Govt determined to combat Child Labour: Sarwar
By Khalid Amin

ISLAMABAD—The Federal Minister for Labour Ghulam Sarwar has said that the government is making all practical efforts for effectively combating the social menace of Child Labour by taking along all stakeholders.
The Minister was speaking as a Chief Guest at a one-day workshop titled “Activating Media in Combating Worst Forms of Child Labour in Pakistan” held here at a local hotel on Wednesday.
The workshop was organized by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and International Labour Organization (ILO) for the capacity building of TV producers and reporters.
The workshop, which was arranged by Media Mark, was part of the ILO’s ongoing national media plan of action to sensitize media persons about the child labour issues in the country.
In his address, Federal Minister Ghulam Sarwar acknowledged that child labour has emerged as a serious social as well as economic issue which is badly affecting not only health and future of the children involved in it but also giving a bad impression in the outer world.
“The government is working extremely hard under the ILO Convention 182 that Pakistan ratified in 2001 and also under the ILO Convention 136 on the minimum age in 2006,” the minister added. In collaboration with the ILO and other agencies we are taking various initiatives to create public awareness about child labour, he said and mentioned that media is an effective instrument in terms of highlighting the child issues and sought its suggestive role to combat the issue.
Other speakers included ILO Director Donglin Li, National Project Manager ILO Saba Mohsin Raza, senior columnist Javed Chaudhry, senior Research Officer Ministry of Labour Iftikhar Javed and Regional President Pakistan Workers Federation Tikka Khan.
Expressing grave concern over the inflated statistics of child labour in Pakistan, speakers at a workshop opined that that effective implementation of laws and creating public awareness is the only mean to discourage this menace which is constantly spoiling the future as well as health of child workers.
While highlighting the situation analysis of the child labour in Pakistan, National Project Manager, ILO, Saba Mohsin Raza, said that the menace is haunting the country with its full potential. She quoted the 1996 study done by the Federal Bureau of Statistics and said that there were 3.3 million child labourers in the country. But in 2007, it is feared that this number have got inflated alarmingly which is a growing threat to the health and education rights of the child workers.
ILO Director Donglin Li remarked that the ILO and government’s partnership is going “very strong and the cooperation from the government is exemplary to help eradicate the child labour”. He also mentioned it is a point of quite satisfaction that for child victims rehabilitation numerous initiatives including rehabilitation centers, special schools, technical education institutes, etc, have been established in the country in strong collaboration with the government. In his remarks, Regional President Pakistan Workers Federation, Tikka Khan, dilated upon the relations between employers and employees and said that we can eliminate the menace of child labour if employers stop hiring child labourers.
Highlighted media ethics about the child labour, prominent columnist Javed Chaudhry suggested that media professionals should maintain all aspects which manifest protecting the identity of child victim. He encouraged a closer interaction between government and civil society so that such issues are highlighted properly.
Research Officer Iftikhar Javed, however, said that the Government of Pakistan is not sitting idle as it is making effective efforts to build a strong collaboration with ILO and many other organizations for the elimination of child labour. Participants of the workshops during group discussions also floated various recommendations to control child labour.