THE National Commission on the Rights of the Child recently published its first-ever report of data, challenges and recommendations on the State of Children in Pakistan, 2024.

While the state of child rights remains dismal in Pakistan, this government-owned reflective report is a welcome change from the time when similar reports by civil society would not only be rejected, but at times, actively discouraged from being published as that would bring a bad name to the country.

The real challenge going forward would be for the commission to garner enough support and ownership from the government machinery and relevant departments to put the recommendations into practice in a coordinated manner.

As the government addresses the recommendations that have been given in the report, it would be important to shed light on some aspects of violence that are not only stand-alone issues but which also intersect with children’s experiences of other forms of violence and impact health, education and the overall rights of the child.

The first aspect is related to children’s exposure to violence against women at home and its intersectionality with violent disciplining. In a Unicef........

© Dawn