In Dialogue with Pakistan, Experts of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Welcome Law Raising the Age of Marriage to 18, Ask about Bonded Labour and Rebuilding Efforts after the 2022 and 2025 Floods
The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights today concluded its review of the second periodic report of Pakistan under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, with Committee Experts welcoming the State’s 2025 legal amendment raising the age of marriage to 18, and asking about bonded labour and rebuilding efforts following the 2022 and 2025 floods, among other topics.
Michael Windfuhr, Committee Expert and Member of the Taskforce for Pakistan, welcomed the amendment in 2025 of the child marriage restraint act of 1929, raising the lawful age for marriage to 18 for both males and females. However, he said the Committee remained concerned given the high number of child brides. What was the impact of measures to prevent child marriage?
Lazhari Bouzid, Committee Expert and Member of the Taskforce for Pakistan, said bonded labour continued to pervade agriculture and was also found in the informal sector, notably in brick making. Construction companies and Government agencies were reportedly complicit in this practice, purchasing bricks produced through debt bondage. How did the State react to these reports?
Mr. Windfuhr asked how the State had coped with the impacts of the huge floods in 2022 and 2025. Could the State rebuild the housing of affected persons and restore their access to land or productive resources? How many persons were still displaced?
Aqeel Malik, Minister of State for Law and Justice of Pakistan and head of the delegation, in opening remarks, said that since 2017, Pakistan had taken a range of legislative, policy and institutional measures for the progressive realisation of Covenant rights. He said child marriage restraint laws had set the minimum age for both boys and girls at 18 in Islamabad, Balochistan, the Punjab and Sindh, and criminalised child, early or forced marriages.
In the ensuing dialogue, the delegation said the Constitution prohibited slavery and all forms of forced labour, and the bonded labour system abolition act of 1992 abolished the bonded labour system. Punjab had documented over 210,000 kiln workers and district vigilance committees had been established in many districts. Labour inspectors had identified over 2,900 victims of forced labour last year.
In response to the floods, the delegation said the Government had set up a national emergency operations centre focusing on high-risk areas and established a national flood protection programme, which aimed to protect at-risk people, eight million acres of agricultural land and 2.2 million housing units. Each province was also implementing flood protection measures. Out of the 2.1 million homes destroyed in the 2022 floods, 600,000 had been rebuilt, while reconstruction of the remaining houses continued.
In concluding remarks, Julieta Rossi, Committee Expert and Leader of the Taskforce for Pakistan, said the delegation had presented processes to implement economic, social and cultural rights, as well as the significant challenges the State faced and gaps between legislative progress and implementation. This information would be reflected in the Committee’s concluding observations, which the Committee hoped that Pakistan would implement in good faith.
Mr. Malik, in concluding remarks, said the State party had presented its efforts to close gaps between constitutional guarantees and their realisation. The State’s trajectory was toward the progressive realisation of Covenant rights. Despite constraints and challenges, Pakistan had travelled a considerable distance since its first review. The State hoped that the Committee’s candour and rigour would help pave the way for the full realisation of economic, social and cultural rights for all.
In closing remarks, Asraf Ally Caunhye, Committee Vice-Chair and acting Chair for the dialogue, thanked the delegation for its active participation in the constructive dialogue and for its expression of unwavering commitment to the protection of the rights enshrined in the Covenant. The dialogue provided the Committee with a strong basis for developing concluding observations, he said.
The delegation of Pakistan was comprised of representatives from the Ministry of Law and Justice, Ministry of Human Rights and the Permanent Mission of Pakistan to the United Nations Office at Geneva.
The Committee’s eightieth session is being held until 13 November 2026. All documents relating to the Committee’s work, including reports submitted by States parties, can be found on the session’s webpage. Webcasts of the meetings of the session can be found here, and meetings summaries can be found here.
The Committee will next meet in public at 3 p.m. this afternoon, Wednesday, 4 November, to begin its consideration of the seventh periodic report of Mexico (E/C.12/MEX/7).
Report
The Committee has before it the second periodic report of Pakistan (E/C.12/PAK/2).
Presentation of Report
AQEEL MALIK, Minister of State for Law and Justice of Pakistan and head of the delegation, said the report before the Committee was the product of a broad and transparent consultative process at the federal and provincial levels. The Ministry of Human Rights had coordinated inputs from federal and provincial governments, national institutions and civil society.
The Constitution of Pakistan provided the foundation for economic, social and cultural rights. It guaranteed the right to life and liberty; prohibited slavery, forced labour and child labour; guaranteed free and compulsory education for children aged five to 16; and directed the State to secure the well-being of the people, provide for their basic necessities, reduce inequality and promote social justice. The superior judiciary had invoked these provisions in adjudicating economic and social rights, and there were cases in which courts had applied Covenant rights.
Pakistan was a federal State, and following the 18th Constitutional Amendment, health, education and social services became primarily provincial responsibilities. Devolution had brought decision-making and service delivery closer to citizens, but uneven progress and resource constraints remained a challenge.
Since 2017, Pakistan had taken a range of legislative, policy and institutional measures for the progressive realisation of Covenant rights. On social protection, the Benazir income support programme had expanded significantly and now reached around 12 million households. The kafaalat stipend had been raised and indexed to inflation. The national socio-economic registry covered approximately 84 per cent of households, improving targeting. The Benazir income support programme’s allocation had been increased by 20 per cent for the current fiscal year. These were real gains, reflecting the Government’s commitment to advancing social protection for all.
The sehat card programme had extended health insurance coverage to millions of families, including free treatment for cancer, cardiac care and emergencies. Public health expenditure had increased in absolute terms and expanding universal health coverage was a priority.
Free and compulsory education from ages five to 16 was now implemented through provincial legislation, and the Prime Minister had declared a national education emergency in 2024. The out-of-school rate had fallen from 38 per cent in 2023 to 28 per cent in 2025. Around 20 million children nonetheless remained out of school. Girls and rural children were priority targets, and the “zero out of school children” campaign and non-formal education centres were part of the State’s response.
Minimum wages had been raised across the country. Enforcement remained a challenge, particularly in the informal economy, where around 84 per cent of workers were employed. Youth unemployment stood at around 12.6 per cent. The State was strengthening labour inspection and skills development but did not underestimate the scale of the task.
Food inflation had eased from its peak but remained volatile. The 2025 floods had caused losses estimated at 822 billion rupees, affecting around 4.9 million people and disrupting some 3.3 million jobs. Per capita water availability had fallen below 900 cubic metres, and access to safe drinking water remained a major challenge. The State had programmes for low-cost housing and was working to regularise informal settlements, minimise evictions and enhance compensation.
The National Commission for Minorities Rights act was promulgated in 2025 to enhance protections, combat discrimination and raise the visibility of challenges faced by minority communities.
Pakistan had strengthened its national human rights architecture to translate Covenant obligations into domestic practice. Child marriage restraint laws had set the minimum age for both boys and girls at 18 in Islamabad, Balochistan, the Punjab and Sindh, and criminalised child, early or forced marriages. The National Commission for Human Rights had received “A” status accreditation by the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions, and the National Commission on the Status of Women and the National Commission on the Rights of the Child were fulfilling their vital mandates. Treaty Implementation Cells at federal and provincial levels coordinated reporting and the National Mechanism for Reporting and Follow-up had been operationalised.
Over the past several years, the Government had invested substantially in infrastructure and improving the business environment. Energy generation and transmission capacity had been expanded, ending chronic supply deficits that had constrained industry and households alike. The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor had delivered road, port and power infrastructure that lowered the cost of economic activity and connected underserved regions to national markets. Business environment reforms had reduced costs, particularly for small and medium enterprises. Revenue collection had improved through tax administration reform and privatisation had expanded the fiscal space available for health, education and social protection.
However, Pakistan faced structural constraints that bore directly on the realisation of economic, social and cultural rights. These included its large population of over 240 million, including more than 110 million children; fiscal pressure and debt servicing that constrained social spending; inflation that had eroded purchasing power; and a security environment in which terrorist attacks targeted schools, health care workers, government officials and civilians. The 2025 floods were a further shock, and climate change posed an existential threat to water, food and livelihood systems.
These constraints were compounded by factors beyond the State’s control. Pakistan remained acutely dependent on energy imports and was vulnerable to price hikes and supply volatility. The State was also compelled to devote scarce resources to defending its people against a hostile neighbour that had resorted to unprovoked aggression in the recent past and threatened to do so again on a weekly basis. Foreign-sponsored terrorism emanating from Afghanistan further posed a direct and severe threat to citizens and their enjoyment of human rights. Finally, official development assistance continued to decline in real terms, even as needs rose.
Mr. Malik said the gap between Pakistan’s obligations and their realisation was real. He expressed hope that the dialogue would be constructive and helpful for the Government of Pakistan and the rights of its people.
Questions by a Committee Expert
JULIETA ROSSI, Committee Expert and Leader of the Taskforce for Pakistan, expressed concern that most Covenant rights were still not incorporated into the domestic legal order and that, following the 27th Constitutional Amendment of November 2025, the guarantee of fundamental rights lay with a new Federal Constitutional Court. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights had warned that the 26th and 27th Constitutional Amendments, approved without extensive consultation, seriously undermined the independence of the judiciary by modifying the appointment, promotion and transfer of judges. How would the State party ensure the independence of the Federal Constitutional Court and of judges subject to transfer?
Provinces were responsible for ensuring employment, social security, housing, health and education, but received 57.5 per cent of the federal revenue fund. This affected equal access to rights and created deep regional disparities: poverty ranged from 23.3 per cent in Punjab to 47 per cent in Balochistan. The National Finance Commission's last agreement on resource distribution expired in 2015, despite a constitutional obligation to review it every five years. What measures were in place to strengthen the financial and administrative capacities of provincial governments? What steps had been taken towards a more equitable distribution of resources? What progress had been made in implementing a federal-provincial mechanism for the production of annual disaggregated statistics to monitor the progressive realisation of Covenant rights?
The Committee recognised the accreditation of the National Human Rights Commission with “A” status under the Paris Principles. However, the terms of its members expired in November 2025 and members were not reappointed. How would the State ensure the prompt appointment of the Commission’s members through a transparent, participatory and merit-based process, and reform legislation to ensure regular mandate renewals? How did the State party ensure the financial autonomy of the Commission? Would it establish a specialised unit on economic, social and cultural rights?
The situation of human rights defenders and civil society organizations, in particular Baloch and Pashtuns, was extremely worrying. In the context of counter-terrorism operations, arbitrary arrests and convictions, ill-treatment, enforced disappearances, extrajudicial executions and excessive use of force had been reported, including against peaceful protesters searching for their disappeared relatives, with an alleged intensification of these events since 2023. Women human rights defenders and journalists faced additional gender-related risks, including online harassment, following the 2025 amendments to the electronic crime prevention act, which broadly criminalised the dissemination of “false or fraudulent” information.
It was alleged that 18,000 people had disappeared in Balochistan since 2020, in the context of the operations of foreign companies on the lands of the Baloch people. The effectiveness of the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances, established in 2011, had also been questioned, and no criminal conviction had been handed down so far. What measures had been taken to protect defenders, prevent further disappearances and acts of persecution and provide reparations? By when did the State plan to criminalise enforced disappearance and ratify the International Convention against Enforced Disappearances?
The Committee took note of the adoption of the national action plan on business and human rights for 2021 to 2026. What progress had been made in evaluating the plan, including data on complaints against companies, their results and reparations obtained, and in developing a second plan? What progress had been made in adopting legislation on mandatory, gender-responsive due diligence and ensuring access to effective remedies and redress?
What international financing and support for capacity development had Pakistan received towards climate shock mitigation, adaptation and reparations for damage and loss? Had the State party been able to negotiate agreements to relieve or swap public debt for commitments to invest in climate action?
The Committee was concerned about the absence in the State party of a legal framework that recognised certain communities as indigenous or tribal peoples and required their free, prior and informed consent before implementing land, mining or infrastructure projects. In Balochistan, the impact assessment of the Reko Diq project classified the Baloch population as an ethnic minority rather than an indigenous people and did not guarantee free, prior and informed consent. What measures were in place to ensure effective consultation and free, prior and informed consent before approving projects affecting these communities or allocating land? What criteria were used to recognise a community as an indigenous or tribal people, and what role did self-identification play?
Revenue mobilisation remained insufficient and regressive, reaching 10.6 per cent of gross domestic product in fiscal year 2024-2025, one of the lowest rates in the region. The tax burden fell disproportionately on poor households, and extensive tax exemptions and concessions persisted. In this context, poverty had increased to 28.9 per cent, and the Gini coefficient had risen from 28.4 to 32.2, its highest level since 1998. In turn, public spending was dominated by debt interest payments. In 2026-2027, debt service would absorb 42.9 per cent of the federal budget, compared to 27 per cent in 2016.
Spending on health was close to 0.9 per cent of gross domestic product and spending on education was close to 1.95 per cent, far from the national target of four per cent; by contrast, defence spending accounted for 14.5 per cent of federal spending. What actions were planned to increase direct and progressive taxation, including taxes on wealth and agricultural income, and review regressive tax benefits? How would Pakistan ensure that debt service did not reduce resources for health, education and social protection? Did the State plan to initiate negotiations to consider debt restructuring?
Pakistan still lacked a comprehensive anti-discrimination law covering all prohibited grounds, including sexual orientation, gender identity and nationality, direct, indirect, multiple and intersectional discrimination in the public and private spheres. What urgent steps would the State take to close this gap? What steps had been taken to decriminalise same-sex relations? Could the State provide data for the last five years on complaints of discrimination and violence against the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex community, convictions and reparations? What steps had been taken to protect religious minorities exposed to discrimination and harassment?
The Expert expressed concern about the forced return or expulsion of approximately 2.7 million Afghans since 2023 under the illegal aliens repatriation plan, and the irregular status of 1.4 million refugees since 2025. What were the State's procedures for individual protection risk assessments, especially for vulnerable people? Did the State plan to adopt an asylum law and ratify the 1951 Refugee Convention? What mechanisms were in place to challenge expulsion decisions and how was access to birth certificates guaranteed for children of refugees?
Responses by the Delegation
The delegation said the Constitution had several guarantees relevant to economic, social and cultural rights. The 26th Amendment to the Constitution included the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, which was important given the climate shocks the State was facing. The Constitution also addressed equality before the law; the right to preserve language, scripts and culture; and the right to protect the family and promote economic well-being. Pakistan’s superior courts had adjudicated on rights relevant to the Covenant, including food security, public health, employment, environmental protection, family welfare and social protection, including cases before the Supreme Court concerning health rights, employment rights for persons with disabilities and women’s inheritance rights.
The 27th Amendment to the Constitution established the Federal Constitutional Court to ease the burden on the Supreme Court, which had a gigantic workload that had led to long delays in hearing case appeals. The Constitution provided the framework for the separation of powers, recognising the judiciary as a separate organ. Judicial independence was supported by Constitutional provisions governing judicial appointments, administration, supervision of subordinate courts and accountability within the judiciary. Recruitment and training were undertaken following prescribed legal and institutional procedures. Judges were appointed independently based on majority votes by the Supreme Judicial Council, a body of judges from the Supreme Court, the Constitutional Court and the Chief Justice. There were several provincial judicial academies that provided training to judges.
The Government was committed to strengthening the National Human Rights Commission, which operated as an autonomous institution that reported on its finances and performance to Parliament annually. The Commission’s budget had increased by more than 200 per cent between the 2021-2022 and 2024-2025 period.
Pakistan came into existence through a political movement and had a rich history of organised protests and movements by different segments of society. The State protected dissent but prosecuted violence. Every power exercised by the State was subject to judicial review. The Constitution incorporated useful provisions for defending human rights defenders, including articles on freedom of speech, the right to information and freedom of association. The State party had set up a commission for the protection of journalists and media professionals, which assessed complaints by these persons and considered remedies. Certain provinces had also set up similar commissions.
Pakistan had a social media regulatory authority, an electronic media regulatory code, and local and national press clubs. There were more than 100,000 civil society organizations and 112 international organizations registered in Pakistan. The electronic crimes act, amended in 2025, aimed not to suppress freedom of expression but to protect innocent citizens. The National Cyber Crimes Agency had received 157,000 complaints in 2025, most related to blackmail and abuse of women and children. Of these complaints, only around 2,250 cases were registered with the courts, with the remainder judged to be unjustified. The Agency was subject to judicial oversight.
Disappearances were not permitted or justified under Pakistani law. The Government was committed to ensuring that all security and counterterrorism measures were implemented in accordance with constitutional safeguards. The National Human Rights Commission investigated complaints of enforced disappearance and there was also a National Commission on Enforced Disappearances, which had received 10,900 cases and disposed of 87 per cent of them.
Pakistan had two types of tax collection systems: one governed by the Federal Government and the other by provincial governments. Poverty rates were a baseline for the distribution of resources to provinces. There were three types of taxation imposed by provincial governments: the 17 per cent sales tax on services, the agricultural income tax, and motor vehicle taxation. Revenues from these taxes went directly to the provinces. The State set tax revenue goals for provinces based on indicators such as their populations. Over the 2024 to 2025 fiscal years, tax revenue collection had increased by 26.3 per cent. The tax to gross domestic product rate had increased from 8.8 per cent to 10.3 per cent. The Government’s revenue mobilisation efforts intended to support macroeconomic stability, provide resources for public expenditure and increase resources available for social and economic policies. Through effective mechanisms for the redistribution of funds, investment in public sector development projects had increased significantly over the last 10 years.
Follow-Up Questions by Committee Experts
Committee Experts asked follow-up questions on whether the Commission on Enforced Disappearance had referred any cases to courts; measures to ensure a merit-based process for the appointment of judicial officials; how the State party ensured that women made up 50 per cent of candidates for National Assembly posts and other elected posts, and encouraged women’s representation in the judiciary; how the State party used data from the 2023 census on disabilities to develop policies for persons with disabilities; the framework adopted by the State to ensure access by the three million displaced persons in Pakistan to basic resources; how the State party was navigating debt restructuring and developing other strategies to increase public spending in education and health; how the State party was implementing its national action plan on business and human rights in the informal sector; the State party’s stance on the ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Covenant and other human rights treaties to which the State was a party, and whether it was considering the ratification of the Conventions on migrant workers and on enforced disappearances; and how the State followed up on recommendations from treaty bodies.
Responses by the Delegation
The delegation said Pakistan had adopted its first national action plan on business and human rights in 2021. It was the first country in the region to adopt such a plan. A May 2026 review of the plan found that more than 60 per cent of the plan’s goals had been achieved. A human rights due diligence framework for Government agencies had been implemented and measures were taken to require the disclosure of gender pay gaps by listed companies. The State had also ratified legislation prohibiting forced labour and legislation on company-related reparations. Article 9A was added to the Constitution in 2024 to give an express Constitutional basis to challenging business activities that damaged the environment. The Supreme Court made environmental assessment a precondition for a mining licence, which included a public hearing requirement. Further, the State party had proposed that companies establish internal equal opportunity committees to receive complaints on pay gaps and discriminatory hiring. The national domestic workers welfare act of 2025 established legislation on domestic workers in all provinces.
The transgender act addressed transgender and intersex persons and persons whose gender differed from the gender assigned to them at birth. The State had established the first transgender protection centre in Islamabad, providing temporary shelter, rehabilitation, medical assistance, psychological counselling and protection for transgender persons. Special police desks and a helpline had also been established for receiving and responding to complaints of harassment and violence from transgender persons. Police officers were sensitised to the needs of transgender persons. Over the reporting period, 368 cases involving transgender persons were registered, involving 810 accused persons, of whom 411 were arrested. Around one-third of cases remained under investigation.
The Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearance had worked efficiently, disposing of more than 9,500 cases it had received, a disposal rate of around 85 per cent. The Commission was bound to register all cases it received. It enjoyed legal authority to summon law enforcement agencies, which it had done on multiple occasions, which led to the disposal of cases. This was a quasi-judicial process.
While the State party was not party to the Optional Protocol to the Covenant, it had domestic mechanisms, including commissions and ombudspersons, facilitating access to justice for complainants.
The State party was in its third year of repatriating undocumented Afghan refugees and refugees from other States under the illegal foreign repatriation plan. Since 2023, 2.6 million Afghan nations had been repatriated in a safe, dignified and voluntary manner, and another 86,000 had been resettled in third countries. Some 16,000 individuals had been given exemption from repatriation on humanitarian grounds, including women, children and the elderly. There was a 24-hour complaints cell available to persons subject to repatriation.
There were large gaps between the international funding that the State had received to respond to national climate disasters, including the 2022 floods, and the needs on the ground. A large portion of these funds were provided in the form of concessional loans that needed to be returned.
Questions by a Committee Expert
LAZHARI BOUZID, Committee Expert and Member of the Taskforce for Pakistan, asked about progress in adopting a bill on the formalisation of the informal sector. Had the bill been adopted by provincial parliaments? What progress had the State made in strengthening laws on child labour, forced labour and trafficking of persons? What lessons had been learned from the implementation of the national action plan on business and human rights?
What progress had been made on adopting workplace health and safety regulations in Punjab? What results had been achieved by the programme on strengthening the State’s compliance with international labour standards? Under the Prime Minister’s youth development programme implemented since 2018, young people had been trained. What percentage of these young people were able to get a job?
Bonded labour continued to pervade agriculture and was also found in the informal sector, notably in brick making. Construction companies and Government agencies were reportedly complicit in this practice, purchasing bricks produced through debt bondage. How did the State react to these reports? There had been a significant increase in labour inspections since 2023, but the number of inspections was much lower in Sindh compared to other provinces. Why was this? Were employers complying with the requirement to pay employees through banks? There were reports of cases in which companies hired employees “under the table” to avoid labour law obligations, including payment of old age benefits and social security, and informally settled cases of workplace deaths to avoid lawsuits. How did the State respond to these claims?
The minimum wage in Pakistan was reportedly 133 dollars per month, below the living wage of 374 dollars. Did the State intend to raise the minimum wage to meet workers’ basic needs? Sindh passed a law in 2018 to provide social security income to informal domestic workers but reportedly did not provide this social security to all workers in practice. Could the delegation comment on this?
Responses by the Delegation
The delegation said Pakistan had undertaken efforts to prevent child labour, strengthen labour inspections, improve occupational health and safety, and support children transitioning from hazardous labour to education. The Constitution provided the foundation for protecting workers’ rights and preventing exploitative practices, and made provincial governments responsible for developing measures related to workplace safety, labour standards and prevention of child labour. Legislation adopted in 2022 enhanced punishments for child labour and exploitation of children.
Punjab had strengthened its labour inspection system through increased institutional capacity, digital inspection mechanisms, awareness raising campaigns and specialised training for investigators. The Labour and Human Resource Department had 266 working labour inspectors. In 2025, 395,000 inspections were carried out, and fines of 48.3 million rupees were imposed. Punjab had also initiated occupational health and safety campaigns and continued to conduct capacity building activities in this area.
The labour force survey of 2024/25 had found that the State had a labour force of 83.1 million, of whom 77.2 million were employed. Unemployment was at 7.1 per cent overall, and at 12.9 per cent for young people. The State party was working to promote formalisation actively. The Punjab Labour Code of 2026 covered domestic, agriculture, gig and platform workers and required online registration of such employment. The wider economy was also formalising. Enterprise account ownership rose from 16 per cent in 2015 to 64 per cent in 2023. The State’s digital payment infrastructure now had some 45 million users.
The Constitution prohibited slavery and all forms of forced labour. The bonded labour system abolition act of 1992 abolished the bonded labour system, and the prevention of trafficking in persons act of 2018 imposed a penalty of up to seven years imprisonment and a fine of up to one million rupees for the crime. Punjab had documented over 210,000 kiln workers and district vigilance committees had been established in many districts. Labour inspectors had identified over 2,900 victims of forced labour last year.
The women agriculture workers act was implemented by the State, particularly in Sindh province. This act had rigorous institutional backing and structural financing and promoted grassroots empowerment. It provided safe working environments and mandated equal pay for equal work in the agrarian sector. The Benazir women agricultural support programme had also been launched to promote the registration of rural women in unions and the formation of female-led farm trade unions. Several female-led unions had successfully compelled local landowners to implement the official minimum wage. Through the support of Government policies and legislation, 29 per cent of women in Sindh were now landowners.
Pakistan recognised the importance of freedom of association, worker representation, collective bargaining and the protection of labour rights. It had taken steps to streamline trade union registration and strengthen the administration of industrial relations. The industrial relations act of 2012 established the framework for industrial relations in Islamabad. In Sindh, the number of trade unions had increased from around 3,900 in 2023 to 4,100 in 2025, and similar increases were seen across each province over this period. A recent amendment to the Islamabad industrial relations act addressed the registration of workers working across different provinces. The Punjab Labour Code provided for the right to strike.
Pakistan had a national mechanism for reporting and follow-up to the recommendations of treaty bodies. Under this system, it had a national human rights task force, provincial task forces, and district human rights committees. There was also an umbrella body that oversaw coordination between these bodies on the implementation of the recommendations and provided advice on issues where consensus was needed.
The land acquisition act regulated awards for parties whose land was acquired under compulsory acquisition orders. Awards were subject to appeal through the courts.
Questions by Committee Experts
Committee Experts asked follow-up questions on efforts to decrease the rate of young people not in employment, education or training, which had increased from 42.6 per cent in 2020 to 80 per cent in 2025; efforts to implement the law on women workers in the agricultural sector; whether sanitation workers had a trade union and measures to support these workers; whether the Government was considering establishing a national minimum wage; actions planned to recognise, redistribute and reduce women’s unpaid work and promote paid paternity leave; data on workplace harassment cases since 2010; the scope of the social benefits system for persons with disabilities; benefits provided to families who lost loved ones due to enforced disappearances or extrajudicial killings; and labour rights and standards that were affected by decisions taken at the sub-national level.
MICHAEL WINDFUHR, Committee Expert and Member of the Taskforce for Pakistan, welcomed the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics’ collection and compilation of information regarding socio economic indicators and welcomed the amendment in 2025 of the child marriage restraint act of 1929, raising the lawful age for marriage to 18 for both males and females. However, he said the Committee remained concerned given the high number of child brides, especially in parts of Sindh, Punjab and Balochistan. The Committee welcomed the enactment of the domestic violence act, yet remained concerned given reports of one-third of women experiencing domestic abuse. What was the impact of measures to prevent and address harmful practices and violence against women and girls, including honour killings, rape, acid attacks, abductions, early and forced marriage and domestic violence, as well as the continuation of the practice of child marriage?
What was the status of processes to pass specific legislation throughout all provinces to address forced conversion and forced conversion through marriage? Would the State establish coherent legislation across all provinces regarding martial rape? How did the State party plan to respond to the very low conviction rate of 0.5 per cent for rape cases? What was the impact of the Gender-Based Violence Courts and the Federal Judicial Academy’s nation-wide gender sensitisation programme for judges? What measures were being taken to protect women and girls from religious minority communities? Were there any plans to align Muslim and other minority family laws to deal with child marriage? What was the current situation of shelter homes and women crisis centres? What measures were being taken to increase the registration of childbirths?
The Committee recognised the success of the Benazir nashonuma programme and took note of the 2025 Ordinance establishing the National Agri-Trade and Food Safety Authority. Despite some progress in food security over the last decade, 40 per cent of children under five were currently stunted and nationally, around one-fourth of households experienced moderate or severe food insecurity, with marked disparities across provinces and income groups. The Committee regretted that holding centres for deported Afghans reportedly lacked basic necessities, including clean water, sanitation and adequate food. What were the main reasons for the high rate of poverty and persistently high levels of child stunting, wasting and malnutrition?
What concrete steps had been taken so far under the national disaster risk reduction strategy (2025–2030) and what implementation measures were planned for the next years, especially to support small farmers in times of climate shocks? How did the State cope with the impacts of the huge floods in 2022 and 2025? Could the State rebuild the housing of affected persons and restore their access to land or productive resources, particularly in the Sindh area? How many persons had left the affected regions and how many were still displaced? How did the State intend to strengthen the water, sanitation and hygiene infrastructure and disaster preparedness?
The Committee took note of the 2026 national housing policy. How did it promote the formalisation of informal settlements and the needs of low-income workers? Could the State provide information on alleged cases of forced evictions and home demolitions linked to large infrastructure projects and along Karachi’s nullahs (watercourses), and recent ongoing demolitions of informal settlements in Islamabad? The Committee had grave concerns about the housing and secure tenure situation of Afghan refugees, with reports of repeated demolition of dwellings in Islamabad and Karachi. Could information be provided on this? What outcomes did programmes like the State Bank of Pakistan’s low-cost housing project for low-wage workers in Islamabad have?
The Committee welcomed emergency relief measures supporting mental health after the floods, but was deeply concerned at the very low level of public funding allocated to the health sector. The number of medical doctors per 10,000 inhabitants in the State party had only marginally increased from 9.32 in 2017 to 12.84 in 2024. In Balochistan, only 1.37 doctors served 10,000 inhabitants. The Committee was also concerned by reports of significant obstacles experienced by Afghan nationals in accessing basic health services, by the State’s high maternal and infant mortality rates, especially in Balochistan, and by reports of female genital mutilation being practiced in secrecy at private residences. What measures were in place to deal with disease outbreaks? What was the State’s mental health policy and what measures were in place to support access to mental health services across the country? The number of drug-addicted persons abused in prisons had increased recently. How was the State working to improve its drug prevention and treatment programmes?
Responses by the Delegation
The delegation said 55 families with loved ones who fell victim to enforced disappearance were granted compensation of up to half a million rupees. Other remedies were available through the courts.
The 2023 census recorded data on religion and mother tongue, but the State party had limited socioeconomic data disaggregated by ethnicity. There was a five per cent quota for employment in the public sector of Benazi people. The National Commission for Minorities would soon be set up.
The national disaster management act of 2010 introduced a legal framework for addressing displacement and there were various institutional measures at national and provincial levels to support internally displaced persons.
Inquiry committees and the Ombudsperson’s Office had dealt with several cases of workplace harassment against women. The protection of women act was amended in 2026 to remove marital rape as an exception to the crime of rape.
The State formerly had its first female Prime Minister and there was currently a woman Chief Minister in Punjab. The Chief Justices of the Lahore High Court and of the Supreme Court were also women. In district judiciaries, the rate of women judges had increased to 21 per cent. The share of women officers in law enforcement agencies had almost tripled. The registration of female voters had almost doubled between 2013 and 2024, and the gap between male and female voters had been reduced from 12.8 per cent to 7.7 per cent. Life expectancy for women recently surpassed that of males and was at 69 years.
The Government was rigorously pursuing the empowerment of women, having set up a gender mainstreaming committee. The State was at the lower end of the World Economic Forum’s Gender Parity Index, but had recently risen five places in the Index. Under the women property rights act, it was mandatory for revenue authorities to transfer properties that were due to women. Women now also had land ownership rights. The State party was currently considering an amendment of the family laws in coordination with the National Commission on the Status of Women.
The national adaptation plan of 2023 included 117 adaptation measures across areas, including disaster risk reduction, gender and social inclusion. Implementation had now moved to the district level, where climate risk and vulnerability assessment reports were being carried out. In 2025, Pakistan submitted its third Nationally Determined Contribution under the Paris Agreement, committing to a 50 per cent reduction in emissions, of which 17 per cent was unconditional and 33 per cent was conditional on international financing. The Government had developed policy guidelines on carbon trading and set up its first carbon market arrangement. It was committed to adding 6,000 megawatts of solar capacity. Provinces had each implemented various measures to combat climate change, including mangrove planting initiatives and other tree plantations; solar, wind and hydropower initiatives; and rainwater harvesting.
The Government had set up a national emergency operations centre focusing on high-risk areas. It had established a national flood protection programme, which aimed to protect at-risk people, eight million acres of agricultural land and 2.2 million housing units. Each province was also implementing flood protection measures. Pakistan had taken several steps to attract international climate financing, but this did not meet current requirements. The international support it had received was largely loan-based.
Pakistan did not deport registered refugees on valid visas, only persons who did not have valid visas. It was implementing its illegal foreign repatriation plan, but 16,000 individuals had been given exemption based on vulnerability. Pakistan had set standards for hosting refugees that went beyond the Refugee Convention, enabling them to access employment, education and hospitals. Asylum cases were individually assessed.
The Government set a minimum wage for Islamabad but this was not the national minimum wage, as competence for wages was provincial. The measure of “not in employment, education or training” was wider than the youth unemployment rate. The State’s youth employment policy of 2020 aimed to absorb every new entrant into the labour market and raise women’s labour participation rate. The National Training Commission had trained many young people over the reporting period, and the Punjab Technical Education Authority had enrolled almost 178,000 youths.
There was currently a housing deficit of 10 to 13 million units in the State party. Units had been reserved for female-headed households, persons with disabilities and the displaced. Low mark-up, long-term housing finance was provided by the State to eligible first-home buyers.
Under the Penal Code, the kidnapping of women to compel marriage was a very serious offence, and other provincial legislation also dealt with forced conversion through marriage.
Gender-based violence was a serious challenge. There had been an improvement in reporting of such cases, supported by police stations staffed exclusively with women, the number of which had been increased in all provinces over the reporting period. Police had specialised units dealing with gender-based violence and there were also specialised gender-based violence courts. There had been improvements in convictions for gender-based violence cases in Sindh recently but not in other provinces; the State was working seriously on this issue.
Healthcare expenditure had not been reduced; on a year-on-year basis, it had increased by up to 100 per cent. The State spent 927 billion rupees last year on health. Pakistan had introduced universal health coverage; and any citizen could access health care in private institutions and be covered for up to one million rupees. Specialised healthcare units had been established across the country. Pakistan almost met the target ratio of doctors to the population set by the World Health Organization and surpassed the target ratio for woman doctors in Islamabad.
There had been no cases of female genital mutilation in the health sector reported in Pakistan. The State had an immunisation programme, which helped to remove dengue as a public threat. There were robust awareness raising campaigns addressing the prevention of epidemics. The State had adopted a human rights-based model of health in 2025, and ensured that every citizen had equal access to health services.
The national narcotics policy of 2019 aimed to prevent drug addiction and rehabilitate users. Law enforcement agencies dealing with drug cases were sensitised on identifying drug sellers and users. Users were taken to rehabilitation centres and courts took lenient approaches, viewing users as victims. The State had abolished the death penalty for drug crimes and had adopted a reformatory approach. A taskforce had been set up to assess prison conditions and make recommendations for improvements; these had led to tangible improvements.
Infant and young children nutrition programmes had been expanded recently, along with breastfeeding promotion programmes and community-level nutrition services. Micronutrient supplementation programmes had been scaled up in 33 high-burden districts and wheat flour fortification with vitamins and minerals had been scaled up across the country. Vitamin A supplementation for children and nutrient interventions for pregnant women continued. The State had introduced a maternal nutrition strategy for 2022 to 2027, which aimed to protect and promote diets and nutrition services, particularly for pregnant and breastfeeding women.
A special committee had been set up to promote birth registration, which was mandatory for all parents. Fees for registration had been reduced or waived, and at-home registration services were offered, leading to a large increase in registrations recently.
Follow-Up Questions by Committee Experts
Committee Experts asked follow-up questions on whether the State party intended to decriminalise abortion or include exceptions for rape and incest; how the State party was preventing femicides and infanticides; how it was addressing the high levels of malnutrition in the State; the number of households that had been provided with affordable housing and the proportion of households with insufficient housing; whether the State measured multi-dimensional poverty; the legal framework for protecting indigenous peoples and for obtaining free, prior and informed consent prior to development projects that affected them; how the State was strengthening its mining legislation; measures to improve access to maternal and obstetric health, reproductive health and safe abortion services; data on deaths from unsafe abortions; and plans to expand harm reduction policies related to drug use.
Responses by the Delegation
The delegation said the State party’s housing policy regulated public land for affordable projects and applied non-utilisation charges for land held idle. It required building regulations to be revised so that upgrading settlements became cost-effective. The policy directed development in intermediate and secondary towns as well as major cities. The housing policy was reviewed every five years and reports on housing dispersal were published annually.
The Constitution guaranteed the right to property. Consent for development projects was sought according to local customs and laws. In some provinces, public meetings on such projects were held. In Balochistan, the State negotiated with tribal communities, which were provided with royalties and compensation for past projects. Projects in this region had generated significant employment and the community and district governments were involved in development planning. Revenues from these projects had started reaching the region. Persons could make claims regarding violations of their right to a clean, safe and green environment, which was protected in article 9A of the Constitution, to the High Court or the Federal Constitutional Court. The environmental protection act specified when an environmental examination was required for development projects, and this law had been devolved into the provinces. Local mining specific laws promoted the rights to a healthy environment, access to information, labour rights and remedies.
Out of the 2.1 million homes destroyed in the 2022 floods, 600,000 had been rebuilt, while reconstruction of the remaining houses continued. Land entitlements had been provided to women, who were assisted in opening bank accounts.
Pakistan had reduced maternal mortality by up to 49 per cent recently, with a reduction from 306 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births in 2002 to 155 in 2023. Prenatal consultations had been increased, and the rate of home deliveries had declined from 30 to 16 per cent over this period. The number of skilled birth attendants had also increased, and a dashboard had been developed for reporting and monitoring maternal and infant mortality. There was also a national strategy on ending maternal mortality and promoting comprehensive sexual and reproductive health care.
The legal framework governing abortion was included in the Penal Code. Its legality depended on circumstances defined in law. Where organs of the foetus had not formed, termination could be undertaken to save the life of the woman. There were no legislative amendments being considered related to the abortion law. The State had laws and regulatory frameworks to prevent femicides, infanticides and sex selective practices. A database on femicide cases had been set up.
The State party had no harm reduction policy related to drug use but followed United Nations guidelines related to harm reduction. It had implemented a justice project in 2025 to strengthen judicial training related to international human rights guidelines on drug policy.
Questions by a Committee Expert
SEREE NONTHASOOT, Committee Expert and Member of the Taskforce for Pakistan, said Pakistan ranked 168 out 193 countries in the United Nations Development Programme’s Human Development Report. Roughly 36 per cent of children aged five to 16 were out-of-school, giving Pakistan the second highest out-of-school population globally. Rural areas accounted for 74 per cent of these children. The education budget amounted to only 0.4 per cent of gross domestic product. What education policies were in place or planned to address these challenges? The Committee was concerned by attacks on schools and the demolition of schools by the Pakistani Taliban group. How was the State party preventing such actions and ensuring the safety of schools in border areas?
Balochistan had the lowest literacy rate of the provinces, at 42 per cent compared to the national average of 61 per cent. Over three million children were out-of-school in the province, which had the highest out-of-school rate nationally. Were there national incentives or programmes to support provinces’ education policies?
Nearly three per cent of schools in Pakistan operated under public-private partnerships. Was there a regulation on assessments of the impact of privatising education? Had such assessments been carried out, and was there an oversight system for private education?
Afghan students cited a lack of documentation as a barrier to accessing education in the State. More than 1,000 Afghans currently studying medicine across Pakistan were reportedly subject to deportation. How would the State guarantee Afghan students’ rights to undertake tertiary education?
The prevention of electronic crimes act of 2016 gave the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency exclusive investigative powers. The act reportedly posed risks to freedom of expression and the right to cultural expression. Could the delegation comment on this? There were reports of Baloch scholars being targeted and killed by death squads and forced into silence. Were minorities being profiled and targeted?
Responses by the Delegation
The delegation said there had been tremendous progress in improving children’s enrolment over the past two to three years. In Balochistan, the rate of out-of-school children had declined from 69 per cent to 45 per cent, and the rate had declined from 32 to 21 per cent in Punjab. Girls’ enrolment in school had increased tremendously recently. These achievements were the result of the many provincial and national programmes promoting education.
The State was implementing incentives for setting up schools and improving the quality of education. One such incentive was the “Adopt a School” programme, in which private, not-for-profit foundations took over schools and ran them through public-private partnerships. This helped to reduce the number of out-of-school children and dropout rates.
Pakistan regarded madrasas as an important part of its education landscape. Madrasas served millions of children, many from low-income families. The Government’s approach to madrasas was based on registration, regulation, mainstreaming of curricula and skills, and protection from violence and misuse. The Directorate General of Religious Education was the oversight body for the 18,600 madrasas in Pakistan, handling registration and training of teachers in contemporary subjects. Madrasa students were being linked to the labour market; many had been provided with technical and vocational skills training under the youth skill development programme. The Government had targeted 5,000 madrasa youth for skill training.
The Government approved a policy and strategy on interfaith harmony and religious tolerance in 2025. A code of ethics for religious scholars had also been proposed. The Web Evaluation Cell of the Ministry of Religious Affairs had reported over 76,000 websites containing hate content for blocking by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority.
In border areas, authorities monitored education institutions to prevent the misuse of school buildings by armed groups. After an attack on a school bus in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in May 2025, a security advisory was issued for all schools in the province, requiring a security assessment for institutions in border areas, trained security staff, surveillance and safety awareness sessions for students. After a school was demolished in 2024, the Prime Minster ordered its immediate reconstruction at State expense, which was completed within a week.
The Constitution protected diversity, including linguistic diversity. Cultural and linguistic education was managed by the provinces. Balochistan had made mother tongue education, including in Balochi and Pashto, compulsory up to year five. The provincial government provided textbooks on these languages and trained teachers to provide instruction.
The Supreme Court had directed a dedicated police force to protect places of worship in 2014, and the Islamabad Police set up a minority protection unit in the same year. The State prosecuted all persons who targeted minorities.
The Peshawar High Court had this year provided a judgement that stopped the deportation of several Afghan students, allowing them to continue their studies. Lahore High Court had also suspended a directive issued by the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council related to the return of some Afghan medical students to Afghanistan. A State scholarship continued to support higher education for Afghan nationals, and 5,000 students currently benefited from this. There were almost 2,000 reserved seats in higher education for refugees.
The National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency initiated investigations based on complaints from individuals related to cyber bullying, child abuse, online grooming and other offences. It acted to protect victims and potential victims by taking down offending content. There was oversight of the actions of the Agency, and the superior courts had put restrictions on using digital evidence against the accused. The cybercrime law had procedural safeguards and was intended not for use against human rights defenders but to protect citizens.
Bringing out-of-school children back to school was a priority for Pakistan. A non-formal education system had been developed for remote areas where there were no formal education institutions, and non-formal education facilities had been set up in all provinces. These particularly benefited street children.
The Government’s education policy had a human rights-based inclusive approach for children with disabilities. Provinces were mandated to develop their own inclusive education policies. A benchmark of 50 per cent had been set for the enrolment of children with disabilities in formal education. Teacher training programmes were in place to support inclusive education policies. Assistive devices were distributed to children with disabilities to support them to attend school and there was also a programme encouraging their participation in sport. Infrastructure tracking systems were in place to assess the accessibility of education institutions.
Follow-Up Questions by Committee Experts
Committee Experts asked follow-up questions on whether there was a set of indicators for provincial governments on decreasing the rate of out-of-school students; whether the State was effectively preventing radicalisation in madrasas and promoting registration of madrasas and enrolment of students in these facilities; the effectiveness of education provided through public-private partnerships; whether the Balochistan mines and minerals act of 2025 relocated control of the region’s mineral resources away from local communities to the federal level; data on discrimination against Scheduled Castes and Dalits; and whether comprehensive sex education was included as a stand-alone subject in schools.
Responses by the Delegation
The delegation said there were well-documented cases of students who studied in public-private institutions going on to fulfil high-level jobs. The Constitution provided a robust mechanism to regulate the distribution of funds to education institutions, which was monitored by the National Economic Council. Private school regulatory authorities conducted regular inspections and audits of public-private schools to determine whether they could continue operating.
The Government had established centres of excellence to counter violent extremism in the four provinces and was conducting outreach with universities, schools and madrasas on countering the phenomenon. There was no discrimination permitted in Pakistan based on race or ethnicity. The Dalit community was more concentrated in Sindh, and the province had allocated funds to protecting minorities’ freedom of religion and worship spaces.
The Director-General for Religious Education was working with provinces to register madrasas and regulate these facilities’ syllabuses. It also provided support to children in these schools to transition to mainstream higher education or the workforce.
The Federal Government played a facilitating role related to the Balochistan mines and minerals act. This was an act passed by the provincial government, and it had the right to amend it.
Closing Statements
JULIETA ROSSI, Committee Expert and Leader of the Taskforce for Pakistan, thanked the delegation for the comprehensive information it had provided throughout the dialogue and for its constructive participation. She also thanked non-governmental organizations and other stakeholders for providing background information and supporting the dialogue. Some of the statements made by the delegation differed from those made by civil society and United Nations special procedures. However, the information provided enabled the Committee to assess the State party’s progress in complying with the Covenant.
The delegation had presented processes to implement economic, social and cultural rights, as well as the significant challenges the State faced and gaps between legislative progress and implementation. This information would be reflected in the Committee’s concluding observations, which the Committee hoped that Pakistan would implement in good faith.
AQEEL MALIK, Minister of State for Law and Justice of Pakistan and head of the delegation, thanked the Committee for the dialogue. The delegation had engaged in the review not to be congratulated but to seek the Committee’s guidance. The State party noted the Committee’s concerns on gaps between constitutional guarantees and their realisation, including in the areas of social spending, the informal economy, minority protection and climate change. The State party had presented its efforts to close these gaps. The State’s trajectory was toward the progressive realisation of Covenant rights. Despite constraints and challenges, Pakistan had travelled a considerable distance since its first review.
Access to water was essential to the enjoyment of all human rights, including those enshrined in the Covenant. In this context, India’s brazen disregard for binding treaty obligations under the Indus Waters Treaty was a grave threat to the Pakistani people.
Following the present review, Pakistan would convene multi-stakeholder consultations on the Committee’s concluding observations at both federal and provincial levels to assess and implement the recommendations. Since ratification of the Covenant in 2008, Pakistani legislation had enabled it, courts had adjudicated it, and the Government’s interventions sought to strengthen protection where it was most needed. At a time of growing inequalities within and amongst States, the gap in implementing Covenant obligations fell most heavily on disadvantaged countries like Pakistan. The State expressed hope that the Committee’s candour and rigour would help narrow these gaps and pave the way for the full realisation of economic, social and cultural rights for all.
ASRAF ALLY CAUNHYE, Committee Vice-Chair and acting Chair for the dialogue, thanked the delegation for its active participation in the constructive dialogue and for its expression of unwavering commitment to the protection of the rights enshrined in the Covenant. The Committee appreciated the positive spirit in which the dialogue had been conducted. The dialogue provided the Committee with a strong basis for developing concluding observations. In closing, he thanked all parties that had contributed to the dialogue.
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