KARACHI:
As of 2019, approximately 11 million children in Pakistan were involved in some form of agricultural or domestic work. The pandemic and floods have potentially raised the number to exponential levels. High levels of poverty coupled with a lack of social security and government support compel families to send their children to work. This in turn has raised the number of out-of-school children and contributed to high levels of illiteracy in the country.
The ever-increasing inflation will result in even more children entering the informal labour market. Even though there are several laws barring child labour, these are rarely implemented due to poor law enforcement and an overall disregard for human rights in the country. Employers claim that if they do not hire children, these children and their families will most likely die of hunger and deprivation.
Article 11.3 of the Constitution says, “No child below the age of fourteen years shall be engaged in any factory or mine or any other hazardous employment.” This shows that successive governments have failed to uphold the Constitution. However, the government needs to tackle the issue through a multi-faceted approach. It should work with provincial governments, NGOs, civil society, and other relevant organisations to provide free education and healthcare to children from low-income families. Families should be incentivised to not send their children to work, and employers must be directed to avoid hiring children under 16 years.
Habibullah Soomro
Tharparkar
Published in The Express Tribune, March 10th, 2023.
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