ISLAMABAD: The Secretary of Federal Ombudsman Muhammad Asghar Chaudhry on Tuesday said that children were our future and we need to join hands to secure them. He emphasised the need for evidence-based policy and legal reforms for the protection of children especially the ones who are under employment, during a meeting organised by the National Commission for Children (NCC). The key participants of the meeting at the Wafaqi Mohtasib Secretariat were Muhammad Asghar Chaudhry, NCC Senior Adviser Ejaz Ahmed Qureshi, Member of National Parliament Asiya Nasir, MNA Naeema Nighat, MNA Aamra Khan, MNA Parveen Qadir Agha, Task Force on Child Labour Chairperson Syeda Viquarun Nisa Hashmi, parliamentarians, representatives of human rights, law and justice, law enforcement agency officials, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) employees, International Labour Organisation representatives and members of various NGOs. The objectives of the meeting were to discuss issues of priority on child labour and possible affirmative actions for the rehabilitation of the children involved in child labour in ICT, as well as to discuss prevailing legislation to initiate policy and legal reforms in ICT. The participants of the meeting of Task Force on Child Labour were of the opinion that the key issues relating to child rights in Pakistan include non-existence of adequate law prohibiting employment of children in domestic services, trafficking of children domestically and internationally and their sexual exploitation, absence of any appropriate mechanism to prevent child begging; bonded labour, use of children in smuggling and selling of drugs and corporal punishments of children. From these issues; the challenge of child labour is found across the country and needs to be addressed in a systematic manner involving policy and legal reforms and practical steps need to be taken for the rehabilitation of children involved in child labour, it was discussed. “We hope that our parliamentary Task Force chaired by MNA Asiya Nasir will look into the systemic issues and take practical measures for the elimination of child labour and their rehabilitation. Indeed, the smart approach to address this issue would be to focus on ICT. The successful interventions in ICT will help provinces in initiating similar reforms,” the participants said. During the meeting, it was told that the Federal Ombudsman institution had taken many steps and measures to redress the grievance of children like establishment of a separate wing and notification of the NCC, constitution of the NCC and appointment of commissioners for children. Ejaz Ahmad Qureshi highlighted the role of the key stakeholders in addressing children’s issues and their cooperation in taking against the perpetrators. Asiya Nasir chaired the Task Force meeting. She appreciated the efforts of Wafaqi Mohtasib and the role of commissioners for children appointed by him in motivating the parliament and other stakeholders in addressing the crucial issues. During the meeting, it was unanimously resolved to take affirmative actions for the rehabilitation of the children involved in child labour in collaboration with the local authorities and UNICEF as well as law enforcement agencies, wherever required. Second, to initiate the impact assessment of the prevailing laws relating to child labour in ICT, identify flaws and initiate policy and legal reforms accordingly. The policy and legal reforms in ICT would also be helpful to the provincial governments in addressing the issue of child labour. Published in Daily Times, February 28th 2018.