BANNU, Aug 9: The Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (SARC) organized a one-day consultation meeting on the ILO Convention No182 on the worst forms of child labour in Bannu in collaboration with Child Rights Committee, Bannu.

About 50 civil society organizations, lawyers, local government representatives and government department’s representatives participated in the consultation.

District Coordination Officer Adalat Khan was the chief guest on the occasion.

Mr Malik Hayat, Coordinator of Child Rights Committee, Bannu, briefed participants about the existing situation of child labour and particularly the worst forms of child labour and the state of implementation of related laws in the Bannu district.

SPARC Deputy National Coordinator Arshad Mahmood presented a detailed description of the ILO Convention 182 and the measures taken for the implementation of the convention by the government since its ratification on Aug 15, 2003. He also briefly elaborated different kinds of child labour under the ILO Convention No182 in Pakistan.

He said that in a consultation, labour leaders have identified 29 hazardous forms of child labour in Pakistan but these occupations had not been included in any law and, therefore, it had no legal status. “There is a need to notify these occupations in the Employment of Children Act 1991 schedule.” He said that according to official statistics the number of child labourers was around 3.3 million while according to the latest Unicef figures approximately 8 million children were economically active in Pakistan.

Mr Jehanzeb Khan, Provincial President of the All Pakistan Federation of Labour, said that child labour had had not been the priority area of any government in Pakistan and that was why the menace was increasing rapidly in the country.

He said that bonded child labour still existed in Pakistan because related laws were poorly implemented.

“The education system is very poor and we cannot expect miracle in this situation until we work with proper planning and full support of the governments.”

Bannu District Coordination Officer Adalat Khan said that child labour was an issue of concern but the problem of girls working as domestic servants was equally of great concern for all of us as girls were more vulnerable to all kinds of abuses.