National responsibility comes first to safeguard nation's interest instead of looking for international issues within the country by the media. These views were expressed by the Advisor to Chief Minister Sindh on Information Salahuddin Haider at the concluding session of a one-day capacity-building workshop on "Activating Media in combating Worst Forms of Child Labour in Pakistan" here on Tuesday.
The workshop was organised by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) under its national media plan of action to sensitise the media persons about the child labour issue. The workshop was designed for radio producers and reporters to combat all forms of child labour in the country.
He said that at the time of reporting child labour issue, we should first look into the ground realities attached to the poor families relating to poverty, social and financial aspect of any form of child labour. These poor families opt for child labour due to poverty and inheritance of expertise in any area. There is a need for responsible journalism and understanding is key element before reporting any news, he added.
Salahuddin Haider said that the Sindh government is alive to the issues relating to child labour and become part of any drive to eliminate menace of force child labour. He said that his government was working hard under the ILO Convention 182 Pakistan ratified in 2001 and also under the ILO Convention 136 on the minimum age in 2006.
He said that his government was committed against the menace of the child labour and strongly urged a "coherent social action to provide our next generations with a bright future." He that the Sindh government was proactively pursuing the national labour policy and was open to any suggestions from the civil society organisations.
In his concluding remarks, he urged the media professionals to keep highlighting the issues of such social importance so that our children could have a better environment and society to grow up.
Earlier, experts highlighted that Pakistan is still experiencing the worst forms of child labour, however, the government in collaboration with the ILO and other agencies are making strenuous efforts to control this menace. Media has an important role to play in highlighting the child issues and can extend cooperation by proposing suggestions to handle this situation.
According to a 1996 study done by the Federal Bureau of Statistics, there were 3.3 million child labourers in the country. But in 2007, it is feared that the number have grown alarmingly which is a threat to the health and education rights of children.
The study revealed that there were 73 percent boys and 23 percent girls being exploited by their employers mainly in the domestic employment. Punjab was found to have the highest number of the child workers with a staggering 60 percent in the national aggregate followed by 20 percent in NWFP, 14 percent in Sindh and 6 percent in Balochistan.
More alarmingly, 70 percent of the total working children were found absolutely illiterate. These statistics are certainly worrisome for the society and the government.
Surgical instruments manufacturing, glass bangles, tanneries, coal mines. rag pickers, scavengers, deep-sea fishing, domestic workers, child trafficking carpet weaving. street children, bonded labour, beggary are the areas where children are working in hazardous conditions in the country.
Under its national media plan of action, the ILO is holding a series of workshops in seven cities for 550 media professionals "to sensitise them about the problems and issues of the Worst Forms of Child Labour in Pakistan." These cities are Islamabad, Karachi, Quetta, Multan, Hyderabad, Lahore and Peshawar.
In these workshops, the ILO expects that a comprehensive media policy would be developed. The project is directly aimed at highlighting the importance of role of media in projecting the child labour issue and how media could assist to reaching out to the target groups in the Pakistani society.
Saba Mohsin Raza, National Project Manager of ILO said, the organisation and government's partnership was going "very strong and the cooperation from the government was exemplary to help eradicate the child labour.
She hoped that this cooperation and commitment would continue as "child labour is a challenge to Pakistan and ILO, government and the media will jointly handle the challenge to ensuring a better future for children."
Prominent columnist, Javed Chaudhry, also addressed the workshop and suggested that the media professionals must observe the important principles of reporting on the child issues which manifest protecting the identity of children.
He said the children's are a treasure for a better and brighter future of Pakistan and "media can play its role in realising this dream." He also encouraged a closer government-civil society interaction so that such issues are highlighted properly.
In the concluding session, producers from Radio Pakistan and FM channels also presented their presentations on issues including 'Reporting child labour issues and the role of Media', 'Principles of Media Ethics towards formulating a Media Policy on Child Labour' and 'Strategy and terms of reference (TOR) for setting up a Media Network against Child Labour'.
Advisor to Chief Minister Sindh on Information Salahuddin Haider, National Project Manager, ILO, Saba Mohsin Raza, President Webcop Ehsanullah Khan, and President LHRLA Zia Ahmed Awan Advocate and Senior Columnist Javed Chaudhry addressed the workshop.
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