Pakistan International Peace & Human Rights Organization
Nindo Shaher District Badin Sindh Pakistan
INTRODUCTION
Child labour deprives a child of his/her rights as a human being and is therefore an offence. Today, children (under 15 years of age1) have their rights established in international law, which has been validated, by most of the countries. Child labour was one of the first and the most important issue addressed by the International community, resulting in the International Labour Organization's (ILO) 1919 minimum age convention2.
A recent ILO survey has indicated that 20 million children (5-14 years of age) living in the developing world's are employed in various work industries3. Mostly children are forced to work in the sense that they are taught to accept the conditions of their lives and not to challenge them. According to a recent study thousands of children in the carpet industry are "kidnapped" or lured to work or their parents force them to work for paltry sums of money they receive. In return they suffer from health related problems4,5.
Child labour is considered to be a problem mainly of the developing world6. In Pakistan, child labour has assumed an epidemic proportion. Human Rights commission of Pakistan last year estimated the number of Pakistani working children working to be around 11 to 12 million out of which 3.3 million children are on the pay roll7,8. The worldwide population of children under 14 years of age, who work full time, is thought to be over 200 million. The median age of children now entering the Pakistani work force is seven, and two years ago it was eight8. Two years from now it may be six. In lower middle class and poor families, children become laborers almost as soon as they can walk. In rural areas children are raised without health care facility, proper sanitation or education and are starved for parental affection as well. As soon as they are old enough to have an elementary understanding of their circumstances, they make their way to earn money, start sacrificing for their family and if necessary travel far from home and live with strangers8. Children are working in factories, in fields and on the streets. Most of the export industries have relocated to Pakistan because of the abundance of cheap child labour and our lax labour laws9,10.
The effect of child labor is reflected in the form that only 37 percent of Pakistan's 25 million school age children complete primary school11, while the world average is 79 percent and South Asian average is 50%. If the same rate continues then by the year 2000, less than a third of Pakistani children will attend school11.
Pakistan has a unique problem as it was targeted for defying child rights and its goods were not cleared for export as they were employing children on wages6. It has been seen in studies before that preventing children from working is likely to make the problems worse for children as well as their families12,13. Hence before making any major suggestions for the policy makers and developing a health and education plan for the children more research is needed to look into the root cause of child labour and its effect on the families and communities. This study was designed to look at the occupation, financial and health related factors faced by these children and their hopes and aspirations for their future.
WORKPLACE MONITRING
Workplace monitoring is a powerful tool for securing transparency and credibility in
child labour. However, workplace monitoring is neither a magic trick nor an allinclusive
method for guaranteeing the success in child labour.
The International Programme for the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) has used
workplace monitoring methods from 1996 onward in its full-fledged child labour projects.
PHILOSOPHY & GENERAL STRATGIES
Systematic efforts to ensure that workplaces and communities remain child labour
free means, first of all, that awareness-raising activities should not be limited to the children
and parents, but extended to all involved groups: employers, managers, adult workers,
community leaders, service providers and enforcement agencies. Second, monitoring
mechanisms need to be set up to ensure that the children who have been withdrawn from
work remain and complete school, and that new children do not enter work. This can be done
in schools or educational centres, in workplaces and in children's communities.
In any workplace monitoring programme, the active participation of the concerned
employers, manufacturers, contractors, subcontractors is critical, as the commitment to free
all manufacturing and production processes from child labour may call for a change in
established and traditional manufacturing and production practices. The involvement of the
concerned workers' representatives and local community groups, as well as the concerned
governmental agencies, is also critical.
The involvement of children in the production and manufacture of goods for export
has become a matter of international concern.
TOTAL NUMBER OF CHILDREN IN PAKISTAN(5-14), 1996
|
Age group
|
Both sexes(00)
|
Male(00)
|
Female(00)
|
sex Ratio
|
|
Pakistan
|
400437
|
206505
|
193932
|
106
|
|
5-9
|
216044
|
111864
|
104180
|
107
|
10-14
|
184393
|
94641
|
89725
|
105
|
|
LABOUR FORCE PARTICIPATION RATE OF CHILDREN IN PAKISTANT(5-14),1996
|
Age group
|
Both sexe
|
Male
|
Female
|
|
Pakistan
|
47.47
|
57.82
|
31.78
|
|
5-9
|
19.57
|
20.86
|
18.02
|
10-14
|
67.65
|
80.51
|
44.46
|
|
DISTRIBUTION OF WORKING CHILDREN(5-14) BY SEX & LEVEL OF EDUCATION,1996
|
Level of education
|
Both sexe
|
Male
|
Female
|
|
Pakistan
|
100.00
|
100.00
|
100.00
|
|
Illiterate
|
66.83
|
59.06
|
88.35
|
Literate
|
33.17
|
40.94
|
11.65
|
|
No Formal Education
|
0.62
|
0.68
|
0.46
|
|
Pre-matric
|
32.55
|
40.36
|
11.19
|
|
DISTRIBUTION OF CHILDREN(5-14) BY NUMBER OF HOURS WORKED DURING A WEEK,1996
|
No of Worked/week
|
Not worked
|
Less than 5 hours
|
5-9 hours
|
10-14 hours
|
15-24 hours
|
25-34 hours
|
35-41 hours
|
42-48 hours
|
50 hours or more
|
|
Pakistan
|
0.32
|
0.19
|
5.14
|
12.95
|
20.01
|
15.56
|
11.68
|
16.93
|
4.06
|
|
Male
|
0.35
|
0.20
|
5.35
|
11.16
|
19.52
|
22.93
|
11.94
|
19.82
|
4.80
|
Female
|
0.26
|
0.15
|
4.57
|
17.91
|
21.37
|
22.86
|
12.21
|
8.93
|
4.10
|
|
|
|
|
