LAHORE (Staff Report) – World Day Against Child Labour is being observed across the globe including Pakistan on Friday to raise awareness of the plight of child laborers worldwide.
The Day is being observed to focus attention on the global extent of child labour and the action and efforts needed to eliminate it.
Nobel Laureate Kailash Satyarthi on Thursday called on all countries to ratify an International Labour Organisation (ILO) protocol against forced labour and ensure inclusion of the goal of abolition of child slavery in the sustainable development goals (SDGs).
“The Forced Labour Protocol has to be ratified and implemented by every single country and I urge for it. That is very, very important to stop trafficking and forced labour.
I also urge the member countries of the UN that we cannot ignore abolition of child slavery in the SDGs,” Satyarthi said, speaking at the 104th session of the International Labour Convention (ILC).
“Child labour is decreasing but child trafficking and child slavery is not decreasing and have remained stagnant at 5.5 million children still working as forced labourers,” the child rights campaigner and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate said.
He said there are still 168 million child labourers, more than half in dangerous forms of work, including as child soldiers and child prostitutes.
International Day Against Child Labour 2015, a United Nations observance to bring awareness against child labour is being commemorated on Friday, 12 June.
The theme of this year’s day against child labour is “NO to child labour – YES to quality education!”
