Call for eradication of child labour
Sunday, June 12, 2011
our correspondent
Karachi
Sunday, June 12, 2011
our correspondent
Karachi
Poverty and desperation compel an estimated 12 percent of Pakistani children to forgo their basic human rights to education and work for a living instead. This tragic state of affairs set the tone for a seminar on “Children in Hazardous Work- End Child Labor” held at a local hotel on Saturday.
Organised by the Provincial Child Labour Unit Sindh in collaboration with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) as well as the Thardeep Rural Development Program (TRDP), the seminar featured several speakers who mainly stressed upon the importance of creating awareness among children themselves about their right to an education.
The event was attended by a large number of government officials, civil society organisations, representatives from the Employers Federation, Workers Federation, TRDP, as well as children from Tharparkar, Umerkot, Dadu & Jamshoro.
The ILO has set out several parameters for child labor that include when a child is working at an early age, or if he/she is overworked. The term is also defined by the psychological, social or financial pressures compelling the child to work as well as his/her willingness to work for a very low pay.
Speakers at the seminar highlighted the fact that our nation’s children are forced to perform child labor mainly due to poverty as well as poor access to education.
Some spoke on the progress made in this regard by government as well as Non-Government Organisations (NGO) that would eventually yield fruitful results by making every child in the province aware of the importance of education.
They pointed to the fact that the constitution forbids child labour and the ILO has set the minimum age for employment to 15 years, and yet 12 percent of children were currently condemned to unlawful labourin Pakistan.
Director Labour Sindh Kashif Mirza said that the labour department has selected Jamshoro and Thatta districts as targets to make them free from child labour in the next three years. He said that two more districts would be selected for the same task by next year, in which the department woud work with TRDP and other civil society organisations who have worked in the province for the eradication of this deplorable trend.
Organised by the Provincial Child Labour Unit Sindh in collaboration with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) as well as the Thardeep Rural Development Program (TRDP), the seminar featured several speakers who mainly stressed upon the importance of creating awareness among children themselves about their right to an education.
The event was attended by a large number of government officials, civil society organisations, representatives from the Employers Federation, Workers Federation, TRDP, as well as children from Tharparkar, Umerkot, Dadu & Jamshoro.
The ILO has set out several parameters for child labor that include when a child is working at an early age, or if he/she is overworked. The term is also defined by the psychological, social or financial pressures compelling the child to work as well as his/her willingness to work for a very low pay.
Speakers at the seminar highlighted the fact that our nation’s children are forced to perform child labor mainly due to poverty as well as poor access to education.
Some spoke on the progress made in this regard by government as well as Non-Government Organisations (NGO) that would eventually yield fruitful results by making every child in the province aware of the importance of education.
They pointed to the fact that the constitution forbids child labour and the ILO has set the minimum age for employment to 15 years, and yet 12 percent of children were currently condemned to unlawful labourin Pakistan.
Director Labour Sindh Kashif Mirza said that the labour department has selected Jamshoro and Thatta districts as targets to make them free from child labour in the next three years. He said that two more districts would be selected for the same task by next year, in which the department woud work with TRDP and other civil society organisations who have worked in the province for the eradication of this deplorable trend.
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