Poor People of Pakistan

Life of Children in Pakistan

Life of Children in Pakistan

Children in Pakistan face a variety of serious challenges ranging from malnutrition and poor access to education and health facilities to exploitation in the form of child labour. Their low status in society can leave them victim to daily violence at home and in school as well as to organised trafficking and sexual exploitation. Girls are specially affected as conservative attitudes may impede them attending or finishing school. Recent natural disasters have increased the vulnerability of thousands of children. In 2005 a devastating earthquake killed an estimated 73,000 people, leaving 3.3 million people de homeless.

Issues facing children in Pakistan

• Pakistan’s maternal mortality ratio is estimated to be between 350 and 600 per 100,000 live births as compared to 17 per 100,000 live births in the United States.
• One in ten children does not survive their fifth birthday with the majority of deaths due to diarrhoea, pneumonia or vaccine-preventable diseases.
• Thirty per cent of children are chronically malnourished and lack safe water and household sanitation, especially in rural areas. 
• Pakistan spends less than 2.5 per cent of its GDP on the education sector. 
• Just over half of the 19 million children of primary school going age are enrolled in primary education.
• Compared to 58 per cent of boys, there are 48 per cent of girls enrolled in primary school. 
• Just over a third of Pakistani women are literate. 
• An estimated 3.6 million children under the age of 14 work, mostly in exploitative and hazardous labour. 
• The 2005 earthquake destroyed nearly 8,000 schools, 4,000 water schemes and about 80 per cent of health centres.