Girls dressed up in traditional attire at the Mithi carnival. Photo: Geo News screengrab

Like in other parts of the country, Universal Children?s day was celebrated in Pakistan with carnivals set up and walks organised to spread awareness on their rights.

On the occasion, Faisalabad Deputy Commissioner Salman Ghani said the awareness walk they carried out was to send a message to put an end to child abuse. He added children are the country?s future hence should be protected in every way possible.

The awareness walk in Faisalabad was organised by the city district government and Child Protection and Welfare Bureau. The participants started marching from DC Office and stopped at Zila Council Chowk.

On the other hand, a carnival was organised in Mithi area of Sindh?s Tharparkar district on Monday, where a large number of children were present to celebrate the day.

While measures are afoot across the globe to ensure basic necessities like education for children, in many developing countries, including Pakistan, children are still seen doing jobs as menial as collecting scrap.

In Balochistan, the gravity of the situation can be gauged by the fact that over a million children in the province are not getting an education. According to International Labour Organization, around 10,000 children collect garbage in the streets and bazaars of Quetta, whereas there are hundreds and thousands of those who are forced by poverty to work in mines.  

Above all, there are many laws in Balochistan written for the protection of children, but they have yet to be passed.