National Assembly (NA) Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq has said that child labour is a huge impediment to children’s rights and a barrier to national development and prosperity.
He lamented that the children who enter the labour force end up being deprived of all amenities of life which could uplift them, their families and eventually the whole society out of poverty and hunger.
He was addressing an event observing the ‘World Day against Child Labour’ organised by the Federal Ombudsman. Federal Ombudsman Salman Farooqi also spoke at the occasion.
Highlighting the global severity of child labour, Sadiq said that 215 million children around the world, including Pakistan, were working and more than half of them were exposed to worst forms of child labour, including hazardous environments and slavery.
He apprised the audience regarding establishment of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Secretariat in the Parliament House and said that the parliament was functioning in accordance with international development agendas.
He said that in this regard, he constituted a ‘Parliamentary Task Force’ coordinating with all the provinces and administrative units to formulate a common strategy to deal with developmental challenges of such nature.
