PESHAWAR, July 24: Speakers at a day-long workshop on child labour have appealed to media personnel to help eradicate the menace through contribution of articles and documentaries and awareness campaigns.

The workshop on “Activating media in combating worst forms of child labour in Pakistan” was jointly organised by the ministry of information and broadcasting and the ILO here on Tuesday.

NWFP Information Minister Asif Iqbal Daudzai said it was unfortunate that dozens of national and international laws relating to child labour were prevalent in the country, but the issue was becoming alarming.

Holding parents responsible of the worst form of child labour, he said it was prime responsibility of the parents to provide education to their children.

Saba Mohsin Raza, national project manager of the workshop, said that according to government’s 1996 survey, there were 3.3 million working children in Pakistan, of which 2.4 million were boys and 0.9 million were girls. “Out of total 37.90 million labour force, 15.23 million were child workers,” she quoted government’s 2006 survey as saying.