Pakistani president reaffirms commitment to safeguarding children's rights

ISLAMABAD, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan's President Arif Alvi on Monday reaffirmed the country's commitment to safeguarding the rights and well-being of its children, highlighting that children are the most precious resource of any nation and the sole guarantee of its future.

"Pakistan is fully alive to its responsibilities towards its children and is making all efforts to ensure children's inclusive development, education, health care, participation, dignity and security," the president said in a message on World Children's Day.

In accordance with national and international obligations, Alvi said Pakistan has a clear vision of investing in children and has remained at the forefront of advocating, protecting, and promoting child rights.

"Pakistan is a signatory to seven core international human rights conventions, including the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child ... We believe that social justice and equality are the cornerstones on which the structure of a healthy society is built," he said.

Commenting on the challenges, Alvi said that children in Pakistan are vulnerable to stunting, malnutrition, and lack of access to quality education and health facilities, in addition to various protection challenges including child trafficking, child marriage, child labor, and child abuse.

In this regard, the government has been stepping up efforts to enact policies and promulgated a number of legislations to protect children's rights and create an enabling environment for them, he added.