 Honourable
Chief Guest, Governor Soomro
Chairman of the Board of Trustees
Distinguished
Guests and Speakers
Mr.
Provost
Faculty Colleagues and Staff, and Students
Ladies and Gentlemen
Good
Afternoon!
On
behalf of the Faculty of Health Sciences, AKU, I welcome you to
this National Research Symposium on Early Childhood Care and Development.
There
can be little, if any, doubt about the importance and impact of
early childhood care and development with respect to human, social
and economic development in every part of the world.
Developed
and developing nations alike have begun to realise that perinatal
and early childhood care and caring, in all its manifestations are
critical to the well-being of our citizens and our societies.
I,
as a one-time obstetrician and perinatologist, am very committed
to the simple, yet profound notion that every child has the
right to be born- born well in the sense of proper perinatal
care for pregnant women and their unborn children, proper maternity
services, and proper and adequate support, by families and by society
at large, of mothers upon whom the great burden and responsibility
of infant and early childhood care rests.
Early
childhood care and development, as this Symposium will bring to
light, is a complex matter, encompassing biological, sociological,
educational, economic and political issues. This complexity is not
surprising; yet, we must not permit it to daunt us from the fundamental
and essential mission of giving every child the opportunity
to reach his or her full potential. To do otherwise is to
let-down the side, the side of this generation and future generations.
Generations upon which this nation, as indeed every nation, will
depend for its well-being and advancement.
Each
year there is considerable discussion within the Faculty of Health
Sciences as to what should be the topic of the Annual Research Symposium.
This year, I can report, there was prompt and rapid agreement that
the time was very right to have early childhood care and
development as the topic, keeping in mind the initiatives and commitment
of this University to human development in general and early childhood
development in particular, and the clear realisation of the importance,
relevance and impact of the subject.
Before
closing, may I on behalf of all my colleagues at the University
extend a sincere thank you to Drs. Iqtidar Khan and Nadir Shah,
and the members of the Symposium Organising Committee, for their
hard and effective work in developing and implementing this National
Research Symposium. I also wish to thank our speakers, especially
those from overseas, who have made a special commitment and effort
to join us.
Again welcome.
I trust you will find this symposium thought-provoking and informative
- encouraging and permitting all of us to move forward.
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