Voice Of Children

Islamabad—Federal Minister Riaz Hussain Pirzada said, here on Thursday said according to United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Pakistan has the largest number of out-of-school children in South Asia with the majority being girls.

Addressing the launching ceremony of Annual Survey of Education Report (ASER), held at Planning Commission, he said, “Pakistan continues to perform extremely poorly in education and we are seen to be off track in terms of meeting the education targets set in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Education for All (EFA).”

The Minister said the ASER 2011 data gave us district by district vital information on gender desegregated details that can help in planning and more importantly mobilizing resources according to required needs.

Riaz Pirzada appreciated the South Asian Forum for Education (SAFED), National Commission for Human Development (NCHD), Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi as well as the development partners, the Department for International Development (DFID), the Foundation Open Society Institute (FOSI) Pakistan and Oxfam Novib for supporting this extremely critical participatory initiative. He said they provided us support for enabling our citizens and state to become aware of the current status of education in the country and the challenges faced by children from age group of 3 to 16.

The Federal Minister said, “As we approach 2015 the target date for fulfillment of MDGs and EFA, ASER Pakistan is indeed a persuasive tool to gauge challenges and progress in education annually”.

He said the timing of release of the ASER Reports each January is quite appropriate for informing the planning and budgeting processes.

Riaz Pirzada said, “As we step into the election year, I believe it is extremely necessary to make education as the highest priority in the electoral debates.”

It is that single most important sector that would lead to significant gains in vital indicators of health, population, environment, gender empowerment, economic growth and democratic participation for sustainable societies, he added.

The Minister said, “I believe, movement like ASER provide us with an excellent opportunity to make education a centerpiece for political debates, provide a sound rationale for raising resource allocations and expenditures for measurable improvement”.

LAHORE - Shanzay Ali, a mother of three, is upset over the changes she detects in her children’s everyday language. She says her children, Faizan, 8, Momina, 10, and Salman, 12, frequently use Hindi words in their everyday speech. “Cable television is responsible,” Shanzay says, “The language the next generation will speak is being transformed.”
The rise of Hindi
channels: While most imagined the Hindi-Urdu controversy would end with the creation of Pakistan, the debate is rising as inter-cultural interaction increases. The rise of Hindi-dubbed channels, with Hindi being the closest equivalent to Urdu, means children have begun to watch both informative and cultural programs in the Hindi language. Over 70% of channels being broadcast are either in Hindi or been dubbed in Hindi, with all children’s channels being broadcast in Hindi.
“What can be done? Children love watching cartoons and all cartoon channels have been dubbed in Hindi,” complained Shanzay.
Broadcast channels in Pakistan are transmitted from two sources; satellite and cable-networking. Cable operators have shown a preference for Hindi-dubbed over English channels to cater to an audience that rarely understands English.
Out of the top five channels watched by children; Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, Baby Tv, Disney and Pogo; four are in Hindu, while one is in English. Similarly, all three informative channels, National Geographic, Animal Planet and History Channel are only available in Hindi on cable networks. Indian movie and Indian drama channels are also aplenty.
Only Hindi children’s programming: “All that children like to watch is available in Hindi. One can’t stop children from watching TV and I prefer my children not watch news channels,” said Ayesha Malik, a class 6 teacher and a mother of two. She said, “Children speak Hindi words in class too, but the school environment is not responsible for the change…televisions are.” Ayesha said, “Children subconsciously learn words like vishaal, shanti, mukti and adhikaar and use them in conversation at school.”
Talking to Pakistan Today, PEMRA Regional General Manager Khurram Siddique said only foreign channels given permission are being broadcasted. “All Indian channels are banned by PEMRA, and changing the language of the channel from English to Hindi is considered a violation,” said Khurram. He said cable operators are not allowed to change the language of approved channels and PEMRA keeps a check on the matter.
‘It’s public demand:’ Ijaz Mustafa, a cable operator in Allama Iqbal Town, said that they used to transmit children’ channels in English language but switched to Hindi on public demand. “People called and asked us to change the language to Hindi,” he said. He said competition between cable operators means that not- complying with a clients request means clients switch cable operators.
Culture guardians: Amjad Islam Amjad, a renowned poet and writer, looks at the picture from the perspective of globalization. Speaking to Pakistan Today, Amjad said, “We must understand that the world of today is the world of the economy and market. Instead of banning foreign channels, we must come up with better Urdu programming.” Amjad said, “The task begins at home. Mothers are responsible for reviving the value of Urdu and local languages.”
Orya Maqbool Jan, analyst and column writer, said media had no serious Urdu programming other than talk shows. He said no documentaries are made, no urdu cartoon channels are available and this is the media’s responsibility. He said media should operate in their own business environment and PEMRA should facilitate them. Jan demanded PEMRA ban Hindi-dubbed channels to create the space for new channels to co

LAHORE: Meet Josephine, a 34-year-old divorced mother of two. She runs an orphanage outside Lahore, where she gives shelter to children and has become a saviour to those bonded by labour.
“I visit brick kiln factories, where single parents and the elders of orphans make these little ones work to pay the debt they have taken,” says Josephine
Her task is not an easy one, as she has to convince the guardians that they are better off with her. “I am currently pursuing a mother of five to give her children to me because her husband died and now she has to work day and night along with her children to pay his debt.”
Brick kiln owners are the main hurdle and have threatened her. “They say if I can pay their loan, I can take the children, otherwise they will work till the loan is paid.”
In Pakistan, although illegal, slavery in brick kiln factories is common knowledge and it originates from a vicious circle of debt which sucks in labourers. Josephine has surveyed these factories for a year and has been able to convince almost 20 families to give their children to her.
She only helps the Christian minority currently because she feels they are more marginalised. “Most of the workers at these places are of Christian faith, and that is why I contact the local pastor of the area and take him along too, to get easy access.”
Trained to be a nun but not allowed by her parents to leave the country, Josephine now uses what she has learnt to mother the orphans.
She has rented an upper portion of a house, 20 kilometers outside Lahore, for Rs5,000 per month, where she lives with her own two offspring plus another 10 boys and 7 girls.
“I do not have any funding source. I teach at a local private school, and with whatever money I get, I try to give these children their lives back.” Along with this, she receives help from her brothers and the school principal where she is employed, but things are still hard. “Thankfully the principal has acknowledged my efforts, and has waived off fee for these children.”
Surprisingly, ever since she started the orphanage, she has been asked by a number of parents to take their children away. “People are so poor in these villages that they want to get rid of the children even they are not in debt.”
But she rejects them saying that she doesn’t want those who are orphans to feel different while living with such children who have parents.
The children in Josephine’s care were not allowed to go to school due to their slavery status, Now they have learnt how to read and write.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 23^rd,  2012.

Faisalabad—Chairman of Jeevay Pakistan Jeevay Maqami-Hakoomat (JPJM) Daniyal Aziz has said democracy is unacceptable where the poor have been deprived of even a single meal and are selling their children and are forced to commit suicide.

He said in local government there was no inflation. He said: “I defy this form of democracy where prices of petrol and electricity are sky-rocketing and the poor is unable to pay school and hospital fees. He said the days of corrupt rulers are numbered and now the poor will be empowered and would be masters of their own fate. The inflation is caused to benefit billionaires sitting in the assembly and they have no concerns with the plight of the poor people. The provincial governments are deliberately violating constitution and utilizing the Local Government (LG) funds and intentionally delaying the local government election that is a sheer violation of Article 140-A of the Constitution. He was addressing a huge public convention in Faisalabad on Sunday.

Daniyal said inflation couldn’t be controlled through administrative measures but by increasing interest rate. He said the top political leadership has taken billions of rupees loans from the bank that’s why the interest rate is being reduced to benefit them. He said the unemployment is soaring as unemployed youth is roaming on the roads with degrees in their hands and the government has failed to provide them employment opportunities

Daniyal Aziz said today’s participation shook the throne of rulers and if anybody tried to hinder the way of struggle for local governments, which is the democratic right of people, more resistance would be shown against it. More such conventions are being organized across the country to show the rulers that how desperately people want their own system of governance

Separation of judiciary from the executive is also the institutional basis that will ensure protection of women, minorities and underprivileged. Typically these are the classes that suffer most at the hands of the executive usually doing the bidding of the influential at the local level. Separation of judiciary from the executive is the only way to establish a system where the rule of law prevails thereby ensuring that the executive is equally answerable before the court of law for its actions rather than the executive itself being a court said Daniyal Aziz

Not only this movement is mobilizing the public it is fighting legal battle as well. Local Council Associations since the last 3 years have filed 27 cases in the Supreme Court of Pakistan and High Courts in four provinces for the restoration of Local Governments and against the appointment of administrator in place of Nazims but there is no progress in the courts against these constitutional violations. Chief Justice should see that why these cases have been kept pending for so long. He said that the historic Judgment of the Division Bench headed by Chief Justice, Baluchistan High court has restored the supremacy of the constitution and has failed all efforts to curb the independence of judiciary. Such decisions are needed in other provinces as well to give people their due rights.

Public Safety Commissions are non-functional due to suspension of Police Order 2002 and people at local level are facing severe violation of human rights. The rights of women, minorities and labourers have been usurped by delaying the local government polls by the provinces Daniyal Aziz said every union council will be empowered financially and given the powers of tehsil and every tehsil will be given the powers of a district

A huge number of people attended the event that included thousands of common people, women, youth; former UC, tehil and district Nazims, former councillors and citizens attended the public meeting. LCA Khyber Pakhtunkhaw …………., LCA Sindh Convenor and ex-Nazim Sukkur Nasir Shah, LCA Punjab President and ex-Nazim Lodhran Asghar Shah Gilani, LCA Balochistan President and ex-Quetta Nazim Maqbool Lehri and others also addressed the gathering.

Lahore—U.S. Consul General Nina Fite honored teachers who completed a training that will en-sure that more of Pakistan’s children will have the opportunity to attend mainstream schools. Consul General Fite was on hand at the Rising Sun and Education and Welfare Society in Lahore yesterday for a certificate ceremony for 30 teachers who successfully completed a U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) supported course in Special Education.

“I am proud that our U.S. assistance supported an initiative that reaffirms the right to education of every individual here in the Punjab and across Pakistan,” Consul General Fite remarked, the USIAD said Saturday.

The teachers were the fifth graduating class of a year-long USAID funded program that will train 750 teachers in the Punjab. The training equips the teachers with the skills to educate, manage, and support the learning process of children with special needs. The training is a step towards ensuring that every child has access to education. “This program reaffirms our commitment to upholding the rights of persons with disabilities and providing all individu-als with equal opportunities,” said Consul General Fite. The main purpose of the U.S. Ambassador’s Fund Program, through which the program was funded, is to directly support community-developed programs. Consul General Fite remarked that the U.S. Consulate General Lahore’s many grant and program mechanisms, have and will continue to support urgent community needs and opportuni-ties in the Punjab.—Online

We, the common people of Pakistan, are the lowest class of people in the world. We have to face torture and mental pain at home as well as outside. When we leave for offices in the morning we have to leave with empty stomachs due to absence of gas.

We cannot iron our clothes due to absence of light. While going to office we have to face abuses of traffic and police sergeants. We have no right even to drive our cars freely on the roads as these roads are for politicians, judges, prime minister, president and the VIPs of Pakistan.

On 19 January, we could not reach in time because our prime minister was going to appear before the Supreme Court. We are inferior common Pakistanis born to be insulted and maltreated by the authorities and the police. It doesn't matter even if I don't reach to the Supreme Court in my personal case that has got fixed after a decade. It only matters that the Prime Minister reaches there with his undue, illegal and unjustified protocol just to take adjournment from the Supreme Court.

For God sake’s, Mr Prime Minister, politicians, VIPs and police officials, especially belonging to traffic cadre and those deputed on pickets in red zone and in the Supreme Court, have pity on us – the inferior Pakistanis. Stop torturing us mentally, physically and financially.

DANIAL KHAN

Rawalpindi

Rawalpindi

Pakistan is a county that is blessed with all and winter is one of them in which mountains are covered with snow and the weather is very cold, especially in upper parts of the country.

The junior classes at Jack and Jill Montessori and High School enjoyed a unique Friday morning on school premises participating in an activity titled ‘The Importance of Winter’. “The children learn well with visual aids rather than just textbook knowledge. They are all excited to do practically whatever they read in books,” said their teacher Anum Ikram, the one who took the initiative for these activities, while talking to this scribe.

The class was beautifully adorned with the winter accessories in which the children had displayed winter clothing and dry fruits in plates and handmade baskets. The children were dressed for the occasion with everything relevant to winter, be it fruits, vegetables, colours or clothes. The children were also dressed appropriately and identified all their apparel by naming scarf, hat jacket etc.

They were treated to a sumptuous ‘Gajar Ka Halwa’, which was sprinkled with pistachios and almonds in front of them so that they could identify and taste the different flavours. Adding attraction to the children’s activity, a huge ‘snow man’ sat at one end of the class narrating the blessings of winter, and integrating a geography lesson with the activity. The children listened to stories about glaciers melt and water formed into rivers. The use of heaters, blankets and woolies was advised but the need to breathe fresh and clean air outside the house was also emphasized.

Allah’s Blessings were recounted and the children were asked to say a little prayer for all seasons and remember that it is His will that seasons change. Every season brings in its wake countless bounties. They were happy to listen to stories of how animals go into hibernation during winter and then come out only in spring. The children relate happily to these themes, as they are easier to understand and provide them with some diversity and fun and a little away from the daily mundane routine of textbook learning. Concepts are grasped easier and quicker when they become a part of your daily life. As a going home souvenir, a little picture of a snowman was pinned to their jackets.

By Ali Hassan

ISLAMABAD: Doctors have advised citizens to take extra care of their children as a large number of children have fell ill due to ongoing cold weather in the federal capital.

Over 700 children have been admitted to different hospitals of the federal capital, including Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), Children’s Hospital, Polyclinic Children Ward and Capital Development Authority (CDA) Hospital during last two week. Most of the children are suffering from pneumonia and respiratory diseases.

According to PIMS sources, 357 children of age 6-10 were brought to the hospital during the last two weeks and they were suffering from pneumonia, flu, cough and fever. There is capacity of 200 beds in the children’s ward.

In Federal Government Services Hospital (Polyclinic), 238 children were brought for examination, of which 95 were admitted after they were found to be in a serious condition. Besides, over 150 patients were brought to the CDA Hospital during the last two weeks.

On the other hand, Pakistan Metrological Department (PMD) forecast that the twin cities would remain in the grip of cold wave as the second rain spell is about to start.

Minimum temperature was zero and maximum 15 degree Celsius in the capital on Friday.

Dr Rifat Ahmed of Poly Clinic Children’s Hospital has advised the citizens, especially mothers, to take care of children. “Do not allow them to play in the streets and if they get wet in mud or rain immediately change their clothes. Give them different kinds of soup. Cold milk should not be given to the children in these days,” he said. If they get pneumonia they should be shifted to hospital because it can be fatal for them, he added. Talking to Daily Times, PIMS Assistant Director Dr Wasim Khawaja said that children should wear warm clothes while those suffering from asthma or any other lung diseases should be kept away from other children. “Give them balanced diet,” he said, adding that fruit, vegetable and meat increases immunity in children.
Daily Time

ISLAMABAD: In Pakistan, one woman dies in every 20 minutes during childbirth and the major cause of the high maternal mortality ratio 276 per 100,000 live births is child marriage.
This was stated by speakers at a workshop organised by the Family Planning Association of Pakistan (FPAP) here on Wednesday.
Rahnuma-FPAP’s chief executive officer Syed Kamal Shah, director adolescent and women empowerment Amna Aksheed and director advocacy resources Nabila Malik also attended the workshop.
It is estimated that 30 per cent of all marriages fall into the category of child marriage which is more common in interior Sindh than in other parts of the country.
As many as 985 cases of child marriage were reported in Pakistan in 2009 but there are no exact figures about the practice in the country, said the speakers.
Girls who marry before the age of 18 are more likely to experience domestic violence than their peers who marry late. Child brides often show signs symptomatic of child sexual abuse and post-traumatic stress. Such symptoms include feeling of hopelessness, helplessness and severe depression.
Child brides are at a heightened risk of sexual and physical abuse, reproductive health complications, HIV/Aids infection and other adverse physiological and social outcomes.
Girls aged 10-14 are five times more likely to die in childbirth than women aged 15-19, they said. Five customs or traditions are also promoting child marriages in the country, the speakers added. These are: Watta Satta, in which young brides are exchanged between two parties; Paitlikkhi (literally written on stomach) where two families agree to marry their children before they are born or are still young; SwaraNani, under which girls are given in marriage as a form of dispute resolution; Vulvar, a system of bride price in Balochistan, and Addo-Baddo, practiced in Sindh, in which families agree to marry their young daughters to boys of other tribes.
Besides, because of financial problems, poor prefer to give their daughters in marriages at an early age so that there are less people to feed.People who marry off their children young are usually the ones who live in rural areas and are unaware of the consequences of child marriage.
Child marriage has been discouraged in Pakistan through the `Child Marriage Restraint Act 1929` but still it is widely practiced in some areas throughVani and other ceremonies. According to the act, male not above 18 and female not over 16 are considered children. Child marriage means a marriage to which either of the contracting partners is a child.
Violation of the act is a crime but the punishment is so mild that no one bothers about it.
The punishment for child marriage is simple imprisonment which may extend to one month or with a fine of Rs1,000or both.
Worldwide each day more than 25,000 young girls become child brides, joining almost 60 million women who have married before their 18th birthday.
The speakers said the government should develop and implement a system to prevent or discourage child marriage, review customary and civil laws and make commitment to reduce poverty. They also called for legislation to establish 18 as the legal age for girls’ marriage.
Birth and marriage registration should be ensured and open discussion should be arranged to create awareness among the masses, they added. Educated girls are less likely to agree to marry at young age, so incentives should be introduced for their education.
Dawn

The writer is an undergraduate student at Harvard University, Class of 2014. He is also the Chairman of Harvard University's John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum. He tweets @ibrahimakhan

Ten per cent of the world’s children who do not go to primary school live in Pakistan. Twenty-six countries are poorer than Pakistan but send more of their children to school. A meager 1.5  per cent of Pakistan’s GDP is spent on schooling which is less than the subsidies given to PIA, Pepco and Pakistan Steel. The average teacher is absent once a week. Our constitution gives every child the right to an education until the age of sixteen, and yet, 25 million Pakistani children do not have this right. These facts are courtesy of the Education Emergency Pakistan movement and they illustrate the dire situation our education system is facing.
Currently, education in Pakistan is rooted in rote learning and absent-minded memorisation. Creativity and problem-solving are disregarded. Knowledge is thrust at students, who have devised ways to retain the knowledge temporarily, regurgitate it and move on. But this is not the essence of education. An acceptable modern education is one that gives a student the best preparation for life after school. In our working lives, we have to make decisions and solve problems that require creative solutions. And yet Pakistani students do not learn these essential skills in school.
To make things worse, in most secondary and post-secondary examinations, a large part of the material is left to choice. In order to pass an examination, 33 per cent of the attempted material needs to be correct. This means that a student will pass an examination by knowing less than 33 per cent of a given subject’s material. Nowhere else in the world is the education standard this low.
The massive inequality present in our education system needs to be eradicated through various forms of regulation. We must devise a Pakistani system of education that is recognised internationally since our current system has lost international credibility. Then there is the difference between the Urdu-medium and English-medium systems. Hence, there is an urgent need for a coherent education policy that is able to form a unified framework for all Pakistani students.
As Heather Wolpert-Gawron an award-winning school teacher in the US, suggests in a recent book, an education system should value certain skills. Collaboration and communication should be encouraged. Problem-solving should be practiced, decision-making learned and questioning valued. Students should be comfortable with synthesising information and listening to others. Most importantly, they should develop leadership skills which are of particular importance to Pakistan. At the tertiary level, the idea of a liberal arts education is gaining traction worldwide. Its core philosophy is promoting choice and creativity, something we need to adopt.
Apprenticeship is prevalent in Pakistan and thus cannot be ignored when discussing education reform. Many poor children, who cannot afford an education, drop out of school in order to learn specific skills. Often these workers are misused and denied basic labour rights. These children need to remain in schools where their apprentice work is institutionalised and they are given a basic level of education. This will ensure an educated technical workforce, which is essential for any developing nation.
We need to act and act soon. Education reform must be emphasised, as it is today’s youth that will determine the state of tomorrow’s Pakistan.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 19^th, 2012.

ISLAMABAD - The United Arab Emirates (UAE) Ambassador Essa Abdullah Al-Basha Al-Nuaimi hosted a reception at the Jinnah Convention Centre to mark the first anniversary celebrations of the United Arab Emirates- Pakistan Assistance Programme.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Barrister Masood Kausar was the guest of honour at the occasion. Kausar spoke highly of the Pakistan-UAE bilateral relations, saying that he hoped that the brotherly, time-tested ties would continue to gain strength in the future as well.
The KPK governor, the UAE Ambassador and other diplomats cut a special cake. The national anthems of the two countries were also played on the occasion.
Paying tribute to the armed forces for their role in the rehabilitation of Swat and thanking the UAE government for its generous assistance, Kausar hoped that both the countries would improve trade, diplomatic, and cultural ties.
Ambassador Nuaimi assured Pakistan of UAE’s continued assistance to help out the people of the calamity-affected areas.
The ambassador said his country had a rich history of bilateral cooperation with Pakistan and his country’s leadership, especially President Shaikh Khalifa bin Zyed Al Nahyan and Prime Minister Muhammad bin Rashid Al Maktoum, were very keen to enhance it further.
Saudi Arabian Ambassador Abdul Aziz bin Ibrahim Saleh Al-Ghadeer, leaders of various political parties, members of the parliament, intellectuals, senior civil and military officials, diplomats, PTCL chairman Waleed Reshad, dignitaries from Swat and journalists attended the function.
Abdullah Al Daffali of the UAE programme and Maj Gen Zahir Shah, commander of the area, signed projects for the development of the areas in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa which were targeted by extremists and needed repair and rehabilitation.
Children in traditional costumes sung a number of songs, appreciating the contribution made by the UAE government and its rulers for the betterment of their areas.

A year ago today, India saw its last recorded case of polio in an 18-month-old girl in West Bengal named Rukhsar Khatoon. She recovered without lasting paralysis.
One year without another case is an impressive milestone in the decades-long effort to wipe the poliovirus from the face of the planet. Only a few years ago, India reported more polio cases than anywhere else — as many as 100,000 cases a year.
"India is a major, major victory," Dr. Hamid Jafari, who leads the World Health Organization's polio eradication efforts in India, told Shots. "It has established the feasibility beyond doubt of eradication. (If) it can be done under such tough conditions in India, this can be done anywhere else."
  India's victory, if it's validated by careful vetting over next few months, comes at a time when the possibility of global eradication has never never looked so close. When all the numbers for 2011 are in, WHO expects to count about 700 cases of polio — about half the total in 2010.
If polio is eradicated, it would become only the second human infectious scourge to be conquered — after smallpox, in 1979. As in the case of smallpox, polio eradication is feasible because the virus only infects humans and there are effective vaccines against it.
A polio-free India means that there are just three nations where polio is considered endemic: Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria.
The poliovirus has popped up in other places recently — notably China, where cases were imported from Pakistan, and Chad, from Nigeria. But India's long-standing role as the world's biggest exporter of polio to other countries has apparently ended.
The lessons from India will be sifted for years to come. But it's clear that conquering polio in that nation of 1.2 billion people is as much a story of massive persuasion as it is one of medical science.
India started its war on polio 17 years ago, and gradually the virus was eliminated in much of the country. But not from a wide swath in the north, in predominantly Muslim communities, such as Moradabad, a city of 4 million about 100 miles from the capital of New Delhi.
"Moradabad really was the litmus test for India. If it could get rid of polio there, it could get rid of it anywhere," says Michael Galway of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Galway, who worked with UNICEF on polio eradication in India, says many cases of polio throughout India were traced back to Moradabad and surrounding areas in the states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
"Genetically we tracked every single virus in the country," Galways says. "We could tell you exactly where that virus came from. And in the end, all roads led back to Uttar Pradesh and Bihar."
And that's where the tactics of persuasion were crucial. These districts have big Muslim populations, and many Muslims believed rumors that polio vaccination was a plot against their community. It's a conviction that has hampered polio vaccination campaigns elsewhere – most notably in northern Nigeria.
"There were two kinds of misconceptions," says Hakeem Syed Masoom Ali Azad, an influential imam, or Muslim leader, in Moradabad. "No. 1, people said the medicine contains ingredients derived from pork, which is prohibited in Islam. Second, they said the medicine would make our children infertile."
But this week, Varisha Gul had no qualms when she took her 18-month-old daughter Mozamma to a child health clinic in Moradabad to be vaccinated.
"No, no, we give (the vaccine) to our children," she told Elliott Hannon, an NPR stringer based in New Delhi. She says she knows of no parents in Moradabad who refuse to have their children vaccinated against polio.
That's a testament to the massive educational campaign conducted over years by the polio strategists – beginning with respected scholars in Muslim universities and reaching all the way down to trusted shopkeepers.
So-called influencers were identified alley by alley in the neighborhoods of Moradabad and elsewhere. Eventually, imams began to preach sermons endorsing polio vaccination, issued fatwahs of approval, and announced vaccination clinics from their mosques.
"We went and changed their minds," the Moradabad imam says. "We took the (vaccine) ourselves in front of them and gave it to our children in front of them. People slowly began to come around, thank God! Because of our effort, our district hasn't had any new polio cases."
But Jafari of the WHO says India's work is far from finished.
"High levels of immunity in India will have to be maintained until there is global eradication achieved," he says. Otherwise imported cases could cause the whole effort to unravel.
So this Sunday, 100,000 vaccinators will fan out across high-risk districts such as Moradabad to vaccinate 40 million children. Other, nationwide, vaccination days will occur later in the year.
Every newborn Indian child needs to be vaccinated in case the virus reappears. Every child crossing the border from Pakistan will be vaccinated to detect importation of the virus. Sewage across India will be carefully monitored to detect even a single wild poliovirus.
Jafari's main worry is complacency. But his team allowed itself a quiet celebration.
"We will perhaps maybe have some cake and pass that around because people have worked extremely hard over the years," he said.

KARACHI: Make-A-Wish Foundation Pakistan, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), working to fulfill the cherished wishes of terminally ill children, has managed to meet the innocent wishes of three ailing children, who wished to have a meeting with Bollywood ‘Dabang’ star Salman Khan. The wish children Hubaiba Rizwan, Muhammad Shehroz, Muhammad Anas, all suffering from life threatening illnesses expressed Make-A-Wish Pakistan about their cherished wish of meeting their favourite Dabang’s Chulbul Pandey and Bodyguard’s Lovely Singh, Salman Khan. The meeting was arranged in collaboration with Make-A-Wish India, whose Khan is an active member, said a statement, issued here on Friday. According to the statement, a special ceremony was organised in Bombay for the wish granting where the children met Khan. These children were dressed in Khan’s get up of Dabang and Body Guard. Khan hugged these children and spent considerable time with them and invited them to watch the shooting of his movie. The children presented him a letter signed by other ailing children saying, ‘‘Because of our illness we cannot travel to meet him, why don’t you come to Pakistan to meet us?’’ Khan informed the Founding President of Make-A-Wish Pakistan Ishtiaq Baig that he had good memories of Pakistan where he spent a day with his brothers Sohail Khan and Arbaaz Khan at Hawks Bay and promised that he would soon visit Pakistan to meet other Make-A-Wish children. Baig presented Ajrak and Sindh topi to Khan and his brother Sohail. Both brothers lauded the work of Make-A-Wish Foundation and said that they were truly touched by meeting the ailing children from across the border. staff report

A Bill Gates-backed effort to wipe out polio got a welcome boost after India, one of the last strongholds for the crippling disease, found no case for a year.
The anniversary today of India’s last reported polio infection marks the longest time that transmission has stopped in the country which had the most cases in the world in 2009. India’s success shows eliminating the disease is possible where there is “political will, quality immunization campaigns and an entire nation’s determination,” said Gates, 56, chairman and co-founder of Microsoft Corp., in a statement yesterday.
India will be declared free of polio if it goes two more years without cases. Stopping the virus in the nation, one of four where transmission has never been interrupted, is crucial to ridding the world of a germ that paralyzed more than 350,000 children in at least 125 countries annually before a global effort to fight it began 23 years ago.
“Just a few years ago, doom mongers said that polio could not be stopped in India,” said Liam Donaldson, England’s former chief medical officer, who chairs a panel monitoring eradication efforts. “This week’s milestone should provide a real boost for those countries still struggling to stop polio.”
India, where more than 65 percent of people lack a toilet and 500,000 children die each year from diarrheal illnesses, has had the world’s “most tenacious reservoir” of poliovirus, according to Margaret Chan, director-general of the World Health Organization. The country’s last reported case was on Jan. 13, 2011, in the state of West Bengal.

Polio Exporter

Poliovirus is shed by infected people in feces and can spread as a result of poor sanitation and hygiene. Millions of people were paralyzed by the disease in the 20th century before vaccines became widely available in the 1950s. Sanitation improvements and routine immunization have helped eradicate the disease from all but 14 countries in Asia and Africa.
“India has exported polio in the last two decades to pretty much every place in the world,” Deepak Kapur, who chairs Rotary International’s polio committee in India, said in an interview. “The virus can come back via the same route.”
The Global Polio Eradication Initiative, formed by the WHO, the United Nations Children’s Fund, Rotary International and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 1988, wants India’s success to counter a decline in funding.
“We must ensure that India’s polio program continues to move full-steam ahead until eradication is achieved,” Gates said. Raising funds can “ultimately save billions of dollars and help to ensure that no child ever suffers from this crippling disease again.”

Top Priority

The billionaire, who contributes about $150 million annually to the cause through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, last year made polio eradication the foundation’s top priority.
A $410 million financing gap threatens to undermine eradication efforts amid a spike in outbreaks in nearby Pakistan, which reported a third of the 620 cases found worldwide in the past year.
Floods that inundated parts of southern Pakistan in August frustrated efforts to immunize children in remote villages, said Mazhar Ali Khamisani, an official with the Sindh provincial government overseeing polio immunizations.
“The majority of the cases erupted in the flooded areas and then people carried the infection elsewhere,” he said, adding that fighting between government and pro-Taliban forces in Pakistan’s Khyber region also prevented access.

Crossing Borders

“Without urgent and fundamental change, it is a safe bet that it will be the last country on earth to host polio,” the International Monitoring Board of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, the group chaired by Donaldson, said in October.
The cross-border movement of people into northern India risks reintroducing the virus there, said Tim Petersen, a polio officer with the Gates Foundation in Seattle.
“Everybody needs to be on a heightened state of alert,” he said. “The community and government cannot afford to get complacent.”
Officials at checkpoints close to the Pakistan border are routinely assessing travelers for paralysis and other polio symptoms and children younger than 5 years are compulsorily vaccinated, said Balwinder Singh, a polio project officer who oversees immunizations in Punjab state’s health department.
“The threat of an infected person crossing over is very real,” he said over the telephone from Chandigarh. “There are polio pockets very close to the border.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Adi Narayan in Mumbai at anarayan8@bloomberg.net Khurrum Anis in Karachi at kkhan14@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jason Gale at j.gale@bloomberg.net

The killing fields – the case of child-friendliness in Africa
Child-friendliness is about making the maximum effort to respect, protect and fulfill children’s rights and wellbeing.

It is all about protection, provision and participation of children.

Even though they died in Namibia during the ‘white regime’, in Angola during the civil war and by UNITA bandits, DRC during the civil war, Afghanistan during American invasion, Iraq during the American invasion.

They died in India, Burundi, Sierra Leone, Kosovo, Zimbabwe, and many more countries all over the world.

Currently, they are still dying in Gaza Strip, Somalia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Israel, Pakistan, Palestine, and many more countries that are child-unfriendly.

Parenting process does not only involve the biological parents. Governments also have to be parents of their own children.

In case of Africa, there are some of the countries that made tangible efforts to save children in their own countries.

According to the Children Welfare African Report 2008, the top-ten child-friendly countries are:

Country Ranking

Mauritius 1
Namibia 2
Tunisia 3
Libya 4
Morocco 5
Kenya 6
South Africa 7
Malawi 8
Algeria 9
Cape Verde 10

The 10 least child-friendly are as follow:

Country Ranking
Comoros 43
Guinea 44
Swaziland 45
Chad 46
Liberia 47
São Tomé and Principe 48
Gambia 49
Central African Republic 50
Eritrea 51
Guinea-Bissau 52

The report analyses responses to child wellbeing across Africa and highlights positive practices that can inform future action of the African children.

Africa’s political and economic environment is in the midst of rapid transformation. Peace has returned to many war-torn nations, and governance across Africa is improving for a good cause.

The pace of economic progress is extraordinary. These changes are having a positive impact on child-wellbeing while providing the opportunity for a brighter future for all, across the continent.

African governments have ratified most of the relevant international and regional human rights instruments, and a number of African states have made significant progress in domesticating them.

Many governments have increased their budget allocations to such sectors as health and education – which are crucial to the lives of children – and these efforts are paying off in the form of enhanced child wellbeing.

Immunization coverage has increased considerably, and near universal primary school enrollment is being achieved in many countries. Despite these achievements, the state of child wellbeing in Africa and the entire world remains a major issue of concern.

Thousands of children surrender to preventable deaths every day; a million babies are stillborn every year; millions of children are orphaned by HIV/AIDS, cholera, malaria, and conflict; many more are victims of everyday violence, massacres and harmful traditional practices. Many die because of their parents’ inability to give proper parenting and due to negligence.

Others die because they have no other better option rather than death. Others are aborted while others are killed the moment the are born; killed by mothers who carried them in their wombs for several months, mothers who were supposed to take care of them until they recognize the beauty of life and future.

Child wellbeing means a lot of things. It is about children being safe, well, healthy and happy. It is about children’s opportunities to grow and to learn. It is about positive personal and social relationships and about being and feeling secure and respected all times. It is also about being given a voice and being heard. In short, it is about the full and harmonious development of each child’s personality, skills and talents.

Even as such, some of the countries are not doing tangible efforts to save their own children.

Countries like Comoros, Guinea, Swaziland, Chad, Liberia, São Tomé and Principe, Gambia, Central African Republic, Eritrea and Guinea-Bissau need urgent attention to address the issues of children within themselves. Southern Africa is mostly better compared to all parts of Africa.

The only problem in Southern Africa is Swaziland; it is the only country that has poor parenting processes in the 10 least countries that are less child-friendly.

In case of Namibia, I am quite optimistic that the SWAPO government will still do its best to make sure that it is children-friendly and that there is an understandable protection of children, understandable provision of children needs and that, children are still free to participate in the Children Parliament in Namibia and Youth Parliament in South Africa.

These parliaments are protocol-matured moves to make sure those children are heard and that they are free to participation national issues. I am sure that if you have watched the Children’s Parliament in Namibia and the Youth Parliament in South Africa, you would believe me that most of them address vital issues of national concern, more than most of our parliamentarians.

Children need skills that will save them in the future, not skills of how to handle and shoot with AK-47 rifles as are cases in Sierra Leone and DRC.
Not the cases of India, Burundi and Somalia.

Children need to be protected from all types of harm and abuse. Children need to see to it that parents care about them [children].

Children need to be assured that they are respected and be promised that they are future leaders of all continents and the entire globe at large. If they are not assured now, they will never be assured because there is no one who will assure them if the current parents did not do so.

They need to be trained on how to be leaders. This can well be reflected when His Excellency Nelson Mandela once said: “Africa is beyond bemoaning the past for its problems. The task of undoing that past is ours, with the support of those willing to join us in that continental renewal. We have a new generation of leaders who know that we must take responsibility for our own destiny, that we will uplift ourselves only by our own efforts in partnership with those who wish us well.”

If we realized that the past was not good, it is high time we undo the past and renew the whole process and have faith to invest in the new generation of leaders of tomorrow.

So every effort is of renewal to the life of children. Some are doing already these efforts like some of our local musicians who are well known as Kids Ambassadors (Gazza). His contribution and other contributions of individuals make differences.

Only when you are told how valuable you are can you know your value, but if you do not know if you are valuable, you will never realize it.

Finally, children: parents are there to guide you, not you to abuse them.
Just the way the concept of child abuse exists, the concept of parent abuse does exist too.

Is up to you whether you want to know from them or not. Remember: if you want to know ask!

• Silas Mwaudasheni Nande is the of Principal of Kornelius Combined School, Ondobe Circuit, Ohangwena Region. Area of interest: Science, Politics, Welfare, Public Administration

Karachi (Dawn/ANN) – Public health experts have called for comprehensive plans and better coordination among various departments to improve the state of nutrition among children and women in Sindh, after a national nutritional survey report launched on Tuesday showed that food insecurity was the highest in the province.
Fight against hunger could be won through long-term plans and interventions targeting women and children with the involvement of the health, education, family planning and women welfare, legal and other social development departments, along with a constant societal advocacy for an increased domestic food production and promotion of the right to food as a human right, said the experts, including representatives of foreign donor agencies.
They were speaking at a workshop organized by the Sindh health department’s nutrition cell in collaboration with Unicef, Karachi, to launch the National Nutritional Survey (NNS) 2011 report and prepare an integrated nutrition strategy.
Besides Sindh Health Minister Dr Sagheer Ahmad, Secretary Syed Hashim Raza Zaidi and Special Secretary Dr. Suresh Kumar, representatives of the World Health Organization, the World Food Programme, and the United Nations Children’s Fund also spoke to the executive district officers for health who participated in the workshop.
Dr. Sajid Soofi of the Aga Khan University, which was awarded the task of the national survey in question, told the participants that about 6,500 households in urban and rural areas across the province were included in the survey.
He said the survey showed that about 49.4 percent of the sample households in Sindh used gas as cooking fuel, followed by 48.1pc who used firewood and 2.5pc kerosene oil. At the national level, 58pc households used firewood to cook food, he added.
Regarding distribution of households by source of drinking water, it was found that 50.8 percent households used tube-wells, followed by 32pc who had piped water, and 17pc who used other sources such as community taps, wells and bottled water.
Discussing formal education, he said the survey highlighted that 64pc mothers were illiterate, while 10.1pc of the sample did complete their school education. About 34.9pc of the urban mothers were illiterate in comparison to 85.4pc mothers in the rural areas, according to the survey.
Severe to moderate rate of iron-deficiency anemia in mothers was found between 0.6pc and 20.3pc, while only 16.8pc mothers had the desirable level of Vitamin D in Sindh.
Malnutrition in children
The survey showed that 17.9pc children in the urban areas and 32.8pc children (both under five) in the rural areas of Sindh were faced with severe stunting.
Anaemia level was assessed as severe in 4.9pc and moderate in 67.6pc children. Child retinol was severe in 18.8pc and mild in 34.5pc sample children.
Forty-two percent children were found suffering from Vitamin D deficiency, while 38.6pc were found to be zinc deficient.
The participants were told that the survey was the largest survey of its nature to date in the country and the first to target provincial level specificity.
It confirmed that maternal and child under-nutrition remained a major issue for the province where only 28pc of the households were food secure.
The report concluded that anemia and zinc deficiency among women and children were major public health concerns in Pakistan.
Food insecurity and poverty were major drivers of under-nutritional childhood, especially stunting, but maternal education appeared to be an important factor in its own right. According to the report, the rate of initiation of breastfeeding and exclusive breastfeeding have increased, but indicators of complementary feeding suggested major deficiency in frequency, food choices and quality of feeding and parallel maximum deficits in growth in infancy.
He said that the survey found that indicators for water, sanitation and hygiene remained poor and burden of diarrhea and respiratory infections remained high. These might be additional contributory factors and must be addressed concomitantly, he added.
‘Survey to help focus on needs’
Sindh Health Minister Dr Ahmad, who was the chief guest, said that the national nutrition survey had certainly provided a window to the needs of the province in respect of the food security of the population, especially women and children.
“I understand that the participants in the workshop, largely government officers and NGO representatives, have now become aware of the root-cause of malnutrition and they will definitely put their efforts towards preparation and implementation of a well-integrated nutrition strategy in the province,” he said. He said the government realized the seriousness of food insecurity and other lapses that our children had to undergo and finally fall prey to diseases of complicated nature.
The minister said that the Sindh health department had a record of coming up to the expectation of the population of Sindh, which was affected due to floods and heavy rains in 2010 and 2011, and again would be able to improve all indicators of the national survey 2011 with the support of Unicef, the WHO and the WFP and other donors.
The chief secretary and the chief minister were already on board, he said, adding that other departments would also join in the struggle to improve food and health status of the people, including women and children, of the province.
Unicef representative in Sindh Andro Shilakadze said that malnutrition was not only a health subject but was also related to other sectors.
He said it needed enhanced efforts by all relevant sectors and authorities to address the issues related to children and women. A good nutrition status acknowledged as to how a country worked and excelled socially and economically, he said.
A high prevalence rate of malnutrition among women and children jeopardized not only the health and future of the children but also national security.
He said that the issue of anemia in children should be addressed without any delay.
Dr Salma Kausar, the head of the Sindh health department nutrition cell, said that a set of recommendations had also been finalized during the workshop.
She said various groups had suggested a coordinated structure and institutional set-up, comprising provincial, district nutrition steering committees and technical advisory or task force for responsibilities like advocacy, policy, planning, resources and implementation.
Priority action areas as recommended by the officers include direct nutrition interventions, health services, agriculture and food security, water and sanitation, education sector, social sector and food industry.
They have also stressed the need for revival of school health programs with a revised plan of action and resources, and facility of micro-credit schemes for women and conditional and unconditional cash grants and training to vulnerable groups.
BM

Roots School System, DHA-I Campus, Islamabad, held the inauguration ceremony of the newly renovated classrooms with modern furniture and fixtures at the Government School, Kothan Kalan, Morgah, Rawalpindi, as part of ongoing activities of Liberating the Girl Child Foundation popularly known as LGCF, says a press release issued here on Tuesday.

The chief guest on the occasion was Dr. Nafisa Shah, secretary of the Women’s Parliamentary Caucus, and chairperson of the National Commission for Human Development (NCHD) in Pakistan along with other guests of honour and social dignitaries of Islamabad and Rawalpindi were invited to witness this important event. The event was arranged by the Interact Club of Roots School System, DHA-I Campus, Islamabad, under the leadership of Neha Omair, president of LGCF and the Interact Club.

LGCF aims to give every child the best start in life and to open the doors of literacy and education for all the children of Pakistan, especially children from the rural areas of Pakistan. This idea of serving the girl child was conceived and developed by Neha Omair, then, a seventh grade student. This programme when presented at the Harvard University People-to-People Programme in 2010 received tremendous appreciation. LGCF has now evolved into a Rotary International organisation with more than 500 registered members.

Ms. Khadija Mushtaq Executive Director of the Roots School System, DHA-I campus, Islamabad, welcomed everyone at the inauguration ceremony and shared the success of the community service project of girl empowerment by LGCF with everyone. She has diligently been promoting and encouraging empathy and community services among all students.

Riffat Mushtaq, Founder of Roots School System encouraged and appreciated the Roots School System students’ sensitivity and compassion towards the underprivileged section of the society and applauded their selfless efforts.

Dr. Nafisa Shah stressed that each girl of the project is the ‘Malala’ of Pakistan who can voice the indifferences and struggle to make a positive change around her. “Each young girl is a leader of tomorrow who can mutually cooperate with the government to initiate such enlightening programs and bridge the class differences that have been created in our society,” she added. 

By Ijaz Kakakhel

ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly Committee on Monday approved the Charter of Child Rights Bill 2010, which after approval from the NA would be enforced in Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), and could be used as a model for provinces to make similar legislations.
Once the NA and Senate approve the bill, the law will become the Charter of Child Rights Act 2012 (CCRA).
MNA Dr Attiya Inayatullah told reporters that after the18th Amendment, such legislation was a big achievement keeping in view the provincial perspective. She said that the law covered various areas of child rights, including right to life, parental care, freedom of thought and religion, protection against violence, right to health, education, rest and recreation, protection against abuse and right to juvenile justice.
She added that the law would help protect children against abuse, trafficking, prostitution and other crimes
The law will only be enforced in ICT, and could facilitate provinces in framing child rights legislations, keeping in view international norms and standards.
The committee finalised the law in the presence of Ministry of Human Rights and Law Divisions. According to the proposed law, a child at risk is defined as an orphan or victim of parental neglect or lawful guardian, whose parents or guardians are unfit or incapacitated to look after his needs, and exercise control over him. A child at risk could also be one who is forced into the worst forms of child labour, exploitive labour or beggary.
According to the Basic Child Rights Framework, every child shall be respected without discrimination of any kind irrespective of the child or parent’s or legal guardian’s race, colour, sex and religion.
The National Assembly Select Committee approved the Charter of Child Rights Bill 2010 with the aim to protect and promote the right of Pakistan’s Children through legislation.
The bill was drafted by Dr Attiya Inayatullah in light of the provisions of the United Nations Conventions on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).
The proposed law states that every child has the inherent right to life ranging from survival to self-development and provision of basic needs. The right to preserve identity as recognised by law is also respected.
The law also revealed that the arrest, detention or imprisonment of a child would be in conformity with the law and would only be used as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time.
The rights of challenged children were also recognised. The bill stated that all mentally and physically challenged children would enjoy a full and decent life, in conditions which ensure dignity, promote self-reliance and facilitate the child’s active participation in the community.

KARACHI: The National Nutrition Survey (NNS) 2011 has determined Sindh as the poorest and most food deprived province of the country, with only 28 per cent households having food security.
The details of the survey, which was conducted last year after a decade, show that little has changed over the last decade in terms of core maternal and childhood nutrition indicators in the province.
Unicef, Pakistan Medical Research Council and the nutrition wing of the federal government supported and collaborated with the Aga Khan University, Pakistan, which completed the survey with Prof Zulfiqar A. Bhutta as the chief investigator.
The situation, according to an expert, is alarming and calls for an enhanced national awareness and well designed interventions to reduce widespread malnutrition and poor dietary practices particularly among women and children in Sindh.
The latest study, a cross sectional survey involving about 30,000 sample households in all the urban and rural areas of the country, showed a gain in iodine status, which was however counterbalanced by significant deterioration in vitamin A status and little to no gain in other areas of micronutrient deficiencies.
The details of the new survey undertaken with specific aims of establishing the current benchmark of nutrition and related indicators for gauging progress along the targets set for the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) have alreadybeen announced in other provinces and the capital of the country.
The results showed that about 42pc of the households were food secure while the remaining 58pc were food insecure (adults and not children or both experienced the inadequacy of the household food supply without hunger or with hunger in the household) at national level.
The proportion of food insecure household was categorised as food insecure without hunger (28.4pc), food insecure with moderate hunger (19.8pc) and food insecure with severe hunger (9.8pc).
Sindh appeared as the poorest and food deprived province,because 72pcofthe sample households were found to be food insecure.
They included 21.1pc without hunger, 33.8 with moderate hunger and 16.8 with severe hunger.
In contrast, 4.3pc of the sample households in the Azad Jammu and Kashmir were food insecure with severe hunger, 4.5pc in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, 5.8pc in Fata, 8.8pc in Punjab, 8.9pc in Gilgit-Baltistan and 11.5pc in Balochistan.
Interestingly, it was found that haemoglobin levels of both pregnant and non-pregnant women were at the maximum in Sindh.
Against the national level of 50.5pc non-pregnant women having haemoglobin within normal range, Sindh had 61.1pc such women, followed by Punjab with 48.8pc, Balochistan 48.7pc, Fata 45.5pc, AJK-41.3pc, KP 36.3pc and GB 23.4pc.
The data regarding pregnant women indicated that 51 per cent of women were haemoglobin deficient at the national level. Of them, 60.2pc belonged to Sindh, followed by 49.7pc from Punjab, 48.1pc from Balochistan, 43pc from the AJK, 35pcfrom the GB and 28.3pc from KP.
Vitamin D deficiency It was also found that there was a widespread deficiency of Vitamin D in Pakistan`s non-pregnant mothers (85pc) and 90.5 per cent of them lived in Sindh.
Also of the 86.1pc pregnant women with Vitamin D deficiency at the national level, Sindh had 84.6 per cent.
Discussing the prevalence of malnutrition among children, the latest report said that against the rate of 43pc stunting at national level, Sindh had 70pc rate.
Wasting in Sindh was found at 19.4pc against the overall national rate of 16.8pc.
Against the national level rate of anaemic children62.1pc, Sindh had 73.3pc of sample children anaemic, with severe or moderate deficiency of haemoglobin level.
The specific objectives of the NNS-2011 were assessment of the population nutritional status, especially of women and children; to collect data on height, weight and age of children between six and 59 months, mothers of these children, adolescent girls, adults and elderly; and to collect data on food intake and food security.
The report said that the rate of underweight children had dropped in comparison to the survey of 2001-02 but there was still much needed to be done to make up the zinc and vitamin deficiencies in Pakistan in general and Sindh children in specific.
The survey involving about 30,000 sample households was conducted in all urban and rural areas of four provinces of Pakistan. In the case of Sindh, the sample households numbered around 6,460, including 3,140 in urban areas and 3,320 in rural areas.