Child labour to eliminate from Nepal

January 29, 2001
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Kathmandu, Jan. 29: With the aim of formulating the five-year Time Bound Programme (TBP) to eliminate the worst form of child labour in Nepal, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) is holding consultation workshop in all the five development regions of the country.

According to a press release of ILO issued in Kathmandu today, the second workshop for the mid-western development concluded today in Nepalgunj. The workshop aims to get inputs from various sections of the community such as local government, NGOs, local people, teachers, trade unions and others.

The first such workshop for the western development region was held in Bhairahawa.

Nepal is one of the three pilot countries chosen by ILO to implement the TBP on the elimination of the worst form of child labour. The other two countries are El Salvador in Latin America and Tanzania in Africa.

“We are seeking inputs from the local authorities because they can have a tremendous contribution in identifying the prevailing worst form of child labour in the region,” said Yadav Amatya, National Programme Manager of the International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC).

He said the inputs from the local community would be very crucial during the planning and implementation stages.

ILO in its Child Labour Convention No. 182 has identified slavery, forced labour, prostitution and pornography, illicit activities, trafficking for exploitative employment and work likely to harm health, safety or morals as the worst forms of child labour.

The Convention, which came into effect from November 19, 2000, applies to all persons under the age of 18, and calls for “immediate and effective measures to secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst form of child labour as a matter of urgency”.

The press release says, while all the participants recognised the problem of exploitative child labour posed a serious threat to the development of society, they also pointed that the TBP programme, designed with the objective to eliminate child labour, should also address the crippling problem of extreme poverty.

Chief District Officer (CDO) of Banke said there need to be a multi-pronged approach while making plans and programmes to address the problem.

Speaking at inaugural session of the workshop on Sunday, Director of ILO, Leyla Tegmo-Reddy stressed on the need to give special attention to the situation of girl child while building TBP. She said the gender issue should be mainstreamed into the project activities and that the TBP would come up with specific projects for women and girl child if needed.