Participants of a panel discussion on 'Child Labour Issues in Pakistan' have called for taking immediate steps for economic empowerment of women so as to effectively tackle the menace of child labour. The event was jointly organised here on Tuesday by two NGOs - Sudhar and Idara Taleem aur Agahi (ITA) in connection with the '4th World Day Against Child Labour 2005'.
Saifullah Chaudhry from 'Time Bound Programme' of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) said that ILO estimates that more girls work in domestic labour than in any other sector of work. Child domestics often work under constant threat of physical or sexual abuse. Various surveys have revealed that only 20 percent child labour is due to poverty while other significant reasons are dearth of skill learning opportunities, market irrelevance of education and lack of awareness, he added.
He stated that the ILO launched the World Day against Child Labour in June 2002 as a means of raising the visibility of the problem and highlighting the global movement to eliminate child labour, particularly its worst forms.
Project Director Sudhar-ITA Alliance Fawad Usman Khan, taking part in the discussion, said that the complex socio-economic issue of child labour couldn't be addressed successfully without undertaking efforts for women development simultaneously. "While worst forms of child labour are totally unacceptable as these expose children to hazards and harm their heath. Child labour could be eliminated in phased and gradual manner while addressing the socio-economic imperatives of child labour", he said.
Earlier, Mohsin Abbas Legal Draftsmen Punjab Law and Parliamentary Affairs observed that the Employment of Child Act of 1991 needs an amendment to include all the worst forms of child labour within the purview of the law.
The participants of the discussion called for giving due respect to the taxpayer so that concerted efforts could be made for elimination of child labour with private-public partnership.
Dr Baela Jamil, education expert highlighted the overall scenario of child labour and stated that Sudhar-ITA Alliance have jointly initiated a project "Addressing Child Labour through Quality Education for All" in Kasur and Sheikhupura districts which is being funded by US Department of Labour.
Others who spoke on the occasion included Zarar Haider Director Labour Department Punjab, Taseer Ali Zai, Binyamin from ILO, Khwaja Zain-ud-Din Chief Executive Capital Sports Sialkot, Zulfiqar Rao Project Manager of Save the Children UK, Nasir Dogar IMAC (NGO), Zubair Ahmed Shad Assistant Director Operation Child Protection Bureau, Saeed Awan Child Labour Resource Centre of Punjab government.
Moreover, experts told Business Recorder that an estimated 246 million children are engaged in child labour, with nearly 70 percent of them (about 171 million) working in hazardous conditions, including working in mines and quarries, working with chemicals and pesticides or with dangerous machinery.
"Children as young as five are forced to spend long hours doing backbreaking labour, often in harsh weather and without access to health care," they said.