The safety of children working as domestic help must also be ensured and strict laws must be implemented
KARACHI: For decades, international consensus has acknowledged that no child under the age of 18 should be forced to work. Yet, child labour continues to take its toll on the physical and psychological health of children across the world. According to a report published by the UN, approximately 73 million children between the ages of 5 and 17 are subjected to hazardous work while almost half of them are bonded or forced to work as labourers. Most of these children are employed in the agriculture sector.
In Pakistan, a country that reeks of corruption and abuse, child labour on farms and fields has increased manifold due to climate-induced disasters in the recent years. No one seems to care that thousands of children are exposed to toxic substances while working on agricultural fields for excruciatingly long hours, which in turn causes severe physical and mental deficiencies. Not only has their youth been stripped from them but their later years are spend coping with complicated diseases and illnesses that they develop because of such abuse. Fighting child labour requires the collective effort of the government, cooperate sector and all different stakeholders across the world. The Sustainable Development Goals adopted in 2015 also calls for a global commitment to end child labour.
Companies must refuse to hire children below the minimum age and serious measures should be taken to guarantee that no child is susceptible to dangerous chemicals or work that causes physical stress. The countries where the current national legislation allows for children between the ages of 13 and 15 to work, must reduce their working hours and ensure that children attend school while working part-time. They must also consider increasing the minimum age for children to work. The safety of children working as domestic help must also be ensured and strict laws must be implemented to completely eradicate exploitation and child abuse around the world.
Nayab Iqbal
Published in The Express Tribune, June 13th, 2020.
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