Stolen Childhoods 2017: Pakistan ranks low on care for childhood

Study reveals Pakistan ranks 148th among 172 countries

ISLAMABAD: Among a total of 172 countries favourable for raising kids, Pakistan ranks 148^th, falling behind its regional neighbours like India, Iran and China, revealed a first-of-its-kind report titled ‘Stolen Childhoods 2017’ launched on Thursday.

The study ranks countries according to their children’s health, education and protection status.

According to the report, Pakistan outranked Afghanistan by four vital points as the latter came in at 152^nd position. However, Pakistan was behind Sudan and Yemen which come in at 144^th and 140^th positions, respectively. Iran and China both made it in the top 100 with 80^th and 41^st ranks, respectively, while India also fared better than Pakistan coming in at 116^th. The United States came in at 36^th position.

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The report stated that Norway, Slovenia and Finland are the top three countries where childhood is least threatened, while Niger, Angola and Mali are the last three nations on the list where childhood is most threatened.

Child Rights Movement (CRM) Coordinator Alishba Yousaf said, “Pakistan’s ranking is not very surprising when you look at the alarming levels of stunting and malnutrition across the country, which affects almost half of all children.”

More than 8.0 per cent of children in Pakistan do not survive until their fifth birthday, she said while addressing a presser after the launch of the report.

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Urging to implement laws confirming free and compulsory education for children, she said, “Pakistan has several child protection laws but there is a need to implement those laws effectively and strictly.”

Globally, the report found that at least 700 million children—and possibly hundreds of millions more—have had the promise of a full childhood brought to an early end.

The new international report - the first in an annual series - takes a hard look at the events that rob children of their childhoods.

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In Pakistan, the study was launched by the CRM which was produced by Save the Children globally to coincide with the International Children’s Day.

Save the Children’s first annual End of Childhood Index compares the latest data of 172 countries and assesses where the most and fewest children are missing out on childhood.

The study highlights some startling facts about the nutritional status, deaths from preventable diseases, countries where childhood is most threatened and several other such factors that are having a negative impact on the children’s lives, robbing them of their childhood, especially those who are living in poverty-stricken and marginal areas across the globe.

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Pakistan comes in at second place after India in the top 10 countries known to be the home to the largest number of children under the age of five, who are moderately or severely stunted, according to the report.

The study says that over two-thirds of the world’s stunted children live in these 10 counties. India has 39 per cent prevalence rate of stunting with 48.2 million children, while Pakistan has 10 million such children with the prevalence rate of stunting at 45 per cent.