#pakistan apathetic in curbing rising child labour #fact #fail

LAHORE - Like the others parts of the globe, the World Day against Child Labour is being observed in Pakistan on Sunday (today).
This year the International Labor Organisation (ILO) has set the theme of the day as “Hazardous Child Labour”. The day is aimed at provision of a global spotlight on hazardous child labour, and call for urgent action to tackle the problem.
The ILO launched the first World Day against Child Labour in 2002 as a way to highlight the plight of labourer children. The day, which is observed on June 12 every year, is intended to serve as a catalyst for the growing worldwide movement against child labour, reflected in a number of ratifications of ILO Convention No 182 on the worst forms of child labour and ILO Convention No 138 on the minimum age for employment.
The ILO’s most recent global estimate is that 115 million children are involved in hazardous work. This is work that by its nature or the circumstances, in which it is carried out, is likely to harm children’s health, safety or morals. Children working in many different industries and occupations can be exposed to such risks and the problem is global, affecting industrialized as well as developing countries.
The government of Pakistan ratified the ILO Convention on the Worst Forms of Child Labour (182) in August 2001 and is obligated to take steps to remove children from these occupations. A first step would be to include the national list of hazardous forms of child labour for Pakistan under the schedule of occupations in which the employment of children is prohibited under the Employment of Children Act 1991.