KARACHI: Sindh Information Minister Sharmila Farooqui, referring to a recent report, said on Tuesday that 10 million children are

currently engaged in child labour in Pakistan, out of which 300,000 are in Sindh.

Addressing a seminar on Activating Media in Combating Child Labour at Karachi University, Farooqui said Child Labor is an international evil. It requires cumulative efforts to wipe it out. The need of the hour is to expand the machinery for enforcing the various laws on child labor. According to the report, 220 million children, aged five to 17, are subject to child labour all around the world, excluding those involved in domestic labour. The minister linked this issue mainly to the lack of proper awareness, poverty and low level of parental education. There is a plethora of laws but desirable results could not be achieved until there is awareness among parents and children. Child labor is a bane which deprives them of the realisation of their full potential for growth into useful and productive members of the society, she observed. She said the media has a very important role to play in ensuring that correct information is disseminated and the governments considerable efforts to eradicate of the scourge of child labor are duly communicated to the public. Farooqui also underlined the importance of the role of civil society and NGOs in the elimination of child labor and stressed that the government does not have the infra-structure to reach every section of the society and particularly the millions who work and live in remote areas. Civil Society and NGOs can act as a bridge between hard-to-reach areas and the government, she added.

Programmes for Working Children

Working children are the epitomy of abuse and exploitation. They are often the victims their employers and sometimes, even their parents. A childhood earmarked by nature for fun and frolic, education and enlightenment, is ruined by the compulsion to earn money. The VST is currently helping 325 working children in and around Dindigul Town. Many live in the slums, while others live on the street.

Many jobs involve working in hazardous conditions. It is not uncommon to read in newspapers of tragedies relating to fireworks; many accidents are fatal to the children involved. In Dindigul, the risk to children from tanneries and metal tinkering is particularly high. Working children become accustomed to factories where chemicals, foul smoke, dazzling light and deafening noise threaten their health and impede their overall development. For this reason, the main thrust of our programmes concern:

Education. Raising awareness of health, safety and hygiene issues. o Warning of the dangers of drugs and alcohol. o Enlightenment on the causes of diseases, and how to prevent them.

Child labour
Child labour in the world
Today, close to 250 million children are working in the world. More than 150 million of these children are working in dangerous conditions. Additionally, each year more than 1 million of these children will be victims of human trafficking.

Definition of child labour

Child labour refers to any work or activity that deprives children of their childhood. In effect, these are activities that are detrimental to the physical and mental health of children and that hinder their proper development. Child labour includes:

Child labour before the minimum legal age : The basic minimum legal age at which children are authorized to work is 15 years (14 in developing countries). For light work (only a few hours from time to time) the limit is fixed at 13 to 15 years (12-14 in developing countries). Finally, for hazardous work, the limit is pushed up to 18 years (16 years under certain conditions in developing countries).

The worst forms of child labour :This encompasses all forms of slavery or similar practices such as forced labour, trafficking, debt bondage, serfdom. It also includes illicit activities and/or activities likely to endanger the safety, health, and

morals of children, such as prostitution, pornography, forced or compulsory recruitment for armed conflict, drug trafficking, etc.

Hazardous work : This encompasses domestic tasks carried out over long hours in an unhealthy environment, in dangerous places requiring the use of dangerous tools or materials, or forcing the child to carry objects that are too heavy. Certain activities are not considered labour or exploitation. Activities which simply involve helping parents to complete everyday family chores, to which children can dedicate a few hours a week and which permit them to earn some pocket money, are not considered child exploitation because they do not hinder their well being.

Negative effects of child labour

The difficulty of tasks and harsh working conditions create a number of problems such as premature ageing, malnutrition, depression, drug dependency etc. From disadvantaged backgrounds, minority groups, or abducted from their families, these children have no protection. Their employers do whatever necessary to make them completely invisible and are thus able to exercise an absolute control over them. These children work in degrading conditions, undermining all the principles and fundamental rights based in human nature.

Additionally, a child who works will not be able to have a normal education and will be doomed to become an illiterate adult, having no possibility to grow in his or her professional and social life.

In certain cases, child labour also endangers a childs dignity and morals, especially when sexual exploitation is involved, such as prostitution and child pornography. Furthermore, a child who works will be more exposed to malnutrition. These children are often victims of physical, mental, and sexual violence.

Overview of child labour in the world

Child exploitation exists on all continents and takes various forms according to the traditions and cultures of the region. In South East Asia and in Pacific, girls are sold to supply prostitution networks or to work as domestic workers. Many children are also sold to work in textile factories as well as to cover family debts.

In Africa, parents sell their children, often for livestock (generally, the child will be sold for a cow). These children are exploited in plantations, mines, or will become domestic workers.

 In North America and in Latin America, children are victims of prostitution to satisfy the perverse appetite of tourists, and are exploited more and more by drug traffickers. In Europe, children are abducted, providing cheap labour or supplying the prostitution networks that proliferate in Eastern Europe. CHILD LABOR IN PAKISTAN
(Rizwan Arshad, Lahore)

God has given human beings the boon of wisdom and discretion to think upon the signs of the universe and to draw conclusions. That is the reason why they disclose the hidden facts of it and its structure and have made remarkable progress in many walks of life. Children are the flowers of heaven. They are the most beautiful and purest creation of God. They are innocent both inwardly and outwardly. No doubt, they are the beauty of this world. Early in the morning when the children put on different kinds of clothes and begin to go to schools for the sake of knowledge, we feel a specific kind of joy through their innocence. But there are also other children, those who cannot go to schools due to financial problems, they only watch others go to schools and can merely wish to seek knowledge.It is due to many hindrances and difficulties; desperate conditions that they face in life. Having been forced to kill their aspirations, dreams and other wishes, they are pressed to earn a living for themselves and for their families. It is also a fact that there are many children who play a key role in sustaining the economically life of their family without which, their families would not be able to make ends meet. These are also part of our society who have forgotten the pleasures of their childhood. When a child in addition to getting education, earns his livelihood, this act of earning a livelihood is called as child Labour. The concept of child Labour got much attention during the 1990s when European countries announced a ban on the goods of the less-developed countries because of child Labour. The International Labour Organization (ILO) defines child Labour as: 1234when a child is working during early age he overworks or gives over time to Labour he works due to the psychologically, socially, and materialistic pressure he becomes ready to Labour on a very low pay

Another definition states: Child Labour is generally speaking work for children that harms them or exploits them in some way (physically, mentally, morally or blocking access to education), United Nations International Childrens Emergency Fund(UNICEF) defines child as anyone below the age of 18, and child Labour as some type of work performed by children below age 18. (UNICEF) Child Labour is an important and a serious global issue through which all and sundry countries of the world are directly or indirectly affected, but, it is very common in Latin America, Africa and Asia. According to some, in several Asian countries 1/10 manpower consists of child Labour. In India the number of children between the ages of 10-14 has crossed above 44

million, in Pakistan this number is from 8 to 10 million, in Bangladesh 812 million, in Brazil 7 million, whereas their number is 12 million in Nigeria. In Pakistan children aged 5-14 are above 40 million.During the last year, the Federal Bureau of Statistics released the results of its survey funded by ILOs IPEC (International Program on the Elimination of Child Labour). The findings were that 3.8 million children age group of 5-14 years are working in Pakistan out of total 40 million children in this age group; fifty percent of these economically active children are in age group of 5 to 9 years. Even out of these 3.8 million economically active children, 2.7 million were claimed to be working in the agriculture sector. Two million and four hundred thousand (73%) of them were said to be boys. During the year 2001 and 2002 the government of Pakistan carried out a series of consultation of tripartite partners and stakeholders (Labour Department, trade unions, employers and NGOs) in all the provinces. The objective was to identify the occupations and the categories of work, which may be considered as hazardous under the provisions of ILO Convention 182. As a result of these deliberations, a national consensus list of occupations and categories of work was identified, which is given below: 1. Nature of occupation-category of work 2. Work inside under ground mines over ground quarries, including blasting and assisting in blasting 3. Work with power driven cutting machinery like saws, shears, and guillotines, ( Thrashers, fodder cutting machines, also marbles) 4. Work with live electrical wires over 50V. 5. All operation related to leather tanning process e.g. soaking, dehairing, liming chrome tanning, deliming, pickling defleshing, and ink application. 6. Mixing or application or pesticides insecticide/fumigation. 7. Sandblasting and other work involving exposure to free silica. 8. Work with exposure to ALL toxic, explosive and carcinogenic chemicals e.g. asbestos, benzene, ammonia, chlorine, sulphur dioxide, hydrogen sulphide, sulphuric acid, hydrochloric acid, nitric acid, caustic soda, phosphorus, benzidene dyes, isocyanides, carbon tetrachloride, carbon disulphide, epoxy, resins, formaldehyde, metal fumes, heavy metals like nickel, mercury chromium, lead, arsenic, beryllium, fiber glass, and 9. Work with exposure to cement dust (cement industry) 10. Work with exposure to coal dust 11. Manufacture and sale of fireworks explosives 12. Work at the sites where Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) and Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) are filled in cylinders. 13. Work on glass and metal furnaces 14. Work in the clothe printing, dyeing and finishing sections 15. Work inside sewer pipelines, pits, storage tanks 16. Stone crushing 17. Lifting and carrying of heavy weight specially in transport industry ( 15b kg and above) 18. Work between 10 pm to 8 am ( Hotel Industry) 19. Carpet waving 20. Working 2 meter above the floor 21. All scavenging including hospital waste 22. tobacco process ( including Niswar) and Manufacturing 23. Deep fishing ( commercial fishing/ sea food and fish processing 24. Sheep casing and wool industry

25. Ship breaking 26. Surgical instrument manufacturing specially in vendors workshop 27. Bangles glass, furnaces Now we can easily imagine in the light of above mentioned facts and figures how the nations future namely children are deprived of pleasures of life, ignorance has reduced their abilities of thinking right or differentiating between right and wrong, as well as their life-chances, to their non-access to education. It is true that child Labour is not an isolated phenomenon. It is an outcome of a multitude of socio-economic factors and has its roots in poverty, lack of opportunities, high rate of population growth, unemployment, uneven distribution of wealth and resources, outdated social customs and norms and plethora of other factors. According to the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) the daily income of 65.5% people of Pakistan is below 2 U.S. dollars a day. According to the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Report, 47 million people in Pakistan are leading lines below the line of poverty, whereas the Social Policy Development Centre (SDPC) Karachi has stated in one of its reports that the ratio of poverty in Pakistan was 33% during 1999 that increased in 2001 and reached 38%. The ratio of poverty in the current year is around 30%. Consider the point that if 30% of our countrys total population is leading life below the poverty-line wherein the people are deprived of basic necessities of life like clothing, shelter, food, education and medication, the children of these people will be forced to become Labourers or workers in order to survive. Another reason of child Labour in Pakistan is that our people dont have the security of social life. There is no aid plan or allowance for children in our country. Class-based education system is another reason for increasing child Labour; villages lack standardized education systems and as a result, child Labour is on increase in rural areas. The government has not put its laws into practice to stop child Labour in our country. Employers after exploiting child Labour, extract a large surplus, whereas child Labour, despite increasing poverty, unemployment and other problems, are pressed to do anything and everything for their livelihood and the survival of their families. Child Labour is a complex problem which demands a range of solutions. There is no better way to prevent child Labour than to make education compulsory. The West understood this a long time ago. Laws were enacted very early to secure continued education for working children; and now they have gone a step forward, and required completion of at least the preliminary education of the child before he or she starts work. Martin Luther as back far 1524 sent a letter to German Municipalities insisting it was their duty to provide schools, and the duty of parents to educate their children. In Sweden, a royal decree in 1723 instructed parents and guardians to diligently see to it that their children applied themselves to book reading. In Europe, one country after another; Scotland, Prussia (1817), Austria (1869), France, United Kingdom (1880) and Italy made education compulsory. In 1872, Japan became the first non-Western country to make elementary school education compulsory with the declaration by the Meiji Govt. The present government in Pakistan has made elementary education compulsory. Along with this, the government has distributed free books in primary schools so that parents, who cannot afford their childrens school expenses, send their children to schools. The major point is that this decision must be acted upon at all levels. There is strict need to stop child Labour in this country. Awareness must be raised and the attention of parents ought to be

diverted to the education of their children. Child Labour Laws should be put into practice strictly. In addition, the educational system of the country-must be reshaped and restructured according to national development goals. The orphans and other deserving children must be helped financially on a prolonged basis. It is also essential to eliminate child Labour from the country, that the political, economical and social system of the country are need to be reshaped and such steps taken that make child Labour in this country a crime. They should bring on the well-being of a lay man, good governance and end to exploitative thinking. If we succeed to act upon these principles, our country can easily get rid of this problem i.e. child Labour. The agreement that has recently been approved by Pakistan, Norway and ILO to eradicate child Labour must be given importance and we hope that our rulers must put this agreement into practice using all means at their disposal.

Child Labor In Pakistan

Child labor refers the Employments of Child under minimum level of age. This practice is considered very inappropriate and exploitative if a child works at regular or sustained labor (except household chores or school-related work). Unfortunately Pakistan is also Facing the problem of Child labor. Not only Pakistan, Eliminating Child Labor is a big Challenge for the whole world. This Practice not only affecting the under- developed countries but developed countries are also facing this but the rate is comparatively less than the under developed countries. In Asia Child Labor percentage is 61% followed by Africa 32%.

Causes Of Child Labor In Pakistan

Childhood is the most innocent stage in every human life. It is a stage where child is free from all worries and tensions, play and learn things. But here, in our Pakistan there are alot of children who are Earning Machines. They work throughout the day and satisfy their basic needs. There are various causes of Child labor. Some of the main causes we are going to discuss. Poverty, Unemployment, and increase in population in a county are the major causes, among them Poverty has primary value. In Pakistan the poor family with more number of children, mostly suffers from such situation. It becomes difficult for them to fulfill the needs of their family and to survive on the income of one family member. So they make their children as a source of income by work in factories, shops and even selling items on the street. The other very common practice in the countryside area or in villages mostly is Bonded Child labor. A child has to pay for his father who had taken the loan and unable to pay it off. Child has to work like slaves against the repayment of the loan taken.

On the other side there are also such parents who think education not really necessary for their children and they put their children in their well established business at a very quite young age. Some parents carry infants for begging just to satisfy daily livings. Harassment by parents, step parents and relatives also a cause of Child Labor up to some extent. In Pakistan child labor statistics are unreliable. Last Year Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) estimated the number of Pakistani working children were 11-12 million and among them half of the children were under the age of 10. Child can be found in every factory, every workshop, every field and earn on average one third of the adult age. Despite a recent series of laws prohibiting child labor and indentured servitude, children make up a quarter of the unskilled work force, and can be found in virtually every factory, every workshop, every field. Pakistan's economic viability correlates with the number of children in its factories. Certain industries, notably carpet making and brick making, cannot survive without them. According to International Labor Organization if all children gets proper education then world income would be increase by 22% approximately over 20 years. Elimination of childhood labor help in boosting the economy of country As long as children are put to work, poverty will spread and standards of living will continue to decline.

Effects Of Child Labor

There are horrible result comes in-front of our society because of Child Labor. As the child have no sense of good and bad so labor forces some children to steal things from others to satisfy their needs.Some children start begging and many small girls are even made to indulge in prostitution to survive.

National Laws Pertaining To Child Labor

The Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan states: "No child below the age of fourteen, shall be engaged in any factory or mine or in any other hazardous employment." Also, "All forms of forced labor and traffic in human beings is prohibited." A number of laws contain provisions prohibiting child labor or regulating the working conditions of child and adolescent workers. The most important laws are: The Factories Act 1934. The West Pakistan Shops and Establishments Ordinance 1969.

The Employment of Children Act 1991. The Bonded Labor System Abolition Act 1992. The Punjab Compulsory Education Act 1994