Lahore:
After the destruction caused by the heavy rain and catastrophic floods in 2022, many gathered to provide humanitarian help through food, clothing and medicine to the affected families.
However, no amount of help could restore futures for innocent children whose lives were risen. Muhammad Arsalan, a 12-year-old boy, was found in a store in Gulberg. Originally from Rajanpur, Arsalan had lived with a relative in Lahore for the past three years. Before the floods, Arsalan was a Class 4 student, but when the disaster hit in 2022, his home and school were completely destroyed and forced him and his family to flee to Lahore.
“When the reconstruction of homes in my hometown was completed, my parents and four siblings return, but they left me since I started working for the RS200 a day,” Arsalan shared.
Like Arsalan, thousands of children across the country have been forced to face similar setbacks and challenges due to the effects of climate change. Especially the 2022 floods decimated schools over Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan, leaving thousands of children without access to education for months.
The UN figures also revealed that two million children did not return to the classrooms when the floods had disappeared.
According to Nadeem Ashraf, a member of the National Commission for Human Rights in Punjab, in the wake of the floods of 2022, many schools in the affected areas were either completely destroyed or severely affected, due to which educational activities remained suspended for several months. “Nearly 1.5 million children were displaced as a result of the floods. The displaced children not only fought academically, but also suffered from various disorders, including skin diseases and gastrointestinal diseases.
The recovery process after migration is long and difficult, and the affected families, especially women and children, face uncertainty and uncertainty, “said Ashraf. Iftikhar Mubarak, CEO in search of justice, emphasized the fact that children who were the most vulnerable segment in society suffered most from climate crisis.
“During the devastating floods of 2022, countless educational institutions were destroyed and the children’s education was suddenly suspended. Similarly, the closure of schools throughout the province due to the smog crisis again disturbed the education,” Mubarak noted. Mubarak further stated that the financial distress caused by climate change began child labor. “When parents, especially those involved in agriculture or animal husbandry, lose their livelihoods, children are often forced to work as workers to support household financially. Therefore, the uncertainty and disturbance caused by climate change can create a sense of uncertainty and fear among children, affecting their emotional and social development,” he added.
On the other hand, Fatima Tahir, a clinical psychologist, was of the opinion that the climate crisis disproportionately affected girls in Pakistan. “After disasters such as floods and droughts, girls are forced to assume additional household responsibility, which prevents their education and development.
In addition, limited access to resources and support systems, health risks and displacement of girls’ education and increases their risk of exploitation and abuse. In addition, financial difficulties increase the likelihood of minors or forced marriages that remove the girl’s right to education, “Tahir emphasized.
In fact, climate marriages have emerged as a significant challenge in which 45 underage girls married in a single village in the inner Sindh during the monsoon rain last year. According to data provided by the inspector General Police Sindh to the Sindh Home Department, 57 cases of child marriage were registered in eight districts in Sindh between 2018 and 2023.
