Pakistan: A dismal place to be a kid

Forced marriages at a young age. Children sold into servitude. These stories often occupy the headlines in the Pakistani media. Now a new report backs up what was obvious: Pakistan is an increasingly dismal place to be a kid, according to a report by the Washington Post.
The report from one of Pakistan’s leading child advocacy groups, the Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child, presents an overwhelmingly bleak picture. But solutions are not easy to come by. Under the country’s constitution, the federal government cannot impose blanket child-protection regulations on the provinces, officials say.
More than a third of the nation’s population age 5 to 9 — about 7 million children — is not enrolled in school, the report found. Floods that cause mass displacements and damaged schools compound the problem, adding 1.8 million children to that total.
Pakistan is also the only country in the world where polio rates are increasing.
In 2005, there were 28 reported cases of polio in the nation of 180million. The number increased to 197 reported cases reported in 2011.
There are 35 cases so far this year, according to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, but that might rise. Taliban leaders have issued fatwas against the administration of polio drops in parts of the tribal areas. Foreign aid workers have increasingly been leaving the country, citing dangerous conditions. This creates even more vulnerability for children.
Pakistan is among the five most dangerous countries in the world for kidnapping, the advocacy group’s report said, with about 7,000 child abductions reported in 2011 — 3,090 of which occurred in the southern city of Karachi.
Victims are reportedly transported throughout the country and trafficked for use in begging rings, forced to work as child prostitutes or used as camel jockeys or in domestic servitude. Poverty-stricken parents also reportedly relinquish their children to militant groups who groom them for use as suicide bombers.
Only 49 percent of children have completed primary education in Pakistan (59 percent of boys and 39 percent of girls). While 67 percent of children in urban areas have completed primary education, only 40 percent of children in rural areas have done the same.
Pakistan was created by the 1947 partitioning of British India and has since fought three wars with neighboring India over the disputed Kashmir territory. While tensions have recently eased, Kashmir is the world’s most militarized territorial dispute.
To the west, years of unrest and hardship in Afghanistan have led to an influx of refugees to Pakistan. A disaster prone area, Pakistan was most recently hit by the massive October 2005 earthquake, the worst in its modern history. Access to healthcare and education is a challenge primarily in rural areas and many families simply cannot afford basic health care or education. It is likely that today’s economic crisis, especially the increase in food prices, will have a widespread negative impact on children’s education and health.
Ongoing fighting between the government of Pakistan and armed groups in Khyber Agency (north-west Pakistan) has resulted in a mass exodus of families. About 250,000 people – mainly women and children – have already fled the area, with many walking for days. Some are staying in crowded camps but many are staying with extended families that are very poor themselves and struggling to survive and others are staying in rented houses. The numbers are rising rapidly as the tension continues. The crisis is getting very little international attention and thousands of families are struggling without enough food and shelter. The situation is becoming increasingly dire for families living in cramped, temporary quarters with little to no income. They need help now.
Women and children fleeing violence are extremely vulnerable. It’s likely to be a terrifying time – many children will have witnessed their homes being destroyed. When families flee, they often leave with very few belongings and they have fled before harvesting their crop which is not ready until May.
Children have also witnessed scenes of destruction and are in need of specialist help to recover. For the past year and a half schooling has been disturbed and children were not able to go to school – some were destroyed by militants and others were dysfunctional due to lack of teachers. Female teachers were not allowed to teach and girl schools have been closed indefinitely. Even in Peshawar, due to lack of financial resources these children will not be able to attend school and face an uncertain future.