Denial of fundamental rights makes child labor a human rights and developmental issue – ILO official

Islamabad

The Labor Force Survey from 2021 estimates that 8 per cent of 10 to14 year old children in Pakistan are involved in some form of work, Director, ILO Country Office Geir T. Tonstol said on Monday Nov 6, 2023.

Speaking at a training workshop, he said that most children engaged in child labor are denied the fundamental right of accessing compulsory education, which makes child labor a human rights issue and also a developmental issue.

To build the capacity of Islamabad based Child Protection Committees on child rights and protection mechanisms, the Child Protection Institute (CPI) organized three two-day trainings in collaboration with ILO and Sahil.

These committees will be responsible for identifying and monitoring the cases of child rights violation, hazardous and worst forms of child labor and report to the respective institution including CPI, local police, Reconciliation Committees at local police office/Thaana, Child Help Line/s etc.

These committees will compile and submit their periodic reports, including details on number of awareness sessions conducted, number of people educated (female/male) and number and type of cases identified and reported.

Around 80 members of community-based child protection groups/ committees participated in the workshop where they were briefed about the Child Protection Act 2018, different forms of violence against children, and the existing mechanisms for child protection in the capital city.

The Committee members included teachers and head of schools, doctors, psychologists, lady health worker, religious leaders, union councilors, philanthropists, representatives of community-based organizations, businesspersons, shop keepers, youth representatives, girl guides, boy scouts, social workers, representatives of law enforcement agencies and people with disabilities.

The overall objectives of this collaboration was to strengthen the child protection system through community-based child protection mechanisms for improved referral and reporting, and contribute to enhanced protection of children from exploitation and reduced vulnerabilities to child labor

Chairperson National Commission on the Rights of Children, Ms. Ayesha Raza Farooq, Ms. Maria Sabri of National Commissioner for Pakistan Girls Guide Association and Director General CPI Rabeea Hadi also spoke. (PR)