ISLAMABAD, Oct 24: International Labour Organization (ILO) and ministry of labour have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) worth $700,000 to implement International Programme for Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) for another three years in Pakistan here on Wednesday.
The government of Pakistan had signed this MoU with the ILO in 1994 for a period of two years. Subsequently, the same (MoU) was extended for five years from 1996 till December 31, 2001. After signing of the MoU, the ILO has agreed to extend the programme till December 31, 2004.
Federal Minister for Labour, Manpower and Overseas Pakistanis Omar Asghar Khan also attended the signing ceremony.
The ILO director in Pakistan, Johannes Lokollo, who signed the MoU, said besides $700,000 for the country programme, various donors had committed more than $7 million for three years in sector specific projects.
He said IPEC projects had made headway in the industries of soccer ball, carpet weaving and surgical instruments in Punjab, adding the IPEC carpet programme would also be extended to Sindh in the next phase. Moreover, a total of 10 action programmes under IPEC were being implemented in Pakistan, with the active partnership of the government departments, trade and employers’ federations and civil society organizations, he added.
He said the ILO was launching an action programme in collaboration with the ministry of information to create awareness among the masses about different kinds of child labour in Pakistan. Moreover, this project would help sensitize 250 media managers and a policy paper on media campaign to combat the worst form of child labour in Pakistan would also be developed.
The ILO director said since the government of Pakistan had ratified the ILO convention 182 to combat the worst form of child labour, therefore, the ILO-IPEC hopefully would be initiating a time-bound programme to combat worst form of child labour in Pakistan. In this regard, the target area would be bonded labour in both brick kiln and agriculture sectors. Moreover, the issue of children in prisons would also be taken up under the programme, he added.
Speaking on the occasion, the federal minister for labour, Omar Asghar Khan, said the government had recently approved a policy and an action plan for abolition of bonded labour. He said the government had also ratified the ILO Convention 182 on worst form of child labour in August 2001.
Furthermore, in order to materialize the national policy and action plan to combat child labour, the government had established a fund for the education of children with an initial amount of Rs100 million. The federal and provincial governments would contribute to the fund on yearly basis, he said.
APP ADDS: The minister said the secretary, ministry of labour, manpower and overseas Pakistani, Farhat Hussain, and the ILO director for Pakistan would set-up committees at district level to monitor child labour practices and process of rehabilitation and education of the working children in various sectors all over the country. He said the monitoring mechanism would be strengthened to eliminate child labour.
He said the ILO had been supporting Pakistan in eliminating child labour through various assistance.