PESHAWAR, July 4: The State of Pakistan’s Children 2006, a report of the Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (Sparc) gives a dismal picture of the situation of children in Pakistan as the number of children faced with labour abuse, violence and lack of health and education facilities is growing.

Pakistan has the highest maternal and infant mortality rate in South Asia and an estimated 10 million children are toiling away their childhood to supplement their family’s income, the report says.

The report is an analysis of the conditions and environment in which the children are living in Pakistan.

Jehanzeb Khan, regional manager, speaking at the launching ceremony of the annual report held here on Wednesday at the Peshawar Press Club, said that we should accept the fact that we had failed our children and the steps of the government to improve the state of children was also not satisfactory.

He said in case of human trafficking, the government made a law after feeling a threat of economic sanctions and ratified the ILO Convention on minimum age to get trade benefits from European markets. So maybe if one of the donor countries threatens Pakistan with economic sanctions to force it to improve the state of child rights, the government will certainly take notice of it, he said.

Kashif Azam Chisti, provincial minister for population and women development, who was the chief guest on the occasion, said the media, government and non-governmental organisations should join hands to improve the situation of Pakistan’s children.

One child dies every minute from EPI diseases, diarrhoea and acute respiratory infection. At least 38 per cent of under-fives are victims of malnutrition and 13 per cent face death. Complete eradication of polio still remains a challenge.

In 2006-07, the budget put aside for health is Rs 52 billion but under utilisation of funds also pushes the process backwards, the report says.

Education in Pakistan suffers from the worst forms of negligence, indifference and apathy, the report said. An estimated 25 million children are not going to school and 10 million are in child labour.

The report also laments the fact that children in Pakistan face abuse in homes, schools, on streets, at the workplace and at the hands of law-enforcement agencies.

In 2006, there was a sudden and sharp increase in suicides among children and 180 children committed suicide. Statistics collected by Sahil, an organisation, during 2006 show a 50 per cent increase in the number of female abettors from 123 in 2005 to 351 in 2006.

According to the report, six years have passed since the promulgation of the Juvenile Justice System Ordinance 2000 but children who come in contact with the law are not treated according to the JJSO.

Children also suffered in the earthquake in 2005 and 18,000 school children were killed in their classrooms alone. More than 40,000 children are still living in tents. The earthquake made 1,700 children into orphans and over 500 are under institutionalized care. The Sparc report expresses concern over the future of orphans under institutionalized care.

The rehabilitation process is too slow and children are the worst sufferers in the post-earthquake phase, the Sparc report says.