World Day against Child Labor: Are our children protected from social ills?  

News Desk

ISLAMABAD: As part of an international effort to raise awareness, Pakistan will observe the World Day Against Child Labour today (Sunday).

The purpose of this coordinated international effort is to raise awareness of the plight of child labour world-wide which impacting on hundreds of millions of children around the globe.

This year’s theme “Universal Social Protection to End Child Labour” not only raises concerns about the plight of children in both developing and industrialized countries, but calls for increased investment in social protection systems and schemes to advance protection of children from the abuse of child labour.  Every year, numerous events are held around the world to attention to the gross exploitation of children.

There were an estimated 215 million child labourers in the world, 115 million of which were involved in hazardous work: UNICEF

Child labour is especially rampant in many developing countries, but even in industrialized nations, many children are forced to work.

According to UNICEF, children in the United States are employed in agriculture. A high proportion of them are from immigrant or ethnic-minority families.

There have also been a number of incidents of western companies being involved in exploitation of child labour in developing countries to save production costs.

In 2011, there were an estimated 215 million child labourers in the world, 115 million of which were involved in hazardous work.

To raise awareness of this pressing international issue, the International Labour Organization (ILO) instigated the World Day Against Child Labor in 2002.

Observing the prevailing state of children in Pakistan and the world over, there is a need to ask Are our children protected from the plight of sexual abuse and other social ills?