Disasters contribute to child labour: Minister

Sher Azam Wazir outlined the causes of child labour as being related to disaster.

PESHAWAR:

War in Afghanistan, the devastating 2005 earthquake and July 2010 floods all had their fallout on the country in general and on Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) in particular, said Sher Azam Wazir while outlining the causes of child labour.

The K-P Minister for Labour said on Wednesday that the government would take effective and result-oriented measures to end child labour and asked donor agencies and local non-governmental organisations to play their due role. Wazir said that the eradication of child labour was a big challenge for the provincial government due to a number of factors, both local and international.

Sher Azam Wazir said that Rs14 million have been earmarked in ADP for the eradication of child labour, besides setting up child protection centres for needy or orphaned children across the province. He said that laws have been enacted to end child labour in the province he believes they will play a pivotal role in addressing the issue.

The government is mulling over arranging media seminars on the issue to help raise awareness among the masses, he added. He said that child labour was a curse and the causes were poverty and unemployment.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 5^th, 2011.