Child rehab centres to be set up across K-P
K-P Prohibition of Employment of Children Act-2015 has been enacted to ensure children's rights
PHOTO: EXPRESS
PESHAWAR:
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Minerals Development and Labour Anisa Zeb Tahirkheli has said the provincial government has taken legislative as well as administrative measures to safeguard the future of children.
Due to severe poverty, natural calamities, a weak industrial base and effects of war on terrorism, K-P now has the highest number of child labour cases.
Addressing the opening ceremony of a three-day consultative preliminary workshop on a K-P Child Labour Survey, the minister said: “The government has shown its commitment to address the problem through a number of ways.”
Rights of child: ‘Allocate funds to end exploitation of children’
“The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Prohibition of Employment of Children Act-2015 has been enacted and dedicated inspection staff from the labour department has also been introduced for the first time in the country,” said Tahirkheli while highlighting the measure the provincial government has taken in this regard.
Giving the example of Zamong Kor, Zeb said the initiative of rehabilitation centres like this will also be extended to other districts of the province.
The last survey on child labour in the province, as pointed out by Zeb, was conducted in the province in 1996 and the proposed survey is the first after devolution of the subject following the 18th Constitutional Amendment.
As per the previous survey, over 1.058 million children, i.e., 16 per cent, falling in the age bracket of five to 14 years were engaged in economic activity.
This is the highest rate for child labour in all four provinces.
Zeb said the situation had deteriorated due to severity of poverty, effects of terrorism, the war in Afghanistan spilling over into Fata and lack of opportunities.
Rights of child: ‘Allocate funds to end exploitation of children’
The minister hoped the survey would provide a strong foundation for the formulation of an evidence-based policy that will help eradicate child labour altogether.
Representatives of UNICEF, ILO, NRSP, the labour department and Planning & Development departments, both from K-P and Gilgit-Baltistan, academics from universities of Mannheim (Germany) and Peshawar participating in the workshop.
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Minerals Development and Labour Anisa Zeb Tahirkheli has said the provincial government has taken legislative as well as administrative measures to safeguard the future of children.
Due to severe poverty, natural calamities, a weak industrial base and effects of war on terrorism, K-P now has the highest number of child labour cases.
Addressing the opening ceremony of a three-day consultative preliminary workshop on a K-P Child Labour Survey, the minister said: “The government has shown its commitment to address the problem through a number of ways.”
Rights of child: ‘Allocate funds to end exploitation of children’
“The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Prohibition of Employment of Children Act-2015 has been enacted and dedicated inspection staff from the labour department has also been introduced for the first time in the country,” said Tahirkheli while highlighting the measure the provincial government has taken in this regard.
Giving the example of Zamong Kor, Zeb said the initiative of rehabilitation centres like this will also be extended to other districts of the province.
The last survey on child labour in the province, as pointed out by Zeb, was conducted in the province in 1996 and the proposed survey is the first after devolution of the subject following the 18th Constitutional Amendment.
As per the previous survey, over 1.058 million children, i.e., 16 per cent, falling in the age bracket of five to 14 years were engaged in economic activity.
This is the highest rate for child labour in all four provinces.
Zeb said the situation had deteriorated due to severity of poverty, effects of terrorism, the war in Afghanistan spilling over into Fata and lack of opportunities.
Rights of child: ‘Allocate funds to end exploitation of children’
The minister hoped the survey would provide a strong foundation for the formulation of an evidence-based policy that will help eradicate child labour altogether.
Representatives of UNICEF, ILO, NRSP, the labour department and Planning & Development departments, both from K-P and Gilgit-Baltistan, academics from universities of Mannheim (Germany) and Peshawar participating in the workshop.