Article
Empowering Teachers, Transforming Futures
Karachi, Sindh:, Baba Island is one of many small islands dotted along the coast of Karachi. Believed to be nearly 400 years old, the small yet densely populated island is home to over 30,000 residents. Comprising mostly fishermen, the communities inhabiting Baba Island have few resources and remain isolated from ...
Article
Transforming classrooms for improved learning in Balochistan
Lasbela District, Balochistan:, With her small hands gripping a pencil, 8-year-old Ume Asma carefully writes in her notebook, her face lighting up as she solves a mathematics problem. Just months ago, the third grader struggled with her studies and was particularly wary of mathematics. “I enjoy doing calculations ...
Press release
Nearly a quarter of a billion children’s schooling was disrupted by climate crises in 2024 – UNICEF
NEW YORK, 24 January 2025 , – At least 242 million students in 85 countries had their schooling disrupted by extreme climate events in 2024, including heatwaves, tropical cyclones, storms, floods, and droughts, exacerbating an existing learning crisis, according to a new UNICEF analysis released today. For the fir...
Article
Creating Conducive Learning Environments for Children in Hangu
Hangu District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa:, Umer Farooq (11) beams with joy after quenching his thirst with filtered water from the newly installed electric water cooler at his school in Hangu district, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa He is a Grade 5 student at Government Primary School (GPS) in Khasari Banda where he has been studyi...
Statement
UNICEF Statement on attack in Mastung, Balochistan, Pakistan
Islamabad, November 1, 2024:, UNICEF condemns the heinous attack in Mastung today which has reportedly claimed the lives of at least five children, and left many more injured, including school children. UNICEF offers its heartfelt condolences to all the families affected by this terrible event and wishes the injured a swift recovery. Children were attending the nearby school…
Press release
Over 55,000 children benefit from education reforms in Sindh
KARACHI, 31 October 2024:, The education pilot Sindh Technical Assistance for Development through Enhanced Education Programme (STA DEEP), supported by the European Union and UNICEF, concluded today, with over 55,000 children benefitting from this five-year programme. STA DEEP introduced decentralised approaches t...
Article
First Generation of Learners, Next Generation of Empowered Youth
Quetta, Balochistan:, Education is not something Naimatullah takes for granted. At 14 years of age, he has shouldered more responsibilities than a young child ever should. Naimatullah spent many of his younger years working instead of getting the chance to learn. “I used to collect paper to support my family,” sa...
Press release
Education on hold for 230,000 children in Pakistan’s flood-affected Sindh
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, 11 September 2024, : Children are bearing the brunt of extreme weather in Sindh with 230,000 students affected by school closures due to devastating monsoon floods that have swept through the southern part of the country. Over 1,300 schools are damaged, 228 of which are fully destroyed. Over 4...
Article
Education emergency: now or never
“Let me read, let me grow”, said a 10-year-old child I met in Mirpurkhas. And this is primarily the voice of every child I have met in Pakistan. The first word uttered in Islam as the command of revelation to the Holy Prophet (pbuh) was ‘Iqra’; Islam started with the command to read. Education is obligatory in Isl...
Article
Five years on, life progresses for Shahnaz
It was 2021 when ten-year-old Shahnaz joined the Alternative Learning Programme (ALP) centre, established by UNICEF in Hazarganji, on the outskirts of Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province. The centre was initially only for boys. However, giving in to his daughter’s desire to learn, Shahnaz’s father, Mira Kh...
Article
A brighter future for children of refugee and host communities in Balochistan
Quetta, Balochistan:, As the bell rings to end the school day, classrooms begin to empty with children rushing out to head home. One classroom, however, begins to fill up with young girls, taking their seats one by one. Brimming with excitement, they can’t wait for the class to begin. This classroom in the Govern...
Article
Bridging the learning gap in Punjab
Bahawalpur District, Punjab:, On a sunny morning, a group of young girls and boys walk through a muddy pathway surrounding mudbrick houses in Chak 13 - a village in Southern Punjab’s Bahawalpur district. Carrying UNICEF school bags, they excitedly approach a mud-house marked with a board that reads “Non-Formal Edu...