Laraib Nisar
12th of June is celebrated as World Day against Child Labor every year since 2002. It is an international day to advocate child rights and raise awareness and call for action to stop child labor in all of its forms across the world. According to a report published by the International Labor Organization, almost 152 million children across the globe are engaged in child labor; 73 million of them are engaged in hazardous work that directly harms their health, safety or moral development.
Child labor is defined as any work that robs children of their childhood, their aptitude and their self-esteem, and that hinder a child’s physical and mental development. However, not all work done by children is included in child labor because there might be activities that contribute to a child’s positive development and help in skill-building and experience based learning. Unfortunately, the stats about children involved in heavy labor for Pakistan show that more than 12 million children are engaged in child labor, which further increased in the wake of COVID-19, when schools were closed. The data is alarming because the future of the country rests on the shoulders of these children, what will the future look like, if the then leaders and public aren’t well-educated, skilled and physically, mentally, and socially skilled.
Despite being on UN’s agenda (SDG- 8.7 and 16.2), still not much has been achieved to eradicate child labor in Pakistan yet. Despite the extensive legislation that has been done to eradicate the malign practice of child labor, the problem persists at the grass root level and continues to mentally, physically and socially exploit millions of children in the country, hence putting the country’s future in jeopardy.
In Pakistan the main reasons for child labor include the inadequacy and frailty of the education sector where despite the constitution providing the right to free basic education, thousands of children are left out of school due to loopholes in the implementation of the constitutional provisions; non-implementation of the already existing laws e.g. The Employment of Children Act, Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act etc.; poverty, since adults tend to ask for higher wages, poverty driven children are an easy prey and easily get economically exploited; and since child labor is cheap and easily available in the country, they are hired for dangerous and weighty jobs e.g. carpet industry, hazardous material industry, carrying heavy objects etc.
Now that the UN General Assembly has pressed upon the international community to escalate efforts to eliminate forced labor and child labor, and declared 2021 as the Year for the Elimination of Child Labor, it is imperative that Pakistan also makes significant efforts to eradicate the evil of child labor from the society. The first step can be the implementation of already existing laws that prohibit child labor, and introduction of new laws that ensure children’s health and safety. It is essential to understand the rights and policies explained in the International Labour Organization Conventions, and Labour Policy 2002. Incentivizing children’s education can be extremely beneficial in this regard, providing the children that attend school a monthly stipend or groceries can motivate the poverty-struck parents to send their children to schools for receiving financial aid. Moreover, the law enforcement agencies should strictly penalize the perpetrators of Child Labor so everyone thinks well before promoting the child labor culture.
Moreover, controlling the ever-increasing poverty, forming community-based social support systems and programs to educate and enlighten families about the horrors of child labor, and for teaching them safer alternate employment options. This cannot be achieved without challenging the ancient public beliefs, attitudes, and prejudices that promote child labor. Media and the general public must be encouraged to confront and speak up against any exploitation, abuse, and violence against children that they witness, because a prosperous Pakistan is possible only when we invest in our future leaders.
The author Laraib Nisar is a Defense and Strategic Studies’ graduate, working as a Research Associate at Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS) Islamabad.
