Pakistan urged to take steps to end child labour
14 December 2022
As a member state of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), Pakistan should
take steps to respect compliance with the international conventions on the elimination of child and forced labour, ILO Country Director (Officer in Charge) in Pakistan, Khemphone Phaokhamkeo, said while addressing a workshop for the elimination of child labour in Islamabad.
“A strong common collaboration among all the stakeholders is required to define and
achieve the common goal of preventing child labour,” he said at the ‘National
Consultative Workshop on Elimination of Child Labour in Agriculture/Cotton, Textile
and Garment Value Chains in Pakistan', held by the Food and Agriculture Organisation
of the United Nations (FAO) in collaboration with the ILO, which concluded on Tuesday.
The workshop was held under the “CLEAR Cotton Project: Eliminating child labour and
forced labour in the cotton, textile and garment value chains” (2018-2023). The
project was mainly funded by the European Union.
The ILO Country Director said that fighting child labour is important for ILO and has been a priority since its establishment in 1919. Pakistan has also ratified 36 international conventions including the ones on the elimination of child and forced labour.
Pakistan is among the four countries including Burkina Faso, Mali, and Peru where the CLEAR Cotton Project is being implemented. In Pakistan, the project is being co-implemented by FAO and ILO.
The issue of child and forced labour in Pakistan requires our attention amongst the
other three areas; Firstly, we need to ensure that all children have access to quality education; not only up to the primary level but till the time they attain the legal age of being eligible to work. Secondly, a healthy, safe and protected work environment must be provided for the youth. Thirdly, the poor should be protected under social safety nets and social protection.
All adults must be provided decent work so that they do not have to pull their
children into work.
© The Express Tribune