Combating child labour: five-year project approved

For combating the menace of child labour, Punjab Labour and Human Resource Department has approved a 5-year project 'Combating worst form of child labour'; it is being implemented in four districts of the province (Jhang, Layyah, Jehlum and Chakwal).
Punjab Labour and Human Resource Secretary Hassan Iqbal disclosed this during a meeting with the District Co-ordination Officers (DCOs) of the respective districts here on Tuesday, disclosed an official. He said the Punjab government is focused and committed to eradicate the child labour from the province.
Labour Welfare Punjab Director General and Project Director Humayun Mazhar Sheikh told the meeting that the specific objective of this project is to contribute to elimination of worst forms of child labour in four districts of Punjab through provision of social interventions. He also briefed that 2,000 working children below the age of 14 will be removed from hazardous work and provided with non-formal education. "They will be enrolled in literacy-cum-skill training classes, and 50 model work places will be established in the targeted districts to demonstrate risk reduction as a tool to promote healthy youth employment," he added. He said the project will also provide micro credit to the families of children engaged in hazardous child labour.
He also said the project will have strong involvement of stakeholders, including district governments in the target districts, civil society organisation, employers and workers besides the communities. Representative of International Labour Organisation (ILO) Taseer Alizai also briefed the participants about the interventions of ILO in Punjab. CIWCE Director Saeed Ahmad Awan and other officials of Labour Department also attended the meeting.