NINETY-FOUR per cent of youth had no access to a library, 93pc to a sports facility, and 78pc to a park.
asserted
cent → have → park
A whopping 71pc had no access to any of the above.
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71pc → have → above
These figures are from a survey conducted for UNDP’s Pakistan National Human Development Report 2017: Unleashing the potential of a young Pakistan, of which Dr Adil Najam and I were the lead authors.
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Najam → conduct → which
It was a national survey that highlighted a youth population with few opportunities for positive engagement outside their home.
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that → highlight → home
Since 2017, the economy has not been doing well.
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economy → do → 2017
We have not had any significant positive changes in national human development outcomes, and the impact of Covid and global slowdown has hardly been encouraging.
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impact → have → Covid
So, one would expect that since conditions have not changed much, a similar survey carried out today would show numbers that are not very different from those reported then.
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that → expect → those
I have been staying in London for the last couple of months.
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I → stay → months
The park is managed by the local council (local government).
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park → manage → council
It has a walking/ jogging track running along its almost kilometre-long perimeter.
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It → have → perimeter
The park has two multipurpose fields.
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park → have → fields
I saw them being used as cricket fields in August and they were converted into football and rugby fields in September.
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they → see → September
The park is utilised well.
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park → utilise → ?
Hundreds of children, parents, and dogs visit it every day.
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Hundreds → visit → it
Walkers, dog-walkers — most of whom pick up their pet’s poop themselves — and joggers are there round the clock.
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most → pick → clock
The tennis courts, play area, and fields get busy in the afternoon after school on weekdays.
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courts → get → weekdays
They are occupied throughout the day on weekends.
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They → occupy → weekends
Every afternoon, four to five groups of young people, with their coaches, have training sessions in the park.
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groups → have → park
On weekends, quite a few groups have picnics there too.
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groups → have → picnics
We have not had any significant positive changes in national human development outcomes.
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We → have → outcomes
It would not be an overstatement to say that the park defines the neighbourhood and its vibe.
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park → say → neighbourhood
It is a very family-oriented area and one sees that parents are comfortable allowing their young children to run around the park or ride their bike or scooters around the jogging track — often unsupervised.
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children → orient → track
A lot of credit for this goes to the local council.
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lot → go → council
The park does require significant upkeep for cleaning and maintaining the track, trees and plants, and the grassy fields.
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park → require → track
But, since residents can benefit from healthy activities, the council provides the needed services quite diligently.
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council → benefit → services
Walking down our area’s high street takes us to the local public library, which is also run by the local council.
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which → walk → council
Since we are a family of readers, and buying books is not cheap, we went in to check if we could be members of the local library.
uncertain
we → buy → library
All it took was proof of residence in the area to obtain membership cards free of cost.
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it → take → cost
We then had access to not just the local library but all public libraries around the council (six, I think).
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I → have → council
One person can borrow up to 20 books at a time for up to three weeks.
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person → borrow → weeks
If a book is not available at our library, we can request it from other libraries in the network that have it.
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that → request → it
Over the last two weeks, my daughter has read six to seven books.
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daughter → read → books
And she has had fun learning and managing her own library membership card as well as the activity of borrowing and returning books.
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she → have → books
I am a little worried that the speed at which she is going, she might not have much left to read at the library in a month or two!
uncertain
she → go → month
Providing access to books is just a small part of the services on offer.
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Providing → provide → offer
The library has very inviting spaces for sitting and reading, and even desks for writing.
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library → have → writing
It has free Wi-Fi and free access to internet-connected desktops for members.
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It → have → members
It also has at-cost facilities for printing and photocopying, and a decently priced cafeteria.
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It → have → printing
There are also some rooms and spaces that can be booked for group activities.
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that → be → activities
I have seen language-learning, meditation, and book-discussion clubs using these spaces.
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learning → see → spaces
…and 7 more, not listed.
The Aporia
