hild labour is widespread in many developing countries. Even in industrialised nations, many children are forced to work. According to the UNICEF, children in the United States are employed in agriculture, a high proportion of them from immigrant or ethnic-minority families. There have also been a number of cases of Western companies exploiting child labourers in developing countries to save production costs.

In 2011, there were an estimated 215 million child labourers in the world, 115 million of which were involved in hazardous work. To combat child labour around the world, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) initiated the World Day Against Child Labour in 2002. It has been observed annually on June 12 since then to raise awareness about child labour.

World Day against Child Labour is intended to serve as a catalyst for the growing worldwide movement against child labour. Emphasising the link between social justice and child labour, the theme for 2023 is Social Justice for All – End Child Labour, Universal ratification of ILO Convention No 138 on Minimum Age, which, together with the universal ratification of ILO Convention No 182 on Worst Forms of Child Labour achieved in 2020, would provide all children with legal protection against all forms of child labour.

Since the early 2000s, the world has been making steady progress in reducing child labour. But over the past few years, conflicts, crises and the Covid-19 pandemic have pushed more families into poverty and forced millions of children into low-wage labour. Economic growth has neither been sufficient nor inclusive enough to relieve the pressure that too many families and communities feel, and that make them resort to child labour.

Today, 160 million children are still engaged in child labour. That is almost one in ten children worldwide. The prevalence of child labour in rural areas (14 percent) is close to three times higher than in urban areas (5 percent). In the world’s poorest countries, around 1 in 4 children are engaged in child labour.

Child labour is possibly the most visible of social problems. It is caused by and continues the cyclical progression of poverty and hunger. It deprives children of education and opportunity of securing a decent income and stable employment as adults. It is an injustice that is felt in most cases at the household level. But it holds back the economic growth of entire countries and can be linked to rising inequality in many parts of the world. It is a threat to social solidarity and human progress too.

Child labour is a serious problem that deprives children of their innocence, rights and a normal childhood. They are subjected to exploitation and forced to work in hazardous conditions. Observing the day against child labour provides an important opportunity to address this issue and raise awareness about the urgent need to eradicate the problem.

Child labour is a serious problem. It deprives children of their innocence, rights and a normal childhood. They are subjected to exploitation and forced to work in hazardous conditions.

Goal Eight of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals adopted by the United Nations in 2015 expands the scope of the global community’s efforts to transform the world to “promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment and decent work for all.” This goal for sustainable economic growth includes a target to end child labour in all its form by 2025.

Child labour remains one of the major problems afflicting Pakistan and its children. About 3.3 million Pakistani children are trapped in labour, depriving them of their childhood, health and education and condemning them to a life of poverty and need. Some 11 million children, aged four to fourteen, keep the country’s factories operating, often working in brutal and filthy conditions. Whereas over 12 million children in Pakistan perform domestic tasks and work in agriculture, other children work alongside their families as bonded labourers in the brick industry.

Girls may be more present in less visible and, therefore, under-reported forms of child labour, such as domestic service in private households. They are much more likely than boys to shoulder responsibility for household chores, a form of work not considered in child labour estimates.

The first impact of children’s labour emerged as depriving a child of the opportunity to acquire education. The years which otherwise could have been spent in the school are spent in labour. According to the Economic Survey of Pakistan, there are 23 million children out of school. Secondly, child labour issues in the country can result in the persistence of class and income inequities in the country. Both the constitution and labour laws prohibit the employment of children before the age of 14 years.

Pakistan has ratified ILO Convention 138 on Minimum Age and Convention 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labour. There are laws in the country in the form of constitutional provisions and federal and provincial legislation. These include The Factories Act 1934, The West Pakistan Shops and Establishments Ordinance 1969, The Employment of Children Act 1991, The Bonded Labor System Abolition Act 1992, The Punjab Compulsory Education Act 1994 and the Punjab Prohibition of Child Labour at Brick Kilns Act 2016. There is also sector-specific legislation which deals with the employment of children and regulates the working conditions for employed child workers. However, the implementation level needs raising.

Measures to address these issues include the establishment and implementation of a strong legal framework based on International Labour Standards, social dialogue, provision of universal access to education and social protection. In its most extreme forms, child labour involves children being enslaved, separated from their families, exposed to serious hazards and illnesses and/ or left to fend for themselves on the streets of large cities, often at a very early age.

The writer is a playwright and freelance journalist. He can be reached at pashajaved1@gmail.com and his blogging site: soulandland.com