ISLAMABAD: Speakers at a conference on Tuesday lamented that while Article 35 of the Constitution protects the rights of all children in Pakistan, only those born in wealthy families are given rights.

Participants were informed that a large number of children become victims of child labour which deprives them of a childhood and is harmful for their physical and mental development. The seminar was held in connection with the World Day Against Child Labour at Pakistan National Council of Arts (PNCA). The event was organized by the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef), in collaboration with International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the Federal Ombudsman.

Participants were informed that approximately 168 million children globally, aged between 5 to 17 years are engaged in child labour and around 150 million of them are below the age of 14.

Pakistan carried out its first and only National Child Labour Survey in 1996. According to the survey, an estimated 3.3 million children between age of 5 to 14 work at least 35 hours per week.

The survey revealed that children in rural areas are eight times more economically productive than children in urban areas as 60 per cent of work is carried out in the agriculture sector.

According to estimates, every fifth household in Pakistan employs children as domestic employees and a majority (62 per cent) of them are girls. An estimated nine to 12 million children live on the streets of Pakistan’s major cities.

Addressing the event, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Sardar Mehtab Ahmed Khan Abbasi said one positive change is that people now feel ashamed when they hire a child to work.

“However, the problem increases with each passing day because we are not providing quality education to our children. In Fata, when the military operation was launched, we started a de-radicalisation programme for children in our province,” he said.

He said thousands of applications were received for the vacancy of a lower divisional clerk.

“We have to provide technical education to our children, otherwise applications for class four jobs will keep piling up.”

“A number of children are employed as camel jockeys, others are used as by drug peddlers and militants. This must be stopped,” he said.

Federal Ombudsman Salman Faruqui said that 100 million children in Pakistan have the right to live better lives but unfortunately there is a lack of awareness due to which child abuse is tolerated.

“However, one positive development is that people now have awareness about child marriages. The media plays an active role in decrying child marriages. However, rather than only talking about children’s rights, we must also emphasise the obligations of parents and society,” he said.

The ombudsman said the government cannot achieve this alone and the private sector must come forward to eliminate child labour from society. A documentary on the issues faced by children was screened at the end of the seminar.

Published in Dawn, June 17th, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play