Universal Children Day (October 7, 1968)

The main feature of the stamp is three children, two girls and a boy, chasing three hoops. The girls appear in embroidered Kurtas and red Pajamas whereas the boy appears in the middle of these two girls wearing green sport shirt and a dark green short-pant.
The hoops are in dark green, light green & cream colours respectively. A butterfly in red and brown colour is shown flying over the hoops.
The word \'Pakistan\' in English, Bengali and Urdu appears in reverse in the lower bottom dark green panel. The caption \"GOOD HEALTH-A BASIC RIGHT OF EVERY CHILD\" appears in red and brown at top left corner, whereas the denomination Paisa 15 and the word Postage appear at the top right in green.
Mankind owes the child the best it has to give. Because of his physical and mental immaturity, he needs special safe-guard and care. To make people conscious of this sacred responsibility, Pakistan and many other nations observe the first Monday in October every year as the Universal Children Day. Every year a special theme is chosen by the UNICEF and the International Union for Child Welfare to focus attention on the special need of the child. For the year 1968, the theme is GOOD HEALTH-A BASIC RIGHT OF EVERY CHILD.
To commemorate this occasion Pakistan Post Office is issuing a stamp of 15 Paisa denomination on October 7, 1968.
There are over 1.2 billion children in the world under the age of fifteen. Three quarters of them are born and live in countries with per capita income of less than Rs. 2500.00 a year; half of them in countries with average per capita income of under Rs. 500.00 per year. Under the present circumstances many of them will not have the chance to grow up because of ill-health, mat-nutrition, lack of recreational facilities, etc. The first need of the child is, no doubt, health-a basic right of the child. No body knows just how many children today are slowly starving to death,- how many more children fall victim to diseases because their resistance is weakened by mal-nutrition; how many die of malaria, tuberculosis, leprosy and other diseases which medical science today knows how to detect, prevent and cure.
UNICEF and W.H.O. have been active in protecting children against malaria, tuberculosis, trachonia, and leprosy. F.A.O., have, in co-operation with UNICEF and W.H.O, been providing protein foods to developing countries to fight against mal-nutrition of the children. These organisations have helped and sponsored the establishment of Child Welfare Clinics, Centres for Pre-natal Care, Maternity and Child Health Centres, Schools for crippled and blind children.
In Pakistan the Universal Children\'s Day is celebrated with great enthusiasm through out the country. The Pakistan Council for Child Welfare, in co-operation with UNICEF, Inter-national Union for Child Welfare, various government and semi-government departments, national member agencies and its own regional councils, has been celebrating the Day regularly since 1957. Apart from using the publicity media of Press, Radio and Television, the Council also organizes Conferences, Seminars, Symposia, Art and Craft Exhibitions, Children\'s Mela (Fairs), Parades and Parties in addition to sponsoring Baby Shows and Films Shows, etc. etc. On the eve of the Universal Children\'s Day, President of Pakistan Field Marshal Mohammad Ayub Khan, who is also the Patron-in-Chief of the Council, broadcasts a special Message to the Children for focusing the attention of the nation to our children. The children are given President\'s awards for Art, Literature and Spontaneous Act of Courage and Service which are announced on the Universal Children\'s Day and the recipients of the awards of the previous year are decorated at Rawal-pindi by the President himself. The pilot projects of the Council have been fairly successful. Ashiana (Home for abandoned babies) was established in Karachi in 1957. Another Home called Gosha-e-Itfal with similar objectives was established in Lahore in 1967. Nasheman, home for young, shelterless, neglected and delinquents girls was started in Karachi in 1960 and a clinic for the rehabilitation of crippled children was established in Dacca by the East Pakistan Branch. These significant achievements were in addition to the normal work of the Council which consists of supporting, promoting and co-ordinating all activities that relate to the mental and physical well-being of the child in the country.