KARACHI: Child rights and civil society activists at a consultation on Saturday underscored the need for eliminating child domestic labour saying that it exploited child workers and harmed their development.
The rights activists were speaking at the consultation organised by the National Commission on the Rights of Child (NCRC) at its Karachi office. The meeting also illuminated the gap in the implementation of the Sindh Child Marriage Restraint Act ascribing it to poor awareness among communities, inadequate legal enforcement and insufficient documentation.
NCRC Chairperson Ayesha Raza Farooq said in her remarks that the commission’s key responsibilities included conducting investigations into allegations of child rights abuses, evaluating existing and proposed legislation through a child rights lens, conducting research and providing advisory input on policy matters related to child rights in Pakistan.
The NCRC had proactively proposed amendments to the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) to criminalise child domestic labour, she added.
Pirbhu Satyani, a member of the NCRC representing Sindh, said the commission had in partnership with Unicef conducted a knowledge attitude and practices (KAP) survey focusing on child marriages, child labour and violent discipline.
The survey’s findings had revealed very depressing results, the child rights activist said. He pointed out that over 12.5 million children were currently involved in labour in Pakistan, 72 per cent of whom operated in formal sectors. Shockingly, he added, 20 to 22 per cent of these children had experienced various forms of abuse and exploitation.
