Faisalabad: June 20, 2015. (PCP) The government must establish independent and autonomous national commission on child rights to protect children from all forms of neglect, abuse and exploitation. The government must strengthen the system to inspect and curb child labour, and put in place an enforcement mechanism that bans the employment of children under the age of 14 and regulate employment age from 14 to 16 years in line with the article 25-A of the constitution. These demands were made by the participants of a Protest Demonstration entitled “No to child labour. Yes to Quality Education” under “Red Card to Child Labour Campaign” held in front of Faisalabad Press Club on 11 June 2015 to mark World Day against Child Labour. The demonstration was staged by the Peace and Human Development (PHD Foundation), Adara Samaji Behbood (ASB), and Peace for Nation International (PNI). The demonstration was joined by children, youth and adults hailing from different communities. They exhibited banners, placards and red cards to oppose child labour, and enchanted slogans against harms of child labour, and urged the government to take tangible steps to protect child rights. Speaking on this occasion, the director of the PHD Foundation, Suneel Malik said, “The red card is used as a symbol by ILO to raise awareness in preventing, challenging and eliminating child labour, and gives a voice to those children who are employed in a number of jobs as domestic workers, factory workers, brick-kiln workers, beggars, waiters at restaurants and mechanics at workshops.” “Pakistan’s laws do not conform to its treaty obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which it is a signatory. Therefore, government must undertake effective legislative and administrative initiatives to address the growing prevalence of child labour in the country, and eradicate all forms of violence against children through creating awareness of applicable laws, improved access to justice and fair investigation procedures, and increasing awareness sessions among parents and children for safety and protection from child sexual abuse,” he added. The chairman of the PNI, Hashmat Barkat said, “The main impediment in the plight against child labor in Pakistan lies in the fact that there are no official national statistics on underage employment in the country. Therefore, the government must conduct comprehensive survey to assess the extent of child labour including; bonded and forced labour, and to ascertain the number of street children in Pakistan. Once this information is at hand, then the government must strengthen its efforts to formulate and implement more informed and effective policies and legislation to eliminate child labour by addressing the root causes of economic exploitation through poverty eradication and education.” “Special schemes need to be introduced to ensure that street children and children with disabilities are protected and have access to basic amenities and services,” he added. A human rights activist, Naseem Anthony said, “Child labour will not come to an end unless awareness is increased and poverty is decreased, and goal of compulsory universal primary education is achieved. Child labour will end when guardians and employers of children are brought to trial, if they hire them, and when it becomes shameful for adults to engage underage children for labour.” “The Juvenile Justice System Ordinance 2002 must be amended to allow for the creation of special courts for minors, and assess other means to strengthen the Juvenile Justice System,” he added. A member of the Punjab Commission on the Status of Women (PCSW), Shazia George said, “Domestic child labour is difficult to ascertain because of its highly informal or hidden nature. The labour inspectors are unable to monitor households where the underage employees may be subjected to physical violence, long working hours, hazardous work environments, low-quality food and accommodation. Therefore, government must put an immediate ban on domestic child labour through including it in the list of hazardous occupations provided under the Employment of Child Act.” A social activist, Zafar Iqbal said, “Despite legislation prohibiting slavery and all forms of forced & bonded labour, the bonded and forced labour continue to occur in many industries and the informal sector due to weak implementation and enforcement of laws affecting the poorest and most vulnerable children.” “The excuses given to justify child labour, such as poverty and unemployment are weak. The real causes are lack of will, concern, commitment and sincerity on the part of the authorities to protect children from exploitation,” he added. The president of the ASB, Irshad Parkash said, “ILO believes 12 million children are employed in Pakistan at the moment, UNICEF estimates the figure at 10 million and the Child Rights Movement maintains 9.86 million child labourers exist in the country. Pakistan has the second largest out-of-school population in the world with 7.3 million children of primary age not attending any school.” “It is the prime obligation of the state and duty bearers to ensure implementation of the Article 25-A of the constitution of Pakistan regarding the right to free and compulsory education for all children between the ages of 5 and 16 years.” A human rights activist, Shafiq Sharif said, “The government must ensure that the larger share of the budget allocated to education is spent as envisaged and accounted for. Measures must also be taken to criminalize corporal punishment, a major factor in children dropping out from school.” “The government must establish literacy centres in all districts to facilitate enrolment of children most prone to worst forms of child labour, and provide them with free education, clothing, footwear and stipend as well as subsistence allowance to their parents,” he added.