International Day against Child Labour being observed today

ISLAMABAD: World Day against Child Labour is being observed on Wednesday (today) across the globe including Pakistan.

The theme of this year World Day against Child Labour is “Children shouldn’t work in fields, but on dreams”.

This day was launched by the International Labour Organization (ILO) in 2002 to call for worldwide efforts to recognise child labour and the need to eliminate it. This brings governments, companies, social activists and concerned people from around the world to highlight the flight of children who are compelled to work and the efforts made to not just eliminate the social menace but return the innocence of their childhood.

There are an estimated 168 million children around the world who are involved in child labour and at least 70 million of them are below the age of 10.

In 1990, the United Nations adopted the Convention on the Rights of a Child which was ratified by 193 countries including Pakistan. This defines the child as any human being below the age of 18 years.

In 1999, the ILO prohibited the worst forms of child labour such as debt bondage, child trafficking, drug production, prostitution, child pornography, child soldiers and recruitment in armed conflict and all forms of slavery, and any other hazardous work.

The ILO provides technical assistance to the Government of Pakistan and several employers and workers organizations for the prevention and subsequent elimination of child labour. The Government of Pakistan has ratified ILO core Conventions related to child labour including Minimum Age Convention 1973, Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention 1999.