Pakistan has yet to submit its Periodic Report in compliance with the United Nations Child Rights Committee (UNCRC) which is obligatory for all member states.
The report was due December 2012, and has to be submitted every two years.
Society for the Protection of the Rights of Child (SPARC)’s Child Labour Program National Manager Rashid Aziz said that Pakistan ratified the UNCRC in 1990 and is bound to report on the steps taken for securing children rights.
Further, he informed that around 40 cases of heinous crimes on child domestic labourers were reported after the issue was highlighted due to the death of Shazia, a teenage domestic worker who died on January 22, 2010.
“Recently, one domestic child labour abuse case was reported each from Lahore, Gujranwala and Sailkot in which two children were murdered and one lost her leg.
He added that the International Day Against Child Labour would be observed on June 12. This year it would focus on domestic child labour and the steps needed to counter the abuses children face due to this.
He stated that Pakistan had adopted the “Employment of Children Act” in 1991, and after the Article 25-A’s introduction “the Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2012′ was also passed, following which every child between the age of 5 and15 is constitutionally entitled to free education.
Rashid Aziz urged to ban child domestic labour to protect our future generation, adding, “India banned child domestic labour in 1996 and now it is imperative for us to focus on the issue and prepare a concrete strategy for eradicating this menace from the society”.
He further said these children lived slavish lives, with no fixed working hours, food deprivation and terrible living conditions.
He also pointed out that the “Child Protection Policy” which was presented in the cabinet in 2009 for approval was still pending, adding that almost 50 percent of our population consists of children below 18 years of age. Ignoring their rights would result in severe consequences, he maintained.