Abstracts
Theme: Child Labor
Panel: Child Labor
 Issues Surrounding the Implementation of ILO Conventions 138 and 182 on Child Labor
Shyama Lilamani Wikramanayake Salgado*
The objective of this paper is to share first-hand experiences of the issues surrounding the implementation of ILO Conventions in relation to Child Labor with a view to exchanging information with countries in both similar and dissimilar working contexts, and provoking responses from expertise from multi-disciplines with a view to finding solutions surrounding these issues.
The sources include case studies, research and field experiences of implementing partners, as reflected in reports and in stakeholders’ consultations. ILO’s experience on the ground in supporting the implementation of Child Labor conventions within the SAARC countries supplement this paper.
The major expected findings would be the importance of the integration of child labor issues in policies to support implementation of international conventions that set standards for decent work. The paper also aims to oversee the implications of taking corporate social responsibility to supplement and complement the nationally-driven effort to eliminate child labor and its relationship to global positioning in a competitive market.
* Shyama Lilamani Wikramanayake Salgado has worked in development assistance work for over 25 years. She holds a Bachelors degree in Law and a Post-graduate in Women’s Studies. Presently, she is the National Program Manager of a project covering child domestic workers, child soldiers, trafficking, and the Tsunami responses. Ms. Salgado is a member of ILO Colombo’s focal team for Gender and the IPEC Project focal point for HIV/AIDS.
Bonded Child Labour in Pakistan
Shahbaz Bokhari*
Working children have become an integral part of Pakistan’s society. A child worker is considered another cheap and easily controlled worker in the labour market. While a few individuals may benefit from child labour, the long-term effects are negative for the national economy. This paper illustrates the mechanisms in domestic work and agriculture sectors that draw children into it and the constraints weighing on the children, and describe the characteristics of their condition. The paper identifies the different ways of work and places at the high risk of children in forced labor. Findings of the study have been explored through various qualitative and quantitative research protocols. The information is collected from Multan, Bahawalpur and Mirpur Khas. The paper presents a set of policy recommendations to eliminate child labor.
* Shahbaz Bokhari is Senior Coordinator, Survey Research Unit, at Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI).
Child Labor in Pakistan
Rana M Daniyal
Child labor is a condemnable phenomenon and is considered as one of the most heinous crimes against humanity, as it wanes the development process of the society. However, forced through the adverse economic fall out, it is an insidious problem, very common throughout the world, especially in developing countries. Africa and Asia together account for over 90 percent of total child employment.
Child labor is especially prevalent in rural areas where the capacity to enforce minimum age requirements for schooling and work is lacking. Children work for a variety of reasons, the most important being poverty and the induced pressure upon them to escape from this plight. Though children are not well paid, they still serve as major contributors to family income in our country. Schooling problems also contribute to child labor, whether it be the inaccessibility of schools or the lack of quality education which spurs parents to enter their children in more profitable pursuits. Traditional factors such as rigid cultural and social roles in certain areas further limit educational attainment and increase child labor.
There is no international concord defining child labor (though there are international conventions on the issue), thus making it hard to isolate cases of abuse, let alone abolish them. Secondly, many children may have to work for socio economic reasons in order to attend school or support their family. So abolishing child labor may only hinder their education and worsen their socio-economic condition. The government could help by making it worthwhile for a child to attend school by providing children with nutritional supplements or increasing the quality and usefulness of obtaining an education. There must be an economic change in the condition of a struggling family to free a child from the responsibility of working. To this end, offering various subsidies can help provide this support.
This construal leads to certain propositions for the national and international think tanks to ponder on. Further examination into this subject is needed before calls are made for declaring child labor as outlawed. By actively involving humanitarian organizations, factories owners, and trade and commerce chambers, we can focus on immediately solving the remediable problems of working children.
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