Daily Times

Non-government organisations (NGOs), trade unions and labour rights organisations on Wednesday jointly urged the government to effectively implement child labour laws.

They said this during a joint press conference organised by Search for Justice, Domestic Workers Union, Home Net Pakistan, Brooke Pakistan and Child Rights Movement, Punjab in connection with World Day Against Child Labour.

Search for Justice Executive Director Iftikhar Mubarik said that the NGO was still awaiting the implementation of UN Sustainable Development Goal Target 8.7 that called for an end to child labour in all its forms by 2025.

He showed deep concern over increase in incidents of violence against child domestic labourers in Punjab. He called for initiating a campaign focusing on salient features of recently enacted the Punjab Domestic Workers Act 2019. “The law restricts the admission of any child under the age of 15 years in domestic work. Child domestic labour is a clear violation of children’s rights guaranteed in UN Convention on the rights of the child ratified by Pakistan in 1990,” he said.

Umme Laila Azhar, the Home Net Pakistan executive director, appreciated the initiation of child labour survey in 2019. “The last child labour survey was conducted back in 1996,” she said.

She said that the survey should be repeated every five years to get factual information to develop need-based programmes to deal with the issue of child labour.

She highlighted the need for increasing the budgetary allocations to strengthen labour inspection system to promote greater vigilance on child labour situation.

Child Rights Activist Miqdad Naqvi said that beside constitutional and legal provision of right to free and compulsory education, the Punjab Free and Compulsory Education Act 2014 had not been notified yet in Punjab. “Effective implementation on available laws for children will surely lead towards achieving Pakistan’s international obligations under UN Convention on the rights of the child and sustainable development goals,” he said.

Mukhtar Awan, Domestic Workers’ Union secretary general, condemned the recent incidents of violence involving child domestic labourers. He urged the government to take all possible legal and administrative measures to ensure the effective implementation of the Punjab Domestic Workers Act 2019.

Brooke Pakistan Advocacy Manager Syed Naeem Abbas called for coordinated efforts among various government departments and civil society organisations to curb child and bonded labour. “There is a dire need to promote the concept of joint planning among different government departments to achieve common goals, which will ultimately be helpful in reduction of financial obligations as well,” he said. Rashida Qureshi, the Search for Justice programme coordinator, stressed the need for women’s economic empowerment.