Tag: poverty

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Ajay Banga Charts IDA’s Path to Global Progress

World Bank Chief underscored the urgency of action, particularly with the looming demographic shift where 1.1 billion young people will enter the working-age population in the next decade….reports Asian Lite News


During the International Development Association (IDA) Midterm Review, World Bank President Ajay Banga stressed the necessity of a robust, coordinated, and all-encompassing approach to address the intricate challenges confronting today’s developing nations.

The event took place in Zanzibar, Tanzania, with Banga extending condolences for recent floods in the region, according to a release by the World Bank.

Addressing Presidents Samia Suluhu Hassan and Hussein Ali Mwinyi, Banga acknowledged the evolving mission of IDA in the face of challenges such as poverty, climate crises, food insecurity, and the aftermath of the global pandemic.

He underscored the urgency of action, particularly with the looming demographic shift where 1.1 billion young people will enter the working-age population in the next decade.

Banga said, “The landscape we face today is far more complex: declining progress in our fight against poverty, an existential climate crisis, food insecurity, fragility, a fledgling pandemic recovery, and conflict that touches lives beyond the frontlines”.

Banga added, “Meanwhile, in the next 10 years, 1.1 billion young people across the Global South will become working-age adults. Yet, in the same period and same countries, we are only expected to create 325 million jobs. The cost of inaction is unimaginable”.

Banga highlighted the necessity of reliable electricity access, pointing out that 600 million people in Africa, including 36 million in Tanzania, lack this basic necessity.

He stressed the World Bank’s commitment to creating a world free of poverty on a livable planet, outlining a vision that expands the scope of both the World Bank and IDA.

Banga said, “With $5 billion from IDA – we are on a mission to deliver reliable, affordable, renewable electricity to 100 million Africans before 2030”.

To illustrate the transformative power of electrification, Banga shared a success story from Nigeria, where an IDA-funded mini-grid system significantly improved various aspects of community life, from agriculture to healthcare and education.

Expressing the ambition to deliver reliable, affordable, renewable electricity to 100 million Africans by 2030, Banga urged for a substantial increase in funding.

He called for the next replenishment of IDA to be the largest in history, urging donors, shareholders, and philanthropies to step up.

Banga said, “Over the last 10 years, the number of items in IDA that we have been asked to measure has grown from 120 to more than 1,000. As a result, our team and governments spend more time trying to tick the box than we do delivering results”.

In addition to financial support, Banga highlighted the importance of reforms, emphasizing the need for efficiency and accessibility.

He proposed streamlining funds, creating fewer funds with more flexibility, and reducing the bureaucratic burden by focusing on impactful outcomes.

Concluding his remarks, Banga invoked the spirit of cooperation that led to the establishment of the World Bank, quoting U.S. Treasury Secretary Morgenthau’s observation that the solution was possible only due to “the goodwill, good sense, and sincerity of all the nations.”

Banga said, “After Bretton Woods, U.S. Treasury Secretary Morgenthau observed that the World Bank was the solution to one of the knottiest problems. But, he also said that the solution was made possible because “Only the goodwill, good sense and sincerity of all the nations could have found it.”

He encouraged participants to reimagine IDA’s potential and commit to its founding vision of a world where poverty is not a barrier to human potential.

The two-day event offers an opportunity for reflection and a collective commitment to the principles and vision that define IDA’s journey. (ANI)

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‘40% Population Lives Below Poverty Line in Pakistan’

The Washington-based lender unveiled the draft policy notes that it prepared with the help of all stakeholders for the next government…reports Asian Lite News

Pakistan’s 40 per cent of the population lives below the poverty line, as per the World Bank, Dawn reported.

The country now needs to take a look at its policy decisions driven by strong vested interests of military, political and business leaders, as per the World Bank.

The warning by the financial institution comes ahead of the new election cycle so that the upcoming government can make early choices.

The World Bank has asked Pakistan to tax its agriculture and real estate to achieve economic stability through steep fiscal adjustment of over seven per cent of the size of the economy, as per Pakistan-based The Express Tribune newspaper.

The lender on Friday also revealed that poverty in Pakistan shot up to 39.4 per cent as of last fiscal year with 12.5 million more people falling into the trap due to poor economic conditions. About 95 million Pakistanis now live in poverty.

The Washington-based lender unveiled the draft policy notes that it prepared with the help of all stakeholders for the next government.

The lender identified low human development, unsustainable fiscal situation, over-regulated private sector, agriculture and energy sectors as the priority areas for reforms for the next government.

The World Bank proposed measures that immediately increase the tax-to-GDP ratio by five per cent and cut expenditures by about 2.7 per cent of GDP, aimed at putting the unsustainable economy back on a prudent fiscal path, according to the Express Tribune.

Meanwhile, the WB’s lead country economist Tobias Haque said the bank is deeply concerned about the economic situation of today.

Pakistan is facing serious economic and human development crises and it is at a point where major policy shifts are required, he added.

The bank’s note on strengthening government revenues showed a host of measures to improve the revenue-to-GDP ratio by five per cent through the withdrawal of tax exemptions and increasing the burden of taxes on the real estate and the agriculture sectors, as per The Express Tribune. (ANI)

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-Top News Afghanistan Asia News

Afghans complain lack of work, poverty under Taliban

Taliban fighters are seen on a military vehicle in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan, Aug. 17, 2021. (Str/Xinhua/IANS)

Ghulam Hazrat is busy finding some food for his family in Kabul. He said that he has a family of five people and called “unemployment” a problem…reports Asian Lite News

Some of the people in Afghanistan have complained about a lack of work and increased poverty in the country, Afghanistan-based Tolo News reported.

People urged the Taliban and aid organizations to address their problems.

Ghulam Hazrat is busy finding some food for his family in Kabul. He said that he has a family of five people and called “unemployment” a problem.

Hazrat said, “I am the head of my family of five people, unemployment is a problem, this is the machine I work with, there are many economic problems, I am the breadwinner of the family, there is no one to help me, I come from morning to evening and work,” according to Tolo News report.

Abdul Ghafar, a Kabul resident, said that youth should be provided work in Afghanistan. Ghafar said, “Our wish is that work should be provided for the youth in the country, and young poor people in the country can find work.”

Meanwhile, the World Food Programme (WFP) in its report said that nine out of ten families in Afghanistan do not have access to food. Abdul Nasir Reshtia, an economist, said that Afghanistan should resolve their political problems with the world.

“We should solve our political problems with the world, the interactions should be increased, and Afghanistan will be recognized so that once again we will see the resumption of aid from the international community in the field of economic aid and development projects,” Tolo News quoted Abdul Nasir Reshtia as saying.

Meanwhile, the Taliban-led Ministry of Economy said they are trying to encourage the international community to focus aid on infrastructure projects. The ministry said that the move will reduce poverty in Afghanistan, according to Tolo News report.

Abdul Latif Nazari, deputy of the Taliban-led Ministry of Economics, said, “The more Afghanistan’s economic infrastructure is strengthened, the more we will overcome poverty, and our effort is to encourage the aid of the international community towards infrastructure and development projects.”

Earlier in July, educated unemployed youth raised concerns over the lack of work in Afghanistan and called on the Taliban to provide jobs, Afghanistan-based Tolo News reported.

Fardin, 26, who has graduated from the law and political sciences faculty, said that unemployment has frustrated him. He further said that he will inevitably leave Afghanistan if the situation continues.

Fardin, an unemployed youth said, “I studied for 16 years and nobody thinks about us. If the situation continues like this and nobody hears us, we are obliged to leave the country,” Tolo News reported.

Another unemployed youth named Mer Kamal said, “I studied for 16 years but now I am jobless because there are no job opportunities in Afghanistan.” (ANI)

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UN lauds India for its ‘remarkable’ poverty reduction

Among those countries include India, Cambodia, China, Congo, Honduras, Indonesia, Morocco, Serbia, and Viet Nam, it said, reiterating rapid progress is attainable…reports Asian Lite News

A total of 415 million people in India came out of poverty within a span of just 15 years from 2005/2006 to 2019/ 2021, the United Nations said on Tuesday highlighting the remarkable improvement in human development parameters by the world’s most populous country.

The latest update of the global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) with estimates for 110 countries was released today by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) at the University of Oxford. Poverty entails more than the lack of income and productive resources to ensure sustainable livelihoods. People living on less than USD 1.90 a day typically is considered to be in poverty.

Besides India, China lifted 69 million out of poverty between 2010-2014, and Indonesia 8 million between 2012-2017.

In neighbouring Bangladesh and Pakistan, 19 million and 7 million individuals came out of poverty during 2015-2019 and 2012-2018, respectively, the UN report said.

The report asserted that poverty reduction is achievable. The analysis of trends from 2000 to 2022, focused on 81 countries, according to the report, revealed that 25 countries successfully halved their global MPI values within 15 years. Many countries have halved their MPI in as short as four to 12 years.

Among those countries include India, Cambodia, China, Congo, Honduras, Indonesia, Morocco, Serbia, and Viet Nam, it said, reiterating rapid progress is attainable.

The poverty levels in Cambodia, Peru, and Nigeria have shown significant reductions recently. For Cambodia, the most encouraging case among these according to the report is the incidence of poverty falling from 36.7 per cent to 16.6 per cent, and the number of poor people halved, from 5.6 million to 2.8 million, all within 7.5 years, including pandemic years.

Despite the encouraging trends in many countries, the lack of post-pandemic data for most of the 110 countries covered by the global MPI restricts analysis of the pandemic’s effects on poverty, the report pointed out.

“As we reach the midpoint of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, we can clearly see that there was steady progress in multidimensional poverty reduction before the pandemic. However, the negative impacts of the pandemic in dimensions such as education are significant and can have long-lasting consequences,” said Conceicao, Director of the Human Development Report Office.

“It is imperative that we intensify efforts to comprehend the dimensions most negatively affected, necessitating strengthened data collection and policy efforts to get poverty reduction back on track.”

According to the report, 1.1 billion out of 6.1 billion people (over 18 per cent) globally live in acute multidimensional poverty across 110 countries. Sub-Saharan Africa (534 million) and South Asia (389 million) are home to approximately five out of every six poor people.

Nearly two-thirds of all poor people (730 million people) live in middle-income countries, making “action in these countries vital for reducing global poverty”.

Although low-income countries constitute only 10 per cent of the population included in the MPI, they are, however, where 35 per cent of all poor people reside.

Among those living in poverty, children under 18 years old account for half (566 million). The poverty rate among children is 27.7 per cent, while among adults it is 13.4 per cent. (ANI)

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Gaza population increases amid high poverty, unemployment

The coastal enclave of Gaza has witnessed a huge hike in population, which might be a bane rather than a boon for the overcrowded and besieged area, according to officials and analysts…reports Asian Lite News

“As of the end of 2021, the population has reached 2,313,747,” the Hamas-run General Administration of Civil Status at the Ministry of Interior said in a statement.

Some observers said the situation is alarming as residents of the coastal Strip are facing dire economic conditions that are expected to deteriorate if the population continues to grow.

Amjad al-Shawa, director of the Palestinian Non-governmental Network in Gaza, told Xinhua news agency that the Gaza Strip is living its “worst humanitarian crisis” as a result of the 15-year long Israeli siege and the internal Palestinian division.

“The large shortfall in international financing has also greatly affected the reality,” al-Shawa said.

“Since the start of the new year, the situation is becoming more difficult and does not spell any good for an immediate improvement in light of figures indicating high rates of unemployment, poverty, and deteriorating economic conditions,” he added.

Hamed Gad, a Gaza-based economist, told Xinhua that the Strip needs to create more than 60,000 jobs as thousands joined the unemployed annually.

He said the ongoing Israeli blockade on the Strip has left numerous “scars” on the lives of the residents, who hope that the situation would change for the better.

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“Unfortunately, the young generation is the most affected group, as the unemployment rate among them is about 70 per cent,” he said, calling on the government to take measures to support those in need.

Maher al-Taba’a, director of the Chamber of Commerce in Gaza, told Xinhua that the Israeli military actions on the Strip “deepened the economic crisis as a result of the massive destruction they left in the infrastructure and various sectors”.

Al-Taba’a cited that the recent round of tensions cost the Strip $500,000,000 in losses, at a time when the reconstruction process has not yet begun.

The business leader stressed that this coincided with an unprecedented trade stagnation due to the continuation of the blockade and the restrictions on import and export, which led to a slump in imports for 2021 compared to previous years.

This, in turn, has caused other social problems, such as more beggary in public places, the increase in divorce cases, the financial failure of merchants and businessmen, and bankruptcy, he added.

Officials and observers in Palestine are calling for effective international intervention to lift the blockade and introduce comprehensive measures to ensure a great improvement in people’s lives.

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-Top News Afghanistan Asia News

Poverty, unemployment on the rise in Afghanistan

Urging assistance to Afghanistan, locals asked the international community to accelerate the delivery of humanitarian aid to the country…reports Asian Lite News.

People of Afghanistan are facing a sharp jump in poverty and unemployment and food and fuel prices have also surged dramatically across the country, a media report said.

Residents say that the increase in food and fuel prices and the blockade of access to the country’s international reserves has created serious problems, reported Ariana News.

Currently, access to Afghanistan international reserves are blocked and the Taliban or any other have no access to the reserves.

Urging assistance to Afghanistan, locals asked the international community to accelerate the delivery of humanitarian aid to the country.

“If aid comes, it is good, because people are upset and prices have increased,” Arian News quoted Kabul resident Zamari as saying.

Meanwhile, the drought is another major challenge that is threatening millions of people in Afghanistan.

However, some Afghans believe that by the time these major issues will be resolved.

“People’s problems have increased. But we should be patient,” said Mohammad Baqi a Kabul resident.

Recently, EU Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid delivered 14.4 metric tonnes of urgently needed life-saving medical supplies to World Health Organisation in Afghanistan.

The plane carrying the supply landed in Kabul on Saturday.

The shipment is expected to fulfil the health needs of over 10,000 people in the country.

Expressing its gratitude to the EU aid agency, the WHO thanked it for the timely support. The supply will enhance preparedness to deliver a rapid response to the escalating health crisis in the country. (ANI)

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Poverty looms large over Afghanistan amid funding freeze

UN envoy called for modus vivendi in Afghanistan to prevent a total breakdown of the economy and social order…reports Asian Lite News

The top UN envoy for Afghanistan has called for a modus vivendi for money to flow into the country and for efforts to address the dire humanitarian situation.

Assets and donor funds worth billions of dollars have been frozen by members of the international community. The understandable purpose is to deny these funds to the de facto Taliban administration, Xinhua news agency reported.

The inevitable effect, however, will be a severe economic downturn that could throw many more millions into poverty and hunger, may generate a massive wave of refugees from Afghanistan, and indeed set Afghanistan back for generations, said Deborah Lyons, the UN secretary-general’s special representative for Afghanistan.

“As the Afghan currency plummeted, prices of fuel and food have skyrocketed. Private banks no longer have cash to distribute, meaning even Afghans with assets cannot access them. Salaries cannot be paid,” she told the Security Council in a briefing on Thursday.

“Afghanistan, heavily import-dependent, will be unable to finance its imports of food and medicine, as well as fuel, electricity, and other essential items,” Lyons asserted.

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“A modus vivendi must be found — and quickly — that allows money to flow to Afghanistan to prevent a total breakdown of the economy and social order,” she said.

Safeguards must be created to ensure that this money is spent where it needs to be spent, and not misused by the de facto authorities. The economy must be allowed to breathe for a few more months, giving the Taliban a chance to demonstrate flexibility and a genuine will to do things differently this time, notably from a human rights, gender, and counter-terrorism perspective, she said.

Lyons said the international community must focus on the pre-existing humanitarian crisis.

Addressing this crisis cannot wait for political decisions regarding the removal of sanctions against Taliban leaders as millions of ordinary Afghans are in desperate need of help, she added.

“This means that needed humanitarian aid must be provided through the United Nations or non-governmental organisations (NGOs). There are in addition countries that have their own sanctions that apply to certain members or groups that are now part of the de facto authority. Relevant mechanisms must be found quickly to allow for UN agencies and NGOs to provide the necessary humanitarian relief,” she noted.

“In the current environment, the UN role must be clear and build on our humanitarian imperative. There is an immediate and pressing need to deliver, on a huge scale, essential humanitarian aid in areas such as health, food security, non-food items, and sanitation,” said Lyons.

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SPECIAL: Hidden Facts of Child Abuse in Pakistan

India Pakistan border

Child abuse is under-reported due to social and economic reasons. The abusers are politically and economically powerful, while the victims are the underdog, punished further if they complain … writes Dr Sakariya Kareem

Pakistan last week vehemently rejected the charge of deploying child soldiers, on being listed by the United States Department’s annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report, 2021. But it cannot escape the charge of tolerating child abuse that is rampant and goes largely unpunished.

A report just out says eight children, both boys and girls, are abused daily in Pakistan. There was a four percent increase during 2020. Punjab, the most populous province, does not have a comprehensive institutional arrangement to monitor and curb the growing crime.   

Sexual abuse of minor children covers both boys and girls. The latter are worse off. Together, the ratio is 49 percent to 51 percent. Thriving as a result is an illegal business of promoting child pornography wherein the victim is often forced to face the camera.

Child abuse is under-reported due to social and economic reasons. The abusers are politically and economically powerful, while the victims are the underdog, punished further if they complain.

There is also an indirect religious sanction in that much of the crime occurs in madrassahs and involves the powerful teachers/staff against hapless students.

NGOs investigate and report the crime, but the religious seminaries reject it as a way to malign them by ‘secular’ bodies, and claim that that they have their own way of punishing the crime.

Child abuse has a history as a form of human slavery and is called “bacha bazi”, the slang for a practice that is prevalent in parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan. According to Wikipedia, it is “a custom created in Afghanistan involving child sexual abuse between older men and young adolescent males or boys, who are called dancing boys.”

“In the 21st century, Bacha bazi is reportedly practiced in various parts of Afghanistan and Northwestern Pakistan. Force and coercion are common, and security officials state they are unable to end such practices because many of the men involved in bacha bazi-related activities are powerful and well-armed warlords.”

While the practice in Afghanistan has been depicted in world cinema, including Afghan journalist Najibullah Quraishi’s documentary film, “The Dancing Boys of Afghanistan” that attracted horror and criticism from the world community, no such effort has been made about this crime in Pakistan.

Madarsa child sex abuse rocks Pakistan

But Punjab Police was forced to release information in response to the Right to Information Commission where it conceded 312 cases of children kidnap, their rape and gang-rape were registered only in Lahore from January to October 2020. Out of those cases, 275 were about kidnapping of children, 22 about child rape and 17 were about gang-rape of children. The police arrested 152 alleged criminals, challans of 87 cases were submitted in courts, and seven cases were still pending inn courts. According to the record, only five persons were awarded sentence in all the cases, (The News International, July 3, 2021).

The report by Asif Mahmud said: “In 2017, a case in Peshawar came to light in which the head of a religiously oriented school was accused of raping students and others who worked at the school and placing cameras to record the act. Despite the presence of this evidence, he has now received bail from the Peshawar High Court after being sentenced to 105 years by a Sessions Court.”

Mahmud says that “in the past women who have complained of sexual assault, sometimes after marriage, have had acid thrown on them by husbands as a form of rejection or to punish the victim rather than the perpetrator.”

Lahore recently witnessed a controversy of a cleric running a madrassah was filmed by the victim. Sabir Shah, a student at a Lahore religious school stated that he was sexually abused by Mufti Aziz ur Rehman for over an year. After it went viral, the cleric went into hiding. Caught, he confessed and is on trial. Such cases are, however, rare, media reports say.

Dawn reported on April 9, 2021: “As many as 2,960 major crimes against children were reported in the four provinces, including Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) in 2020.

People wearing face masks walk on a road in Rawalpindi of Pakistan’s Punjab province

According to data released by an NGO, eight children were abused every day in Pakistan in one form or the other while 51pc of the victims were girls and 49pc boys.

The report, ‘Cruel numbers 2020’ is a compilation of statistics on crimes against children, including child sexual abuse, abduction, missing children and child marriages. The report was compiled by Sahil, based on cases reported in 84 national and regional newspapers in 2020.

According to Sahil’s Executive Director Manizeh Bano Children most vulnerable to abuse belonged to the age group of 6-15 years. Moreover, children as young as 0-5 years were also sexually abused.

The data showed that more than 80pc of the abusers were known to the children. In most of the cases, the abusers were either acquaintances (1,780) or service providers (109) such as teachers, shopkeepers and drivers. In a total of 91 cases, family members and relatives and in 92 cases neighbours were involved. In only 468 cases, strangers abused the children.

Out of the total 2,960 cases, 1915 (65pc) were reported from rural areas and 1,045 (35pc) from urban areas.

Drawing a contrast in relative inaction on child abuse with other issues, The News International (July 1, 2021) says: “Religious uproar on issues relating to blasphemy or any action that would be considered as a deliberate attempt to ridicule the Islam, has more often than not paralyzed Pakistan with violent protests by hundreds of thousands of followers of religious leaders issuing clear and open threats to the government to meet their demands of capital punishment for such transgressors.” Indicating the thinking at the top that perpetuates conservative notions, the newspaper pinpointed the recent statement by Prime Minister Imran Khan regarding less clothes on women would have a “sexual desirous impact on the men”, was seconded by many religious leaders and scholars, who said that Pakistani society is based on Islamic values, which do not allow women to wear less clothes in public.”

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-Top News Afghanistan Asia News

Countless Afghan kids work on streets due to poverty, war

The report also indicated a 37 per cent increase in the number of women casualties while a 23 percent spike in child casualties compared to last year….reports Asian Lite News

The continued brutal war, insurgency and extreme poverty in Afghanistan have forced countless number of children to resort to child labour and work on streets to earn livelihood for their families, instead of going to school.

Civilians including children are bearing the brunt of war in Afghanistan. A UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) report released in April documented 1,783 civilian casualties (573 killed and 1,210 injured) in the first quarter of 2021 which indicates a 29 per cent increase against the same period of last year, reports Xinhua news agency.

The report also indicated a 37 per cent increase in the number of women casualties while a 23 percent spike in child casualties compared to last year.

Although there is no official statistics on the number of child labour, the number of vulnerable children in Afghanistan, according to local media reports, has increased from 3 million to 5 million.

Omar, 11, is one of the thousands of Afghan children who lost their parents in the endemic war and has been forced to work on Kabul streets to earn a livelihood for his five-member family.

Washing cars in Omid Sabz locality, Omar said the ongoing war has deprived him of going to school.

Afghanistan kids

“I am busy in car washing from dawn to dusk and roughly earn some 150 afghani ($1.9) daily to support my family,” he told Xinhua.

Another boy Abdul Azim, 13, who scavenges garbage buckets on the outskirts of Kabul city, told Xinhua that he was “the only bread earner of the family and have no choice but work and earn something”.

“On average I can earn around 180 afghani ($2.3) everyday and support my family.”

Ghulam Haider Jilani, the deputy for the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, said recently that the government would do its best to solve the problems of child labour in the country.

Jilani said the budget for children protection had increased from 20 million afghani last year to 52 million afghani this year.

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Poverty in Pakistan linked to rising cases of child marriage

According to a recent report, the poverty rate in Pakistan has reached an alarming 31.3 per cent….reports Asian Lite News

Child marriage is the most horrifying among the many serious poverty-related issues plaguing Pakistan, experts said.

According to a recent report, the poverty rate in Pakistan has reached an alarming 31.3 per cent. One of the major concerns of the people is the marriage of their children, mainly because the underprivileged families seldom send their children to schools, reported The Nation.

The boys in these families start working from a very small age, while girls are trained for household work and married quickly, which inevitably lead to underage marriages.

Citing an organisation named Sahil, The Nation reported that a total of 119 cases of child marriages were reported, out of which 95 per cent were of girls and five per cent were of boys.

Other reasons of child marriages in Pakistan are culture, tribal traditions and exchange marriage. However, experts say that poverty is the gravest reason.

“In newly merged tribal districts and Malakund district, people take Rs 500,000 to Rs 2,000,000 from men wanting to marry their underage girls. Most of these men are wealthy and already married,” said Qaiser Khan, a political activist from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Also read:Internet freedom in Pakistan declined in 2020

As per a UNICEF report in 2020, 21 per cent girls in Pakistan get married before age of 18, while three per cent get married before turning 15, reported The Nation.

“The country has the sixth-highest number of child brides in the world (1,909,000). The median age of marriage is the lowest in rural areas and in Gilgit-Baltistan,” the report said.

Meanwhile, experts are now concerned that in near future, the situation might aggravate in the country, as the government has announced a complete lockdown in 20 cities of Punjab.

Many observers have said that the rising cases of child marriages are because they are done in the name of culture or even religion. The issues, especially in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit Baltistan, have deep roots of ‘culture’, ‘norm’ and ‘tradition’.

“Early marriage affects the psychological well-being and intellectual, personal and social growth of the child… Robbed of happy childhood experiences, given an incomplete education that mars career prospects later, overburdened with responsibilities and subjected to domestic violence, there is an increased risk of depression and post-traumatic stress disorder in such children,” said Kishwar Enam, a paediatrician.

Activists have urged the government to take major steps to tackle the issue, including harsh punishments, according to The Nation. (ANI)

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