster Resilient School Infrastructure (DRSI) Project has strengthened 150 vulnerable schools, enhancing structural safety, classrooms and gender-responsive WASH facilities for more than 31,000 students, including around 13,600 girls. The UN-Habitat hosted a high-level event highlighting the progress of the DRSI Project, which targets schools in disaster-prone areas affected by earthquakes, floods and climate hazards. Many of these buildings were constructed before
ISLAMABAD: New national evidence shows that 20 districts across Pakistan are trapped in deep, overlapping deprivation where reproductive health services are scarce, fertility rates remain high, schools and health facilities are far from communities, housing conditions are poor and exposure to climate risks is among the highest in the country. These districts, most of them in Balochistan, continue to face severe structural disadvantages that shape every aspect of life for women and children. The
ISLAMABAD: The Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad (MCI) and the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) have signed an agreement on November 26 for the implementation of the CRMS mobile application, aimed at revolutionising municipal service, including birth and death certificates. “The agreement was signed on behalf of MCI by Chief Officer, Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad, Dr Anam Fatima and on behalf of Nadra by Director General Nadra, Syed Gohar Abbas Jaffery, at the MCI, Islamabad, in
DERA ISMAIL KHAN: Body of a seminary student was found in fields near Pakka Malana village within the jurisdiction of Gomal University police station here on November 26. A police official said that the deceased had been identified as Hafiz Dawood, belonging to the Mughal community and a resident of Pakka Malana area. The boy was reported to be around 14 to 15-year-old. He was a student at Madressah Madina-tul-Uloom where he was enrolled
SUKKUR: Unknown assailants shot dead the 10-year-old son of a police officer and his nephew in a targeted attack in Kandhkot when they were heading towards their school from their village in a rickshaw on Wednesday, police said. They said that victim Muzammil and Gul Hassan were the son and nephew of Bakhshapur SHO Sikandar Panhwar. Four men riding on motorcycles intercepted their rickshaw and sprayed it with bullets on a section of the
LAHORE: A special anti-rape court has sentenced a man to life imprisonment for sexually assaulting his minor stepdaughter and also imposed a compensation of Rs300,000 on him under the Anti-Rape (Investigation & Trial) Act 2021. Manawan police had registered a rape FIR against Farooq Maqbool on Jan 2, 2024 on the complaint of 10-year-old girl’s biological father. The mother of the victim had contracted second marriage with the convict after being divorced by her
Islamabad: The Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) has announced winter timings for all public schools and colleges in Islamabad from December 1, 2025, to January 31, 2026. According to the official notification, all institutions under the FDE, including Islamabad model schools and colleges in urban and rural areas, will operate under revised schedules to accommodate the winter season. For single-shift schools, classes will run from 8:30 am to 2:00 pm from Monday through Thursday,