National, Federal & Provincial Budget Analysis from a Child Rights Perspective 2012-2013

This cooperative report between Save the Children and Child Rights Movement (CRM) provides a comparative analysis of child focused budgetary allocations, primarily for the year 2011-12 and 2012-13.  According to the report, the sum of all allocations for child-focused health, education and social welfare is 0.75 per cent of the Gross National Product (GNP), which indicates that low priority was given to children and related schemes, programmes and projects. The report also claims that Pakistan has allocated 0.66 per cent of GNP for child-focused education, 0.11 per cent on child-focused healthcare, and 0.02 per cent on child-focused social welfare. On the state of education, the report reveals that about 7.3 million children in Pakistan are out of school. Meanwhile, the situation on basic healthcare for children paints an equally dismal picture. As of 2010, an estimated 87 out of every 1,000 children died before age-five, stunting rate among children has exceeded 40 per cent, and around 31 per cent of children in this age group are moderately or severely underweight.

In Pakistan, limited budgetary allocations for the basic needs of children have deprived many from their right to education and healthcare. It is hoped that the report will serve as an effective advocacy tool to draw the attention of the policy makers towards fulfilling the commitments that Pakistan has made as a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.