MAJYD AZIZ

Member Managing Committee, Employers’ Federation of Pakistan

Former Chairman, SITE Association of Industry, Karachi

Child Labor has been a part of the world scene for centuries. Children have been working in industries and enterprises, in shops and stores, on farms and plantations, in domestic homes and habitats, on roads and streets, and in restaurants and hotels. There are children who have been inducted into apprenticeships to learn the trade of their forefathers and to keep the family tradition alive. They have also been forced to work long hours making bricks in intense heat, straining to make paltry bits of money to pay off the loans taken by their elders. These children have also been compelled to turn to begging either by their parents or, in most cases, by those who are their tormentors in more ways than one. Worse of all, there are children who have been coerced into slavery and into blatant prostitution.

Child Labor is defined in the International Labor Organization’s Convention 138 on Minimum Age for Employment as follows:

Child Labor is estimated by ILO to be between 200-250 million with nearly a 95% concentration in the developing nations. ILO also accepts the fact that Child Labor is prevalent in many forms and that it can be abolished only in so far as societies are able, out of their own advantage, discretion, self-respect, and feeling, to recognize and act on the need to protect their children. ILO contends that Child Labor is still a widespread and perhaps growing phenomenon in much of the world today. Ever since its inception, ILO has been concerned with the abolition of Child Labor and more generally the protection of children against work in conditions that are unsuitable to their age and physical state.

Child Labor is pervasive in Pakistan too. Over the past many years the issue had been shrouded in secret and was seldom brought into the fore. However, when a worldwide campaign against Child Labor, spruced up by the introduction of the Child Labor Deterrence Act of 1993 in the US Senate, picked up momentum, Pakistan was caught in the tornado of accusations and condemnations. As the campaign became more intense, the government became more adamant in trying to prove to the world that Child Labor was not present in the country. The ensuing result was counter-productive for the nation and the focus of international eyes was squarely on Pakistan.

Those who harbored no goodwill for the country prominently flashed Child Labor in Pakistan on the global scene. These forces got considerable support from a plethora of NGOs and human rights organizations working in different facets in the length and breadth of the country. Pakistan was under direct attack not only from external sectors, but more ominously from organizations based inside the country. These NGOs came up with outlandish figures of Child Labor, and these illusionary statistics became the basis for international organizations and anti-Pakistan elements to continue their tirade against Pakistan. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan and some NGOs pronounced very recklessly that there were over 20 million working children in the country. These were arbitrarily determined figures and no known scientific methods were used to come up with this incredulous number. The government as usual downplayed the issue thus giving credence to this widely quoted figure.

Child Labor in Pakistan got more prominence after the murder of a bonded labor activist, Iqbal Masih, in 1994. Ehsanullah Khan, Chief of the Bonded Labor Liberation Front exploited this senseless killing and took sinister advantage of the sympathy generated for Iqbal Masih in Sweden and other European countries. He bilked NGOs in these countries out of millions of dollars, ostensibly to build schools in memory of Iqbal Masih and to release bonded children from the captivity of brick kiln owners. This campaign hurt Pakistan’s image very negatively, until the authorities confirmed that a deranged villager killed him. The publication of the findings forced Ehsanullah Khan to flee the country and live in exile in Europe. This killing affected the exports of carpets from Pakistan and there were demands for the introduction of social labeling on carpets produced in Pakistan. The campaign to introduce the "Rugmark" label, denoting Child Labor-free carpet manufacturing gathered momentum. Recently, this label was officially introduced on carpets made in Pakistan, and it is hoped that there will be a commensurate increase in carpet exports.

Child Labor is also prominently utilized in the stitching of soccer balls in Sialkot. There has been a concerted propaganda in the western countries against the soccer balls produced in Pakistan. Vivid pictures of small children sewing these footballs have been telecast all over the western airwaves and the outcome has been very dire for the Pakistan sports goods industry. Pakistan produces 75% of the world’s billion-dollar soccer ball market. The negative campaign would have destroyed the industry, and more precariously, the substantial orders expected from the World Cup to be held in France in June 1998. However, the enlightened sports goods manufacturers took the initiative and signed a historic partners’ agreement in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, to eliminate Child Labor in the soccer ball industry. This agreement paves the way for the gradual elimination of Child labor and at the same time provides for a transparent and effective monitoring system to check violations of the agreement. Fortunately, Pakistany soccer balls will be extensively used in the World Cup matches too.

Child Labor is also a matter of concern in cottage industries and in the informal small-scale concerns. These industries use children to do either light work or unskilled tasks. However, there have been documented cases of a large number of children working on hazardous jobs without proper and safe methods of protection. There is Child Labor in apparel and footwear industries, and the main reason being that the children are generally paid lower wages and can be ordered to work longer hours without added overtime incentives.

The intensification of the Child Labor campaign and the barrage of negative and hostile publicity paid dividends, and the government finally awoke from its ostrich-like position and began to make frantic efforts to shed the accusations. In 1996, in close cooperation with ILO, the government authorized the Federal Bureau of Statistics and the Ministry of Labor, Manpower, and Overseas Pakistanys to undertake a Child Labor Survey to determine the quantum of Child Labor in Pakistan. This was the first scientific survey undertaken to find out the Child Labor situation.

The Survey had the following objectives:

1. To collect information on the dimensions of working children by age, sex, location, occupation and industry.
2. To collect information on the working conditions of the children, i.e. hours worked, wages received, and terms of employment as well as on the safety and health aspects of the workplace.
3. To collect data on the socio-economic characteristics of the children and their families.

It was observed that the data generated from the Survey could be utilized in:

• Establishing targets, formulating and implementing intervention programs.
• Monitoring the effectiveness of policies, regulations, and programs aimed at the eventual elimination of Child Labor.
• Mobilizing support to generate public concern and interest on the issue of Child Labor.
• Formulating and/or amending legislation to protect the health and well being of children.
• Designing information materials directed to parents and children who are not aware of hazardous conditions of work environment.

The Child Labor Survey concentrated on "Currently Active Population" between the ages of 5 to 14 years. This comprises all persons five years of age and above who fulfil the requirements for inclusion among employed or unemployed during the short reference period, i.e., one week preceding the date of interview. The Survey was undertaken in all the four provinces but the Military Restricted Areas and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) which comprise just 3% of the population were excluded.

The Child Labor Survey was conducted in Karachi, Lahore, Faisalabad, Rawalpindi, Hyderabad, Peshawar, Multan, Quetta, Islamabad, Sargodha, and Sialkot, as these urban areas are large size cities with substantial lower and middle-income groups within their periphery. Child Labor is more prevalent in these income groups. Each city/town of urban domain was divided into small areas called Enumeration Blocks. Such Enumeration Blocks consisted of 200-250 households and these Blocks were treated as Primary Sampling Units. In rural areas of Punjab, Sindh, and NWFP, each administrative district was treated as an independent stratum, while in Balochistan, the administrative division was considered as a stratum. In the case of rural areas, the villages were classified as Primary Sampling Units.

The Child Labor Survey covered 1,865 Sample PSUs and within these, clusters of 75 households were formed which were treated as Secondary Sampling Units. In this way, 140,298 households were listed. Then all those households having atleast one economically active child between the age group 5-14 were enumerated. Based on this sample design, it was determined that at the national level, the number of economically active children between the ages of 5-14 is 2,657,539. At the 95% level of confidence, the true value of the number of economically active children between age 5-14 as on January 1996 was within the interval of 2,975,921 to 3,672,884. The Child Labor Survey estimated that as on January 01, 1996, there were 40 million children aged 5-14 years old which was nearly 30% of the population. 28.7 million or 72% children dwell in rural areas.

The Child Labor Survey came up with a figure of about 3.3 million children working in different sectors. According to it, 2.4 million or 73% are boys and 0.9 million or 27% are girls. The provincial distribution indicates that the volume of Child Labor in Punjab is 1.9 million or about 60% of the total Child Labor in Pakistan. The Survey further showed that about 71% of the employed children worked in elementary or unskilled occupations in the fields of agriculture, sales and services, manufacturing and transport sectors, where the emphasis was on farm related activity. 19% were involved in craft and other related activities. Employment status by broad categories point out that about 70% of the children worked as unpaid family helpers, followed by 23% as employees while 7% of them were self-employed. Significant urban-rural differentials were observed in the employment status. In rural areas, 75% of children work as unpaid family helpers while in urban areas, the figure is less than one-third. The Survey further indicates that 46% of the children worked more than the normal 35 hours per week with some being on the job for 56 hours or more.

The Child Labor Survey summarized the most cogent reasons given by the parents/guardians for letting children work. The major reason given by 54% was to assist in household enterprises, while 27% said that the children worked to supplement the family income. The Survey moreover revealed that 39% of the working children are members of families that have an income within the range of Rs 2501 to Rs 4000 per month, followed by 31% in the income group from Rs 1501 to 2500, 21% in income group from Rs 4001 and above, while the remaining 09% in income group of less than Rs 1500.

The Child Labor Survey is so far the more authentic survey initiated to determine the Child Labor multitude. However, it must be noted that inspite of the scientific approach undertaken by the FBS, there is surely more Child Labor than what has been indicated in the Survey. It can be safely assumed that there could be a maximum of 4 million Child Labor in Pakistan which is still a far cry from the 20 million dreamt up by those organizations who depend on foreign and domestic funds for their very existence. It is to the credit of ILO office in Pakistan who not only convinced the government to go for a survey but also was successful in getting it planned, implemented, and completed.

Children under 15 years of age are at a very crucial level of development. The emphasis on children during this period should be on education and knowledge, on nutrition and nourishment, on love and discipline, on healthy sports activities and recreational opportunities, and on guidance to socio-cultural and intellectual orientation. However, those children who are committed to working long hours, whether they stay at home or are away from the family environs, are deprived of this chance of human development.

Children under 15 years of age often work in environments that are really not child-specific and thus they are exposed to hazards and risks to their health, safety, and mental well-being. There are many areas which are considered hazardous to children and which need to be addressed. These children have to work long hours to earn the required amount or to fulfil their own or their parents’ commitments to the job-providers. This recourse to long working hours is a manifestation of the callous attitude of those who are exploiting the availability and docility of the children. These long and tiresome hours leave little or no time for the children to divert their energies to recreation, education, or social activities. The children are fine-tuned to working for longer periods and this results in loss of concentration and even to reduction in their productivity. More dangerously, these children, being exposed to adult surroundings, lose their rapport with children of their age and thus find themselves on a different plateau. This complicates matters for them and they are stranded between children of their own age group and the adults. This takes a very heavy toll psychologically and affects their mental development.

Children under 15 years of age are often subjected to moving and carrying heavy loads far more heavy than what their physique allows. Those who work on farms carry produce or tools and implements that are heavy and at times rusted. Children working in the construction industry tote bricks and carry cement buckets often traversing on uneven passageways or up the stairs. There are documented and reported cases of children sewing soccer balls, with exertion, sweat, and blisters as proof of their toil. One factor that has been very detrimental to the children has been the repetitive mode of work and that the monotony of the tasks coupled with the hazardous environment has led to constant muscle pain and mental stress, a trait normally familiar to adults. The result could be permanent physical and mental disabilities.

Children under 15 years of age are also subjected to either being exposed to dangerous equipment or even operating and working with them. The sewing needles for soccer balls, sharp knives or cutting implements for cloth and leather, glue and adhesives for toys and shoes, pesticides and fertilizers on agricultural lands, and chemicals and toxic materials in match factories, paint units, small dye-houses, etc. are hazardous for children. These may create concern for the children by attacking their skins, causing respiratory difficulties, affecting brain function by causing disorientation, disorder, and disturbance. The environment in many workplaces also causes health problems. There is invariably a severe lack of sanitation facilities in many of these units, there are no proper eating areas, there is a general need for cleanliness and removal of dirt, dust and grime, while there are no proper facilities to provide safety gears such as face-masks, gloves, and rubber shoes to protect the children.

Children under 15 years of age are also predominant on the streets. Recently, there has been a heavy influx of children hawking newspapers on the busy roads and streets. The cause of this is the appearance of Urdu eveningers and the apparent heavy competition among the rival newspapers which has led to an upsurge in children assisting their elders in selling more and more newspapers. The indifferent attitude in this respect by the newspaper owners is alarming and a sad demonstration of the apathy prevailing in the high offices of the media moguls. The children rush towards the prospective buyers unmindful of the incoming and impatient traffic, and they seem to be pretty oblivious of the weather, the pollution, and their nourishment. The urge to impress their elders by peddling more and more newspapers is pathetic and disconcerting. There are also many boys and girls selling petty things to drivers or pedestrians, or providing casual services at shopping centers or busy streets such as minding and polishing the cars, giving shoe shines, carrying packages for the buyers, collecting things thrown away, etc. There are many children involved in scavenging garbage bins and rubbish heaps for recyclable or reusable junk. At times, the children seem to be happy and enjoying their work, but under the façade these are forced ways to suppress discomfiture or distress.

Children under 15 years of age are also brutally abused by the mendicants and purveyors of sexploitation. The children have always been used to beg for alms and food for decades. They have been presented as physically impaired to garner favorable sympathy and induce people to open up their wallets. They have been let loose on the streets in disheveled condition, in rags and tatters, in unclean state, and with a morose and dolorous projection on their face. The worst scenario is the exploitation of infants and babies, as "tools of trade" as this approach is a sure way to get more charity from the unsuspecting donor. The other aspect of exploitation is child prostitution. There are reports galore of use of young boys for sexual pleasure by demented minds. These boys are generally kidnapped or sold for this very purpose. There is a heavy usage of this trade in places where there is an abundance of migrant workers and in areas where flesh trade is prominent. These children are resigned to learning to give, receive, and live with this abuse of body, with this flagrant exploitation of conscience and mind, with this intimidation to hold on to their "livelihood" and employment. The pedophiles in Pakistan are aplenty and there is obviously a perverse "market" for the services of young boys and even girls here.

Child Labor in Pakistan has now reached a stage where the government is also getting involved to effect the elimination of this issue. The government has set up a task force under the chairmanship of the Federal Labor Minister to take appropriate action to tackle this matter. The welcome and reception given on the official level to the participants of the Global March against Child Labor in May 1998 are also positive signs and display the concern of the government at the higher echelons. However, the government is still not that enthusiastic about this issue as it has been taking lenient approaches in prosecuting employers who willingly use children as workers. The government is still non-serious in providing universal education for these children and at the same time instituting a program to supplement the loss in income of families that depend on their children for bringing in extra money for the households. The government is still lukewarm about countering the negative publicity in world media and forums regarding the Child Labor situation in Pakistan. However, the government has taken the pragmatic step of conducting the first Child Labor Survey, for signing a Memorandum of Understanding on Child Labor with ILO, and for ratification of ILO Convention 138.

Child Labor in Pakistan has thus become more of a concern for NGOs and for employers and workers organizations. The ILO has been playing an effective role in sponsoring activities under its International Programme for the Elimination of Child Labor (IPEC). Apart from the Child Labor Survey, IPEC has selected and approved the following programmes by employers’ organizations on Child Labor:

• Network of employers for protection of working children. Implemented by Employers’ Federation of Pakistan.
• PCMEA/BLCC programme of training and education for carpet weaving children (TECC). Implemented by Pakistan Carpet Manufacturers and Exporters Association.
• Programme of Employers’ Federation of Pakistan for protection of working children. Implemented by Employers’ Federation of Pakistan.
• Printing of translations on national and international instruments on Child Labor. Implemented by Employers’ Federation of Pakistan.
• Education and training center for carpet weaving children. Implemented by Pakistan Carpet Manufacturers and Exporters Association.

Child Labor in Pakistan has been a special concern for the Employers’ Federation of Pakistan and it is to the credit of this organization that it has taken a lead among employers in this respect. The EFP, under the dynamic leadership of its President, Mr. Ashraf W. Tabani, has been instrumental in projecting the concerns and the views of the employers on this burning issue. It has set up a special Child Labor Cell that deals exclusively with the issue. Moreover, atleast two members of the Managing Committee, besides the President, Vice President, and the Secretary-General, are involved with the issue of Child Labor. The EFP has held over 14 seminars all over the country and has been instrumental in mobilizing employers, unions, working children, social workers, journalists, and the government. It has also come out with a Newsletter on Child Labor which itself is a very practical and sincere step.

Child Labor in Pakistan is also being subjected to the attention of those who call for social labeling or introducing code of conducts. A recent example is the affixation of the "Rugmark" label on carpets. There has been a very concerted campaign in USA and in Western Europe over this issue and the cooperation of Pakistan Carpet Manufacturers and Exporters Association in this regard should be lauded. The main objective of the "Rugmark" label is to initiate effective steps toward the abolition of Child Labor in the carpet industry in South Asia. The initiative is expected to expand to other regions of the world where children are used to produce carpets. The carpet manufacturers who want to join the trademark initiative and become certified must:

• Produce carpets without any Child Labor involved.
• Pay at least the minimum wages fixed by the government to their employees.
• Agree to allow access to their looms for unannounced inspections.

The "Rugmark" scheme entails the self-imposition of a surcharge by the importers of carpets. This amount will be earmarked for the rehabilitation and the education of former child workers. Moreover, consumers can have the confidence that the carpets they are buying are made without Child Labor. The beautiful thing about "Rugmark" is that no other labels, pledges, or assurances provide the same level of integrity and accountability, upon which consumers may have confidence that the product is indeed free of Child Labor. It is understood that although the focus of "Rugmark" is presently on carpets, this will be expanded later to include apparel, footwear, and other consumer products.

Child Labor in Pakistan also faces the threat of the Child Labor Deterrence Act introduced jointly by Senator Tom Harkin and Congressman George Brown. This Bill has been re-introduced again, this time by Senator Tom Harkin and Congressman Bernard Sanders, and is also known as the Harkin-Sanders Bill. This Bill directs the U.S. Secretary of Labor to compile and maintain a list of foreign industries and their respective host countries that use children under 15 in the fabrication, assembly, processing, or extraction of products for export. It prescribes three tests for determining the foreign industry in which foreign country goes on the list:

• Whether they comply with the applicable national laws prohibiting Child Labor in the workplace.
• Whether they utilize Child labor in the export of products.
• Whether they have on a continuing basis exported products of Child Labor to the U.S.

This Child Labor Deterrence Act was introduced on March 18, 1993 although Senator Tom Harkin had introduced an identical Bill in August 1992. On September 23, 1993, Senator Harkin presented an amendment, which was a sense-of-the-Senate resolution. According to the Congressional Record, he made a one-paragraph mention of bonded Child Labor in Pakistan. In November 1993, I had a meeting with the Legislative Assistant of Senator Tom Harkin in his office in Washington D.C. He had just taken over the job after his predecessor, Mr. Jim Sweeney, the actual author of the Bill, died in August in a car accident. I impressed upon him the fact that there was an imperative need to hold a dialog with those countries that may suffer due to the implementation of the Bill. He was very frank and stated that he had not yet studied the Bill in detail and it would be some time before this was passed by Congress. Moreover, in October 1993, I discussed this Bill with Senator Thomas Cochran and Senator Hank Brown in Karachi and they too were vague about the passage of the Bill in the near future. They too had reservations about the contents of the Bill and did express it very diplomatically.

Child Labor in Pakistan has also become a captive of many NGOs and that there are cases where the activities of some NGOs leave much to be desired. There has been excessive propaganda on Child Labor which has been detrimental to the very economy of the country and which has led to decrease in exports of products such as carpets. The export figures up to March 1998 are a worrisome US$ 6.4 billion, leaving a gap of US$ 3.1 billion to be covered in the April-June quarter, a gargantuan feat to perform. Some of the NGOs have a truly altruistic motive in rehabilitating and educating children and these have to be commended. However, the mindset of some of these activists should be open to question and they should be made aware of the negative aspects of their mission. This mild condemnation is in no way an endorsement of Child Labor in Pakistan or that there should be cause for exploiting the children. On the contrary, the fact of the matter is that progressive employers in the organized sector are more concerned with a sincere and workable program to eliminate Child Labor and to abolish this scourge as soon as possible. It must, however, be underlined that the issue cannot be done away with overnight and that the employers, employees, government, social activists, and the news media can jointly work on a pragmatic and realistic agenda to achieve the objectives.

Child Labor in Pakistan can be gradually eliminated once there are opportunities for providing affordable and worthwhile education. Despite the efforts of the government, more than half of girls and one third of boys in the age group of 5-10 years are not enrolled in primary schools. Over 35,000 primary schools are either ghost schools or are without proper infrastructure. The private sector’s and the NGOs’ contribution in the field of education has remained inadequate. There is a severe dearth of well-trained teachers who are sincere to their profession. In fact, it is estimated that within the next five years, about 200,000 additional primary school teachers, 30,000 middle school teachers, and 35,000 high school teachers will be required. The present training capacity is woefully insufficient to graduate and train teachers. This sad scenario is and will be a major deterrent in inducing parents and guardians to send children to school. Moreover, there is also a greater need to set up vocational training institutes to impart training to the school leavers. The parents generally desire their children to become skilled at their jobs. A national manpower training initiative is imperative for meeting the aspirations of parents and employers so that the future output is beneficial to them and to the nation.

There are commendable initiatives taken by employers or by trade associations to address this issue. One case in point is a five-dimensional program launched by a Danish firm, Select Sports, and a Sialkot sports goods manufacturer, Anwar Khawaja Industries, to provide education and health facilities to members of families engaged in soccer balls stitching work in which no Child Labor is involved. The program envisages five phases. The first is providing financial subsidy of Rs 1000 in two installments to the parents of school going children for uniforms, books, and fees to ensure that the children do not become dropouts. The second program is to provide informal education to children in the age group 8-14 who have had no prior schooling. Under the third program, further informal education is provided to dropouts under the age of 14, while the fourth program concerns adult literacy from age 14 and above. Under the fifth program, vocational technical training center for young people is being established. This is a very worthy action and should be emulated by other industries, especially those in Sialkot to begin with.

The other commendable initiative is the Partners’ Agreement To Eliminate Child Labor In The Soccer Industry In Pakistan signed in Atlanta, Georgia on February 14, 1997 between ILO, UNICEF, Save the Children Fund (UK), World Federation of the Sporting Goods industry, Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association, Soccer Industry Council of America, and Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The goals of the Agreement are:

• To assist manufacturers seeking to prevent children under 14 from participating in the manufacture or assembly of soccer balls in Sialkot District and its environs.
• To identify and remove children from the conditions of Child Labor in the manufacture or assembly of soccer balls and provide them with educational and other opportunities.
• To facilitate changes in community and family attitudes on the acceptability of Child Labor in the industry.

There are two programs to implement these goals. The Prevention and Monitoring program is a voluntary program open to all manufacturers of soccer balls who agree to abide by its terms. These include a commitment to prevent the practice of stitching by children less than 14 years within 18 months, by requiring formal registration of:

• All contractors responsible for overseeing stitching on behalf of manufacturers.
• All stitching locations, so that they are clearly identifiable and open to unannounced inspection.
• All stitchers, including documentation verifying that they are over 14 years old.

The Social Protection program has been created to ensure that the elimination of Child Labor in the soccer ball industry does not create new dangers to the affected children or their families. One element of the program will target children removed from work in the soccer industry. It seeks to provide them with educational opportunities that were previously unavailable to them, for example, by offering rehabilitation, traditional education, or in-kind assistance. The second element of the program will provide families, whose children have been removed from work, with alternative means to make up for lost income, whether by providing micro-credit loans or by employing family members who are not children. This Agreement has been widely hailed and is considered to be a trailblazer in the campaign towards total elimination of Child Labor not only from the soccer ball industry, but more importantly, as a guideline towards setting up programs to eliminate Child Labor in other industries like apparel, footwear, etc.

Child Labor in Pakistan has been accepted as a grave national issue, has been discussed and debated, and has been programmed to be gradually eliminated. Here it is pertinent to end this paper first of all with the remarks made by former Director-General of the ILO, Mr. Francis Blanchard, who in June 1983 wrote: "The elimination of Child Labor and the progressive raising of the minimum age for admission to employment must be regarded as objectives to be attained gradually and as an integral part of a process of development designed to overcome the scourges of unemployment and destitution. Formal measures alone will not work; if applied in isolation from overall measures to improve the economic and social context, and especially in the absence of alternatives to work, they may be harmful. Child Labor is embedded in poverty and it is thru sustained increase in standards of living that it will be abolished . . . . . . Every effort must be made at the national and international level to persuade and assist governments to adopt and enforce labor laws that can protect children at least from the worst forms of exploitation and dangerous working conditions . . . . . To dismiss in a cavalier way, as some do, the potential role of child protective laws, or to invoke the pretext of poverty and underdevelopment for the continued transgression of universally accepted values is to accept the perpetuation of universally condemned abuses."

The Amsterdam Declaration on the Elimination of the Most Intolerable Forms of Child Labor issued at the Amsterdam Child Labor Conference on February 26-27, 1997, targeted at:

• The immediate removal of children from the most intolerable forms of Child Labor as well as their rehabilitation and the provision of adequate alternatives to the children and their families.
• The prevention of Child Labor thru the provision of access to quality education for all, and to an adequate social infrastructure including systems for the provision of health care, social protection for families, and enhanced opportunities for adult employment.
• Changing the attitude of the general public thru awareness raising on the rights of children in order to make Child Labor socially unacceptable.

The Child Labor Coalition formed in November 1989 in Washington D.C. has laid down the following objectives and these should also form the guideline for those concerned with Child Labor in Pakistan:

• To influence public policy on Child Labor issues thru an understanding of the impact of work on children’s health, the quality of their lives, and their ability to produce effectively in jobs as adults, as well as increase recognition of how Child Labor exploitation reinforces and promotes poverty, adult unemployment, poor living standards, low literacy rates, and lax enforcement of labor regulations.
• To work for strengthened protections, safeguarding youth from excessive, inappropriate, and hazardous Child Labor.
• To advocate for enforcement of Child Labor laws and regulations, including devising and encouraging innovative ways to ensure employer compliance.
• To educate the public, business, and governments, to broaden awareness and understanding about the nature of Child Labor exploitation in the United States and other countries, and how it differs from legitimate and positive youth employment. To urge the Congress of the United States to act quickly to secure the rights and provisions of all the ILO and United Nations Conventions that affect Child Labor.