A senior official of the International Labour Organization (ILO) has said that child labour remains a serious challenge in Nepal.
Children in a rally marking the World Day Against Child Labour in Kathmandu, Monday, June 12 06. nepalnews.com/rh
Children in a rally marking the World Day Against Child Labour in Kathmandu…
In his message on the occasion of World Day Against Child Labour, Pracha Vasuprasat, officer in Charge of ILO office in Nepal said, “Close to a million children 5-14 years of age can be categoriosed as child labourers. Children from disadvantaged groups, like girls, dalits and those of indigenous origin are even more vulnerable to become involved in hazardous sectors than others.”
According to a study carried out by ILO, there are 55,000 domestic child laborers working in Nepal, among them, 21,000 are in Kathmandu alone.
He also called upon all members of society to join in the effort to eliminate child labour.
A global report entitled ‘The end of child labour: Within reach’, released to mark the fifth World Day Against Child Labour shows that child labour, especially in its worst forms, declined for the first time across the world by 11 per cent between 2000 and 2004, from 246 million to 218 million.
The report showed that efforts against child labour in Nepal over the past decade have achieved much but political instability has resulted in displacement of children and forced them to join labour.
Ramesh Lekhak (File Photo)
The Time-Bound Programme (TBP) of the International Labour Organsation’s International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (ILO/IPEC), which aims at withdrawing 15,300 children from the worst forms of child labour, has reportedly met 95 percent of its target.
In his message Minister of State for Labour and Transport Management, Ramesh Lekhak has expressed the government’s commitment to provide necessary assistance in the work of eradicating child labour.
He further said that assistance from all sectors is essential to meet the target tof eradicating all kinds of child labour by 2014.