This page is background information, last updated in May 2002 and still available for reference. For the latest on the Special Session on Children, please go to the Special Session index.

Jehanzeb: a boy who works for girls' rights

Jehanzeb Khan

Jehanzeb Khan, 16, is one of more than 350 child delegates to the United Nations Special Session on Children. He believes that illiteracy is the greatest "evil of every society." He has a personal reason for his belief: Jehanzeb was disabled by polio as a young child and believes that if his parents had been educated, they would have had him immunized and he would have been spared this crippling disease.

After surviving polio, Jehanzeb developed a "passion to help the needy." Towards that end, he joined Pakistan's Boy Scouts. The organization helps to promote literacy, and, in cooperation with UNICEF, it also supports the campaign for a 'Polio Free Pakistan', a cause that Jehanzeb is passionate about. He has worked with the Boy Scouts to persuade local officials to immunize children against the six major vaccine-preventable diseases of childhood - diphtheria, measles, pertussis, poliomyelitis, tetanus and tuberculosis.

Jehanzeb is also passionate about girls' rights and has worked in numerous ways to promote education for girls. He has been involved with the UNICEF-supported Girl Child Project, which was launched in selected rural and urban areas throughout Pakistan to address the special problems faced by girls. The project has empowered girls in hundreds of locations across the country by helping them obtain education and skills.

In the same vein, Jehanzeb has also been involved with an organization called Brothers Join Meena, an offshoot of the UNICEF-supported Meena Communication Initiative, which helps to promote the rights of girl children in South Asia. 'Meena' is a 13-part animated series about a South Asian girl who fights for her rights, especially the right to go to school, and battles various injustices, including the social stigma surrounding HIV/AIDS. The series, offered in dozens of languages, has helped spur a massive effort to change the attitudes and behaviour of millions of people in the South Asia region regarding child rights, especially the rights of girls.

"The Children's Forum will provide me with an opportunity to learn from and share my experiences with fellow children from all over the world," Jehanzeb says. "It is important because it provides a platform for children to express their views and opinions regarding the rights of children."

Jehanzeb is writing his daily diary with help from fellow child delegate, Arshela Amir Ali, a 10th grade student from Pakistan. Arshela is attending the Special Session as part of the non-governmental organization Human Rights Education Programme and is one of the 17 Children’s Forum rapporteurs. National Coordinator on the UN Special Session on Children for the Government of Pakistan, Asad Sumbal, is providing translation assistance.

UNICEF supports the right of every child to be heard, and therefore provides this opportunity for children to voice their views and impressions of the United Nations Special Session on Children. The report above reflects the opinions of an individual child delegate to the Special Session and does not represent the policies or positions of UNICEF.