Blog
Articles of Our Writers
Autism and SDGs
Rukhsana Shah
THE 2024 observance of World Autism Day is aligned with the implementation status and progress on the Sustainable Development Goals. Autism is a neurodevelopmental cond...
See More
Caregivers burden
Rukhsana Shah
A STUDY on Maternal Stress and Health Quality of Life in Mothers with Special Needs Children, authored by Sara Jafree and Khadija Burhan of FCC University, Lahore, was published by Ataturk Universi...
See More
Assisted Living
Rukhsana Shah
ONE of the most pressing issues in Pakistan for parents of children with neurodevelopmental disabilities such as autism is that once the parents and caregivers are no lon...
See More
Stigmatising PWDs
Rukhsana Shah
AT a news conference in Lahore, the Punjab information minister stated that children with disabilities were a punishment from God for wrongdoers and hoarders. His toxic r...
See MoreWorkplace Inclusion
Rukhsana Shah
AUTISM and intellectual/developmental disorders (I/DD) are often seen as a childhood condition, and the focus is mostly on diagnosis and intervention therapies. However, ...
See MoreA mere Day wont do
Rukhsana Shah
TODAY, Dec 3, happens to be the International Day of Disabled Persons (IDPD 2021). The United Nations theme for this year is ‘Leadership and participation o...
See More
Women and Autism
Rukhsana Shah
AUTISM Spectrum Disorder comprises a range of psycho-social, behavioural and emotional difficulties in children and adults that can affect their day-to-day functioning, educational goals, employmen...
See More
Autism and Covid-19
Rukhsana Shah
THIS year, we are celebrating World Autism Awareness Day (April 2) during the Covid-19 pandemic which has changed our views on existentialism, social interaction and the planet’s future. On a...
See MoreAutism awareness
Rukhsana Shah
THIS year, the UN Observance of World Autism Awareness Day focuses on the use of assistive technologies (AT) and information and communication technologies (ICT) to enable persons with autism to li...
See More
Occupational safety
Rukhsana Shah
ONE of the most neglected areas of governance in Pakistan is that of inspection and monitoring of the labour force employed in hazardous occupations. The highest incidence of injuries occurs in the...
See More
Supporting LHWs
Rukhsana Shah
THE Lady Health Workers Programme is the only pro-poor initiative in the country today directly delivering critical health services, but LHWs have been designated as a dying cadre in Punjab. Their ...
See More
Prison reform
Rukhsana Shah
THE condition of prisons in Pakistan is appalling, although many reform committees since 1950 have made different recommendations for their improvement. Some have proposed exhaustive amendments in ...
See More
Animal Legislation
Rukhsana Shah
LAST month, social media highlighted the barbaric torture of a donkey in Karachi and his subsequent death; Dawn also carried a distressing article on the incident which stated: “It is a sad r...
See More
Bad career choice?
Rukhsana Shah
AS with so many other professions, nursing remains a neglected line of work, despite its practitioners being responsible for the treatment, safety and quick recovery of patients, as well as post-op...
See More
Sindh Disability Law
Rukhsana Shah
IN its last week in office, the Sindh government passed a momentous disability law. The Sindh Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities Act is the first sincere and meaningful effort in Pakistan to ...
See More
Disability culture
Rukhsana Shah
PERSONS with disabilities have been stigmatised since the beginning of time. The early Greeks and Romans left them to die as they were seen as a blemish on human perfection, while in the Middle Age...
See More
Girls with Autism
Rukhsana Shah
ON April 2, 2018, the UN will be observing the 11th World Autism Awareness Day, focusing for the first time on women and girls with autism, and opening up a much-needed debate on fresh policy initi...
See More
Birth Defects
Rukhsana Shah
ACCORDING to a WHO report, more than 300,000 infants are born with severe congenital anomalies every year and die within four weeks of birth. About 3-6 per cent are born with life-altering birth de...
See More
Special Olympics
Rukhsana Shah
THIS year we are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Special Olympics, a unique institution as full of humanity and inspiration as was its founder, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, sister of J.F. Kenned...
See More
Preet Nagar
Rukhsana Shah
IT is difficult to recapture the fervour and idealism of the Muslims of the 1940s when the idea of Pakistan took hold of their collective imagination. Yet it represented a continuu...
See More
Punishing Children
Rukhsana Shah
IN 2006, Pakistan made a commitment to abolish corporal punishment. In the last 11 years, a number of laws on the subject have been passed, but corporal punishment continues to be practised. Videos...
See More
Early Education
Rukhsana Shah
PAKISTAN has some 100 million people who are illiterate; of these about 24m are children. There are at least 28m children in public and private schools today. What these children are learning is an...
See More
Governance Woes
Rukhsana Shah
ONE of the fundamentals of good governance is the ability to mobilise existing resources efficiently and to ensure their sustainability. This is mainly done through sound policies and their impleme...
See More
Child Protection
Rukhsana Shah
CHILDREN are the most vulnerable segment of any society. In Pakistan, their plight is a palimpsest of misery. Child labour, brick kiln bondage, domestic slavery, corporal punishment, trafficking, p...
See More
Neglected Subject
Rukhsana Shah
REPORTEDLY, there are about 35 million to 50m people in Pakistan suffering from mental illnesses a...
See MoreShackled Children
Rukhsana Shah
ALL children, including children with disabilities, have the right to live with and be cared for by their parents. In cases where...
See More
Locked Away
Rukhsana Shah
THE Mendez Report compiled by UN special rapporteur on torture in 2015 indicates there are at least eight to 10 million children living in orphanages, residential homes...
See More
Autism Awareness
Rukhsana Shah
“APRIL is the cruellest month of the year,” wrote T.S. Eliot. It is a month of painful rebirth, but also a time of immen...
See More
Medical Challenge
Rukhsana Shah
AN overwhelmingly large proportion of persons with disabilities in Pakistan suffer from physical disabilities such as cerebral palsy and other congenital disorders and those related to diseases inc...
See More
Gender & Disability
Rukhsana Shah
WOMEN with disabilities face triple discrimination the world over on the basis of disability, gender and poverty. They are the most marginalised of all population groups including men with disabili...
See More
The Eugenics Debate
Rukhsana Shah
THE current debate on the re-emergence of eugenics is worrying, as most of its proponents seem to be urging for gene manipulation for higher intelligence and beauty, while only a few are concerned ...
See More
Access denied
Rukhsana Shah
THE creation of an inclusive and accessible society should be the ideal of every democratic government. However, access to equal opportunities, quality education, health services, clean water, sust...
See More
Autism & Neurodiversity
Rukhsana Shah
ON World Autism Awareness Day tomorrow, the focus should be on some interesting developments. First is the groundbreaking book, NeuroTribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity by...
See More
Enhancing skills
Rukhsana Shah
IN recent years, there has been a great deal of hype about ‘skilling Pakistan’ and capitalising on the ‘youth bulge or demographic bomb’ in Pakistan. Sadly, there is not muc...
See More
Health Education
Rukhsana Shah
The persistent neglect of human resource development is severely affecting social and economic outcomes in Pakistan. The country shamefully remains at the lowest ranking at 147 out of 148 countries...
See More
Problematic cotton growing
Rukhsana Shah
THE textile sector has the longest production chain, natural fibres being its first links. The production and processing of cotton employs more than 10m people and generates billions of dollars in ...
See More
Revive Institutions
Rukhsana Shah
THE revival of the Ministry of Human Rights by the federal government and the appointment of chairperson of the Pakistan National Human Rights Commission augur well for the people. Both these insti...
See More
Law for Inclusive Education
Rukhsana Shah
THE debate on inclusive education is especially important in Pakistan today because while the government is under pressure to legislate on inclusive education as per its international obligations u...
See More
Pakistan’s Growing Gender Gap
Rukhsana Shah
In 2013, Pakistan ranked 135th out of 136 countries in the Global Gender Gap Index Report of the World Economic Forum. In 2014, eight more countries were included in the report, but Pakistan remain...
See More
Missing Welfare
Rukhsana Shah
THE unnecessary haste with which the devolution plan of the 18th Amendment was implemented left many critical national institutions in limbo.
Among these, the National Council for Social ...
See More
Census & Disability
Rukhsana Shah
THE census forms the basis of all activities of the government, from economic management to infrastructural and institutional development, provision of basic human rights such as security, health, ...
See More
Social Protection
Rukhsana Shah
THE term disability traverses an entire range of health problems ranging from infirmity due to Alzheimer’s, diabetes, cancer, arthritis and old age to congenital diseases, malnutrition, accid...
See More
No job Available
Rukhsana Shah
World Autism Awareness Day, observed every year on April 2, was introduced for the first time by the UN in 2008 to highlight the concern of the world community for affected children and adults. Thi...
See More