ISLAMABAD: Despite inviting the press to cover the launch of the National Child Labour Survey, the Ministry of Human Rights refused to let journalists enter the venue on Monday, instead launching the survey ‘in camera’.

When journalists reached the venue, organisers said private media would not be allowed to attend the launch because would be attended by President Dr Arif Alvi.

The ministry’s public relations officer, who had invited the media, said he was powerless to accommodate them.

The ministry later issued a statement in which it said the ministry and Unicef have launched a National Child Labour Survey in Pakistan.

Journalists invited to cover launch stopped from entering venue

It said Dr Alvi was invited to the launch as chief guest, and speakers included Minister for Human Rights Dr Shireen Mazari, Parliamentary Secretary on Human Rights Lal Chand, Human Rights Secretary Rabiya Javeri Agha, Statistics Secretary Shaista Sohail, Department for International Developmenthead Joanna Reid, Unicef Country Representative Aida Girma and International Labour Organisation Country Director Ingrid Christensen.

The statement added that the event aimed to recognise and appreciate the efforts of the federal and provincial governments towards preventing and eliminating economic exploitation, and to share progress on the child labour survey across the country.

The event also launched the data collection process for a survey of child labour in Pakistan.

According to the statement, Dr Mazari said at the launch that the government was committed to improving child rights and glorifying the international convention on child labour.

“It is our priority to ensure the endowment of education and health to the children across the country. Beyond rhetoric we have to take the pragmatic steps to eliminate the child labour and to improve their living standards, our Constitution grantees to provide the fundamental rights to the children,” she said.

Dr Mazari said pragmatic steps are being taken in this regard, and the government is committed to ensuring basic and health and education facilities are provided to children with a focus on preventing all kinds of child abuse.

She said the purpose of the survey is to collect data on child labour in order to obtain empirical data, which will help address real issues and devise a comprehensive policy.

She added that child labour is unacceptable in any democratic and progressive society.

In order to succeed, we need to ensure the fundamental rights of children with a special focus on their education and health, she said.

Dr Mazari also expressed concerns over domestic workers, noting incidents of abuse against them. She said the ministry would bring legislation to protect the rights of domestic workers.

She added that in addition to implementing existing laws and devising new legislation, it is equally important to raise awareness among the public of their rights. She said the human rights ministry is running campaigns related to women’s right to inheritance and child abuse awareness, and has launched a free helpline to provide victims with legal assistance.

She also said that the ministry is working on child protection bureaus and a child protection commission, which will be established soon.

Federal and provincial government representatives, as well as representatives from Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir, international organisations and civil society attended the launch.

The themes for the survey are ‘Moving from Data to Policy – Global Practices’ and ‘Child Labour Survey Data Usage for Policy Development and Implementation’.

Published in Dawn, March 26th, 2019