Your lens: Pakistan’s ‘diamonds in the rough’

More than 170,000 street children live on the streets across Pakistan. PHOTO: UMAMA UZAIR

According to Unicef, around 75% of the world's street children work to earn a living. PHOTO: HASH ASIF

25% of the world's street children work, sleep and live on streets of the third world (Unicef). PHOTO: RAHEEL LAKHANI

Uuicef estimated 100 million children were growing up on urban streets around the world but the exact number is impossible to quantify. PHOTO: HINAH NOUMAN

An estimated 1.2 million children are on the streets of Pakistan (CRIN). PHOTO: YUMNA SADIQ

According to a United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) survey, 72% of working children do not have contact with their families and 10% have no knowledge of their families (CRIN). PHOTO: FARAH KAMAL

Children beg and scavenge around rubbish dumps or industrial waste sites or take on menial jobs as cart pushers or dish washers, working 12-15 hours a day to earn around 75 rupees (CRIN). PHOTO: SANIA LALI

Pakistan is host to one of the world's largest street children populations behind countries such as India and Egypt (AHRC). PHOTO: MARIAM ZAFAR

These children are at alarmingly
high risk for a myriad of physical and psychological problems. PHOTO: ZEESHAAN JAMAL

Research has shown that drug use is more profoundly seen with children
living on the streets rather than those who return to the families at night. PHOTO: ASIF NAWAZ

Karachi is home to Pakistan’s biggest community of street children- tens of thousands of victims of domestic violence and broken homes, drugs and crime, in the steamy port city. PHOTO: OSAIDULLAH KEHAR

Compilation of street children's pictures from contributors across Pakistan.

Reader Comments (10)

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The Flying Object

Jul 16, 2012 - 9:49PM

Reply

Sad :( ALLAH help them…

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Nasamajh

Jul 17, 2012 - 3:50PM

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I love the smile on their face. they really know the art of living!!

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just_someone

Jul 18, 2012 - 12:42AM

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@The Flying Object:
How about you help them? We always want Allah to take care of everything for us. I suggest donating to Edhi and other organizations that, with better funding, would be able to provide these kids a meal a day or something better hopefully like shelter.

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Truth From Pakistan

Jul 18, 2012 - 6:31PM

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Heart breaking ! So innocent and so vulnerable in the jungle. Nobody can possibly understand how these young ones feel, what they go through and how they cope up with it. Just sad !

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Amna

Jul 19, 2012 - 10:16AM

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@just_someone: who is to say he/she doesn’t donate to Edhi or try to help out otherwise? Still, we must always ask Allah for help.

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Frantic

Jul 19, 2012 - 1:53PM

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Beautiful Kids !!

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Syed Miqdad

Jul 19, 2012 - 3:16PM

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Our chilldren on stake, nobody have clue of their rights.. about their Survival, Right of Development, Right of Protection and their right to participate in the decisions.

The rights which are promised in the United Nation’s Convention on the Rights of Children we as a signatory state have obligation to provide these rights.

In Punjab it was started for the protection of Street Children under Child protection & Welfare Bureau but no more with in real spirit due to the political reasons with the change of new Government.

May read more!
http://syedmiqdad.blogspot.com/2012/07/islami-jamhooriya-pakistan-and-child.htmlRecommend
Ammar

Jul 20, 2012 - 3:00PM

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Allah may help them.

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syed mehboob alam

Jul 23, 2012 - 12:41PM

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For every thing we ask Allah to help but forget it all the time we too have certain responsibilities towards the society. Governments all over the 3rd world are very similar in their approach towards the problems of street children. Be it Columbia or Guatemala, Brazil or Peru, India , Pakistan or Bangladesh, you will see one same picture on the streets.
At times it seems we have accepted these realities as an integral part of our society and as such we have decided to live with it instead of finding a way to overcome this problem and help these raw diamonds to shine with dignity on the forehead of Pakistan. But no; we can’t do that – we have neither the will nor the resources. Or have we?

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jehanzeb khan

Jul 29, 2012 - 10:18PM

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The faces of the childs appear to be very inocent, not aware of their future, just amuse the moments they have with full of happiness. We need to do something about them. they are the future of Pakistan. we ought to orgnize such events which permote the sense among other pakistani to think about these childs. Media can play a vibrant role to encourage people, government and wellfare orgnization to introduce programs and activity which helps these childs by financing them so that they can study and can fulfill their basic needs. They are part of us. We need to think about them like our own childs.

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