LAHORE, The entire country, particularly the provincial capital, joined the rest of the world in celebrating Universal Children's Day on Monday.



Children participated in large numbers in various functions, seminars and meetings organized in the city under the auspices of various socio-cultural organizations to highlight the rights of children and emphasize the need to cater to their special requirements.A massive event was held at the Children Library Complex in which a large number of special children and their parents participated. The wife of Punjab Governor Khalid Maqbool, Mrs Rubina Khalid, was the chief guest, whilst Shamshad Ahmad Qureshi, representative of Unicef Punjab; Father Francis Nadeem, representative of National Council for Interfaith Dialogue; and Rubina Tariq Jilani were guests of honour.Addressing the occasion, Rubina Khalid said that Islam preaches love for humanity and our beloved Prophet (PBUH) treated children with great love and respect. She said that Pakistan is one the countries that have ratified the treaty for child rights and hence, aside from moral considerations, Pakistanis are also under legal obligations to ensure that children are granted their due rights. She added that this particular function was organized to highlight and address the problems of special children.



She explained that the protection of life is the first right of children, and with the help of the international community, great progress has been made in immunization programs, successfully protecting many children from fatal diseases.



After the right to live, education is the most critical right of children, as our Prophet (PBUH) himself stressed the importance of educating children, she said. Following the teachings of Islam the government has started providing free education to children under the 'Parha Likha Punjab' campaign she said, adding that under this scheme scholarship stipends of 200 rupees per month are being offered to of girls to send them to schools in five districts of the province.

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