According to a statement issued by Child Rights Movement (CRM) national secretariat, over 12.5 million children in Pakistan are involved in child labor. The term “child labour” is often defined as work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity, and that is harmful to physical and mental development.
The main reason that has made child labor so common in Pakistan is the lack of education. Though it is state’s responsibility to provide with its citizens primary education but with so much focus on roads and transportation sector, the government has paid very less heed to education and health that are the supporting pillars of any nation.
The government of Pakistan has ratified ILO core conventions related to child labor that are: the minimum age convention, 1973 (no. 138) which states that no child below 15 should be involved in any work, and Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) by which a country commits itself to taking immediate and strict actions to prohibit and eradicate the worst forms of child labor. NGOs are also working in Pakistan against child labor. With so many laws and Ngos why are we still unable to free our nation from this curse?
The spread of education and awareness is the only key to the door which can bring prosperity in the country.
Aqsa Tahir
Islamabad
