Daily Times

Sir: This is with reference to Child Labour Day celebrated every year to highlight the plight of working children. Even though this day is regularly observed worldwide by governments, labour ministries, NGOs, media and other relevant organisations, the number of working children is escalating.

This is evident from the latest figures by the International Labour Organisation, according to which, more than half (53 percent) of the 215 million child workers worldwide are involved in hazardous work. Unfortunately, the highest number of children belongs to Asia and the Pacific.

Pakistan is among the Asian countries where numbers of children are deprived of their basic right of health, education and protection owing to their involvement in different inhumane occupations. According to Pakistan’s National Child Labour survey, 3.3 million children between the ages of five and 14 years were working in different fields on a full time basis.

It is apparent that despite commitments at national and international level, the state has failed to respond positively to the situation due to lack of effective implementation of child labour laws throughout the country.

Finally, it must be clear that the goal of the elimination of child labour cannot be achieved only through pushing child workers out of the workplace and by imposing restrictions on employment. A multitude of factors, namely pervasive poverty, adult unemployment, population growth, illiteracy and the lack of social protection mechanisms are the various causes that promote child work. Hence, to eliminate the menace, the state is supposed to initiate composite efforts to combat all of the above-mentioned factors immediately.

AMINA SARWAR

Sehberg Trust

Via e-mail