District Co-ordination Committee (DCC) has decided to mobilise all resources to curb menace of child labour and combat the challenge through effective monitoring, said District Nazim Rawalpindi Raja Javed Ikhlas.
Presiding the first meeting of DCC on child labour, the nazim said that DCC was meant to be an oversight and monitoring committee to strategically address the issue of child labour and its worst forms in Rawalpindi district.
Executive District Officer (MS) Iftikhar Ali Shallwani, EDO Jamal Mustafa, DI PBM Ajmal Raheel and Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi (ITA) Chairperson Dr Baela Raza Jamil also attended the meeting.
The DCC's task is to influence policy, mobilise resources, create awareness and monitor programme to progressively eliminate child labour and its worst forms as committed under the ILO Convention 182.
Baela Raza Jamil gave a detailed introduction of ILO-IPEC/ Time Bound Programme (TBP) and also briefed the DCC about ITA's rag pickers project and its update.
She said that so far 501 children had already been enrolled in the five drop in centers, four in Rawalpindi and one in Islamabad established by ITA. ILO is supporting 1500 out of the potentially 3500 earmarked children in the rag-picking sector in Rawalpindi.
She said these drop in centers were comprehensive in approach providing support for education, literacy, health, hygiene, recreational activities, and vocational training to these children.
District nazim decided to provide a building to the Child Protection and Welfare Bureau, Punjab. He also directed to involve UC nazims for providing assistance in finding more appropriate places for drop in centers.
It was decided to include in the current budget one or two schemes for expansion of the rag-picker project under the district's and DCC's own initiative. Acknowledging the ITA's team, the district nazim said, it was important that ITA remains as an active partner to work against the menace of child labour. The ITA team also assured the DCC members of full support by both ITA and ILO.