ISLAMABAD, Oct 9: A European Union funded and ILO implemented project Combating Abusive Child Labour (CACL-II), has supported that the minimum age for employment should be set at 14 years.

This is in compliance with the ILO Convention No 138 on “minimum age in employment” which applies to both the formal and informal sectors and has been prepared by the respective provincial labour departments.

This was stated by speakers at an award ceremony for the National Photo Competition on Child Labour, which was organised by Combating Abusive Child Labour project here on Tuesday.

The photo competition was organised to highlight the fight against child labour in which professionals, students and the general public submitted photographs.

They emphasised that the world had entered the 21st century but in developing countries child labour is still prevalent.

They said child labour referred to the employment of children in any work that deprived children of their childhood, interfered with their ability to attend regular school, and that is mentally, physically, socially or morally harmful.

It is noteworthy that employers in favour of child employment justify that it reduces the production costs of many export commodities and make them competitive in international markets, they added.

“In reality these businesses exploit children by paying them very low wages and in turn earn exorbitant profits without adequate investment in human capital.”

They said despite important progress over the last decade, the number of children in full-time work world-wide and particularly in hazardous conditions remain high.

Speaking on the occasion Ambassador of European Union Pakistan, Mr Lars-Gunnar Wigemark said millions of children suffer under a system of child labour that also includes bonded labour. These kind of initiatives leads to change the perceptions on involving children in work and mobilising the general public to act against child labour.

ILO Officer-in-Charge, Ms Margaret Reade Rounds, Federal Secretary for Human Resources Development, the President of the Employers' Federation of Pakistan and the General Secretary of the Pakistan Workers' Federation, heads of UN agencies, foreign diplomats, employers and workers, and members of civil society, the media personnel and university students attended the event.

Stage and song performances by children, short documentaries by students of Fatima Jinnah and Islamic University and the showcasing of pictures served to remind the audience that child labour is a scourge on society was also part of event. — APP