ISLAMABAD, Dec 21: The Ministry of Labour and Manpower and the International Labour Organization (ILO) here on Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to extend the ILO International Programme for Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) for another five years till December 31, 2009.

ILO Director for Pakistan Donglin Li and Labour and Manpower Secretary Asif Hayat Malik signed the memorandum at a ceremony presided over by Federal Minister for Labour Ghulam Sarwar Khan.

Speaking on the occasion, the labour minister hailed the ILO for its commendable efforts to help the developing countries combat child labour. The initiatives taken by the ILO, he said, had mobilized the civil society organizations to tackle the issue of child labour effectively.

The ILO-IPEC, targeting elimination of child labour, was launched in Pakistan in June 1994. Main strategies being adopted to implement the programme include strengthening institutions through capacity building, law and policy development and awareness raising through social mobilization.

A number of action programmes sponsored out of the ILO-IPEC fund for Pakistan are being implemented with the involvement of NGOs, trade unionists and provincial governments.

IPEC is also providing major assistance to the national time-bound programme for elimination of worst forms of child labour. The time-bound programme was initiated on August 1, 2002, with the aim to prevent and eliminate the worst forms of child labour within a period of five years.