Child Rights

Learn about the laws and principles that protect child rights worldwide. Explore issues of education, safety, health, and welfare, along with legal frameworks that safeguard children from abuse and exploitation.

Child Labour in Pakistan: Why Laws Alone Are Not Enough

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  • Reading time:5 mins read

Child labor is a multidimensional systemic issue; thus, it cannot be addressed by mere legislative measures. In the context of Pakistan, where nearly 45% population is living below the poverty line, it is taking the shape of a crisis, requiring immediate policy intervention and socio-economic reforms. Child labor is legislatively defined as taking labor from a child below the age of 14. The labor has many kinds. In the context of Pakistan, the most prominent forms of child labor include domestic chores, carpet weaving, brick kilns, begging, and mining, etc. Often, children, being vulnerable as minors and not able to make rational decisions in their interest, are subject to exploitation and abuse by their employers. This includes torture, harassment, and work without monetary compensation among others. Despite Pakistan’s progressive legislation pursuant to the ratification of the International Labour Organization (ILO) Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (No. 182) and the Minimum Age Convention (No. 138), it is not able to nip this evil in the bud.[1] The Employment of Children Act 1991, and constitutional protections i.e. Article 37(e) principal policy requiring the State to make provision for securing just and humane conditions of work, ensuring that children and women are not employed in vocations unsuited to their age or sex, thus still lack robust implementation.[2] Most prominent reasons behind this governance failure is non-consideration of socio-economic factors behind it. Poverty is one of the major causes that forces children to become a victim of child labor. Often, their guardians, mostly parents,…

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For Every Child, Every Right

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  • Reading time:7 mins read

Children are not just our future, they are our present too, which is why World Children’s Day is celebrated on November 20 each year to promote and advocate for the rights of the child. On November 20, 1956 the UN General Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child. On the same day in 1989, the UN General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). This year’s theme for Children’s Day is: ‘For every child, every right’. Pakistan is one of the few countries that ratified the UNCRC within a year of its adoption on November 12, 1990 – 33 years ago. Pakistan submitted its first and initial report to the Committee on the Rights of the Child in January 1993 and the latest sixth and seventh combined periodic report in August 2023. The UNCRC Committee adopted the concluding observations on the fifth periodic report of Pakistan at its meeting held on June 3, 2016. In the concluding observations on the fifth periodic report of Pakistan, the UNCRC Committee reiterated its previous recommendation to Pakistan that it “ensure the full harmonization of its legislation as regards the definition of the child so as to define a child as any human being below the age of 18 years.” Pakistan has a wide population of children. According to the Pakistan Demographic Survey 2020, about 29,855,239 people in Pakistan belong to the 5-9 age group, 26,929,952 to the 10-14 age group and 23,420,804 to the 15-19 age…

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Child Labour In Pakistan: A Downplayed Issue

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  • Post category:Law
  • Reading time:6 mins read

The issue of child labour has been marred with many discrepancies over the years. What has remained constant throughout, however, is the fact that this sensitive issue continues to be understated and despite the various legal mechanisms in place, child labour remains one of biggest growth-stunting problems of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. This article will try and highlight some of these issues and bring the flaws of the protective mechanisms to the forefront. Child labour manifests in many different forms and unfortunately in Pakistan the list is quite diverse, ranging from bonded labour, slavery and agriculture-intensive labour to the labour in many different types of industries which are all infested with poor working conditions for children, so much so that in most cases they are denied even the right of freedom of movement. One of the main reasons why Pakistan suffers from this evil is the fact that our legal system is severely underdeveloped in terms of rights of the child and it will remain this way unless there is greater public outcry and revision in legal mechanisms intended to protect these rights. The first legal mechanism worth mentioning here is none other than the Constitution of Pakistan 1973, Article 11(2) of which states that, “All forms of forced labour and traffic in human beings are prohibited.” And Article 11(3) which more specifically states that “No child below the age of fourteen years shall be engaged in any factory or mine or any other hazardous employment.” The first issue…

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Legal Rights Of Children Under Laws Of Pakistan

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  • Reading time:5 mins read

Many laws deal with the rights of children. It is necessary to shed light on the definition of a child, before dilating upon the topic at hand. According to Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (9th edition), a child is defined as, “A young human who is not yet an adult.” Section 3 of the Majority Act 1875 (pre-Partition of British India) states the age of a minor to be 18 years, while the age of a minor under a guardian to be 21 years. Keeping this in view, children’s rights categorically find mention, expression and place in the fundamental law of Pakistan, that is the Constitution of Pakistan under the Chapter on Fundamental Rights. Article 11 of the Constitution unequivocally enshrines that, “No child below the age of fourteen years shall be engaged in any factory or mine or any other hazardous employment.” In this regard, worth mentioning is the federal Employment of Children Act 1991 which follows the definition of the Constitution and attempts to regulate the conditions of work for children under 14 years and forbid their employment in harsh occupations. The minimum age for employment in provinces is still 14 years in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh, but has been raised to 15 years in Punjab. The minimum age for hazardous work remains 14 years in Balochistan and Islamabad Capital Territory, but has been increased to 18 years in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab and Sindh. Be that as it may, the Children (Pledging of Labour) Act 1933 defines a child…

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