President Dr Arif Alvi has said that bringing street
children and over 20 million out-of-school children into the formal education stream is
of paramount importance for converting them into valuable and productive human
resource.
The President made these remarks while talking to the Under-16 Street Children
team which would be representing Pakistan in the Street Children World Cup, Qatar
2022 and the officials of Muslim Hands at Aiwan-e-Sadr, today.
The President appreciated the initiative of Muslim Hands for helping unprivileged
children by involving them in healthy and constructive activities and giving them
proper training, education, social and communication skills, confidence and the
opportunity to compete at the international level in football tournaments. While
appreciating the achievements of the team, he stated that such steps must also be
taken for the promotion of other games like hockey and kabaddi.
The President stated that although the government was taking many steps to
engage underprivileged children in healthy activities which required support of the
private sector, NGO’s and civil society. He emphasized the need for creating
enabling environment for unprivileged children by providing them with education,
training and necessary skill so that they could realize their full potential.
The President advised that Pakistan Sports Board should engage street children in
sports to build their character and confidence and provide them training to become
world class players. He said that Pakistan was a sport-loving nation and football was
equally popular in every nook and corner of the country. He emphasized that the
promotion of sports could help our youth in reducing stress and leading a healthy life.
He said that 60 per cent of the population of the country was comprised of youth and
they must be equipped with the latest IT tools and training so that they could become
productive citizens of the country.
The President also called upon the Pakistan Football Federation to set aside their
petty differences and inter-federation rivalries and to focus on the development of the
game, starting from grass root level and engaging as many young players as
possible from across the country, especially the underprivileged children. He added
that it would help the country in the development of sports ecosystem which would
eventually produce world-class players.
Earlier, while briefing the President, Raja Arsalan Nusrat Director Muslims Hands,
UK Chapter said that over 1000 children in more than 15 communities across
Pakistan were engaged in the sports activities under “Child’s Right to Play” slogan.
He apprised that the Football team comprising of street children would participate in
street Child Football World Cup going to be held in Qatar Doha.
The President also handed over National Flag to the team captain.
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