MUZAFFARABAD: British Member of Parliament and human rights lawyer Imran Hussain on Wednesday said that nearly 12 per cent of the population in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Pakistan was living below the poverty line, warning that limited economic opportunities, rising inflation and inadequate access to basic services had contributed to a serious humanitarian challenge.

Addressing a press conference at the Central Press Club Muzaffarabad, he said the international humanitarian organisation ‘Orphans in Need’ was currently supporting 1,200 orphaned children in AJK and planned to expand its sponsorship programme to cover 2,000 children across the region in the next phase. He added that the programme would subsequently be extended to other areas of AJK.

Mr Hussain said Orphans in Need was caring for more than 40,000 orphaned children in 14 countries across Asia, Africa and the Middle East, providing essential facilities including shelter, healthcare, food and education. He acknowledged the vital role played by overseas Kashmiri and Pakistani communities in sustaining the organisation’s welfare initiatives.

He said the care, education and proper upbringing of underprivileged and orphaned children in Pakistan — particularly in AJK — remained among the organisation’s top priorities, adding that its welfare mission was being expanded on sustainable and long-term lines.

Mr Hussain was accompanied by a high-level delegation of Orphans in Need, including Head of Fundraising Altaf Hussain Khan, Community Fundraising Coordinator and Board Member Muzammil Khan, and Pakistan Country Head Muhammad Faisal Ishaq.

Speaking about his parliamentary work, the Labour MP for Bradford East said that as a barrister and human rights expert, he had been raising issues such as child poverty, child labour, social protection, legal aid and serious human rights violations in the British Parliament. Referring to Kashmir and Palestine, he said he considered it his responsibility to contribute to international legal efforts against war crimes and human rights abuses.

He said the organisation had recently launched two major welfare initiatives in Pakistan, including the distribution of food parcels among needy families in Bahawalpur and the implementation of a structured, long-term child sponsorship programme in Muzaffarabad, under which hundreds of children would receive education, healthcare and nutritional support.

Emphasising the importance of family-based care, he said a child’s healthy development was best ensured within the home environment. He explained that under the organisation’s Home Setting Support Programme, children were supported while remaining with their families, enabling them to live dignified lives with access to basic necessities.

Speaking on the occasion, representatives of the Orphans in Need asserted that the organisation had been carrying out relief activities in Muzaffarabad and other underdeveloped areas of AJK and Pakistan in a structured and transparent manner to help reduce social deprivation and restore human dignity.

They said fundraising efforts over the past six to seven months had been accompanied by transparent assessments to ensure assistance reached deserving families without discrimination. They reiterated that all relief work was carried out in line with principles of transparency, accountability and integrity. They added that while the organisation planned to expand its welfare programmes to other neglected regions of Pakistan over the next decade, Muzaffarabad and Bahawalpur had been prioritised due to the scale of need and the high number of sponsorship cases.

Published in Dawn, January 29th, 2026