Pakistan has launched nationwide consultations with the World Health Organization to develop the country’s first Strategic Action Plan for child protection, targeting measures to prevent and respond to all forms of violence affecting an estimated 112 million children. Led by the Ministry of Human Rights in coordination with provincial governments and key partners, the effort aims to create a unified national framework to tackle abuse, exploitation and neglect.
The multi-stakeholder process began in Karachi and concluded in Islamabad with active participation from every province and self-governed region. Officials highlighted that children across Pakistan face a broad spectrum of harm, including violent killings, physical abuse, sexual assault, psychological violence and chronic neglect, with heightened risks in urban slums, migrant communities, displaced populations and among children engaged in labour.
The Strategic Action Plan will be guided by the Convention on the Rights of the Child and aligned with WHO’s INSPIRE framework, which brings together evidence-based approaches such as legal reforms, shifting harmful social norms, creating safer environments, supporting caregivers, economic strengthening, responsive services and life-skills education. Aligning national policy with these measures is central to strengthening child protection systems across Pakistan.
Federal Secretary for Human Rights Abdul Khalique Shaikh said the country urgently needs a coordinated, multi-sectoral response that brings together education, health, law enforcement and community systems. He stressed that a unified national strategy should include measurable targets, clear institutional responsibilities and a robust monitoring and evaluation framework to ensure accountability and impact.
Pakistan’s protection gaps remain severe: only about one in three children under five are registered at birth, limiting access to legal identity and essential services; over 12.5 million children are engaged in child labour; and millions more face heightened risks of trafficking, early marriage, forced labour and exploitation. Addressing these gaps is a priority for the proposed action plan.
WHO Representative Dr Luo Dapeng described violence against children as a pressing public health issue and positioned the Strategic Action Plan as a practical roadmap to protect future generations. Ministry officials framed the consultations as the start of a sustained national effort to align constitutional guarantees, Sustainable Development Goals and Pakistan’s international human rights commitments while strengthening and integrating existing legal and institutional frameworks.
Globally, WHO estimates that one billion children experience physical, sexual or emotional violence every year and that on average a child dies from violence every five minutes. The Strategic Action Plan is expected to bring government institutions, civil society and international partners together to create safer environments, strengthen accountability and build systems that protect every child in Pakistan.
