So here is some interesting to read because it has some electric atmosphere.

Global March Against Child Labour is a movement borne out of hope and the need felt by thousands of people across the globe - the desire to set children free from servitude. <p>Global March movement began with a worldwide march when thousands of people marched together to jointly put forth the message against child labour. The march, which started on January 17, 1998, touched every corner of the globe, built immense awareness and led to high level of participation from the masses. This march finally culminated at the ILO Conference in Geneva. The voice of the marchers was heard and reflected in the draft of the ILO Convention against the worst forms of child labour.

The following year, the Convention was unanimously adopted at the ILO Conference in Geneva. The movement is soon going to publish a worldwide report on the worst forms of child labour, which shall state the situation a year from the time the Convention was adopted unanimously.

Global March movement is involved in assessing and lobbying for the ratification and implementation of the Convention. The dedicated partners of the Global March movement form an effective network around the world. Acting as vigilant observers and lobbying with governments in their region, they form the backbone of the movement. The Global March International Secretariat is located in New Delhi, India.

Global March movement has now begun a crusade to make education available for all. The Global Campaign for Education is a worldwide movement aimed at providing education for all, at the earliest. Global March has joined hands with partner associations like Education International, Oxfam International and ActionAid. The campaign soon received impetus with more partners joining in the cause. The new partners are World Vision, Social Alert, World Confederation of Teachers, Save the Children Fund UK.

A Worldwide Report on the Worst Forms of Child Labour child labour in every part of the world. Read on to see what you can do.

Enter a world of horror and despair. Caught in a nightmare that never seems to end, millions of children endure the worst forms of child labour. Child Slavery. Child Prostitution. Child Trafficking. Child Soldiers. More than just words, these are part of the reality of our world today. Read on to find out the shocking truth about it. No one will say that children should suffer. No one will say that children should work 14 hours a day. But who will step forward to stop this?

On June 17, 1999, when the member states of the ILO unanimously voted to adopt Convention 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labour, the world community made a commitment to stop the suffering of millions of children. It was recognised that ending the commercial exploitation of children must be one of humankind's top priorities. It was accepted as a cause that demands immediate attention and immediate action.

Since then many governments, organisations, and individuals have stepped forward to meet this challenge. Governments have ratified Convention 182 at the fastest rate ever for an international treaty. NGOs, trade unions, and some businesses have launched innovative programs to protect children. Ordinary people have readily given whatever they could to help this cause.

The real measure of success, however, is the difference being made in the lives of vulnerable children. Too often efforts have been limited by lack of information about the existence and extent of the worst forms of child labour. Many times people simply don't know about the exploitation going on so close to their homes. Sometimes, though, people just choose to ignore it.

This report presents in black and white what we do know about the extent of the worst forms of child labour. It is shocking to see that in an era of such tremendous material and technological advancement, children in almost every country are being callously exploited. This report presents a clear and undeniable challenge to the global community. It is a wake-up call for governments, an agenda for civil society, and an appeal to all people.

We can, we must, and we will stop the exploitation of children! Quality Education for All - Make It Happen Now!" A clear message has been sent across the world to end the worldwide crisis on education. Today, 125 million children are not attending school to learn their full potential. 880 million adults have already seen their lives pass by without being able to read or write. The fundamental right to education is denied to millions, despite the fact that having a fully educated society will end economic exploitation of children and break the cycle of poverty.

In October 1999, at the eve of the World Education Forum, a coalition of civil society organisations joined forces to launch "Global Campaign for Education". The GCE was founded by ActionAid, Education International, Oxfam International and the Global March Against Child Labour, and currently represents developmental NGOs and teachers' unions in more than 100 countries. The Global March's Education Campaign collaborates closely with the GCE to take action for increasing resources for education and ensuring that education, as key to ending child labour, remains high on the political agenda among the governments of developing and donor countries.

We firmly believe that providing free, quality and compulsory education lies within the states' responsibilities. At the international level, our lobbying extends to various arms of UNESCO, the World Bank, IMF, G-8 and other agencies responsible for meeting developmental needs. At the national level, our partners, which include teachers, educators, civil society leaders and child activists, continue to lead activities to demand their rights to education. The GCE partners are committed to mobilising civil society and stakeholders in ensuring that the governments fulfill their promises to provide free, quality and compulsory education for all by the year 2015.

The Campaign demands:

Free and compulsory, quality public basic education for all children, for eight years, and a second chance for adults who have missed out.

Increased provision of quality early childhood education and care

Increased public expenditure on education to, at least, 6% of GNP, and new resources, through aid and debt relief, for the poorest countries; and an end to child labour

Democratic participation of, and accountability to civil society, including teachers and their unions, in decision making on education at all levels

Reform of International Monetary Fund and World Bank Structural Adjustment policies to ensure that they support, rather than undermine, free, quality public basic education

Fair and regular salaries for teachers, properly equipped classrooms and a supply of quality text books

Inclusive and non-discriminatory provision of services for all

A global action plan for basic education to mobilise political will and new resources in support of national education plans to realise the 2015 targets.

Muhammad Salman
S.M.S Aga Khan School
Pakistan

No registered member of the Employers Federation of Pakistan will admit to employing a 'child' in his enterprise. Yet why is it that child labour still persists in Pakistan? Despite government efforts to eliminate this practice of child labour, the employment of children continues because of the callous attitude of some unscrupulous employers who seek cheap labour for menial jobs and think they are doing the child's family a favour by providing employment to the child.

A more important factor, is the shortage of primary schools. But a greater reason is the acceptance at large in the community, that a 'child' helping out his or her parents in chores on the farm for example, is doing the "right thing" as generations have done in the past. 2.2 million children, still working in the labour force in Pakistan work in the agricultural sector and in rural areas where primary schools are still to make their presence felt. To tackle this aspect of child labour, in Pakistan, informal schools have started working and the high enrolment in these schools shows how much poor parents value education for their children.

Poverty Alleviation
At present special attention is being given to poverty alleviation in Pakistan. Throwing money at the problem will never be able to rid the country of poverty. Instead skills need to be developed so that the enterprising amongst the poor can exploit self-employment opportunities; along with generating jobs for others as well. The key to this effort has to be community based and has to start with the schooling of children in marketable skills. Although poverty may be a cause for the incidence of child labour in Pakistan; poverty cannot be eliminated unless and until child labour in Pakistan is totally stopped, simply because child labour perpetuates poverty. Child labour is prone to work at lower than normal wages, which only extenuates the poverty of a family requiring more and more people to work at lower than normal wages. Any poverty alleviation programme that ignores efforts to eliminate child labour first, is bound to be ineffective.

Children and School
At present there are about 29 million children of school going age in Pakistan who are not going to schools. Many, in European countries believe that these children do not go to school, only because they are forced to work for their families. Pakistan faces an uphill task in explaining that many of these children mostly do not go to school as schools are not available for these children. Half or more of this number are girls; and many parents still are averse to sending their girls to schools. The enrolment of boys in primary schools at present, touches 60% of the school age children, but the percentage of girls going to primary schools is still dismally low. Special programmes need to be introduced, through radio; out-reach efforts and other means to reach the 15 million girls of school age who do not attend school at present, if Pakistan wishes to improve its literacy percentage, that is so vital in tackling problem of child labour, through community driven programmes.

Adolescents
A problem in dealing with statistics on child labour in Pakistan is created by the definition of a 'child'. Whereas ILO (International Labour Organization) and developed countries define a "child" as an individual between the ages of 5 and 15 years, for the purpose of child labour statistics; in Pakistan child labour statistics are based on children between the ages of 5 and 14, as the Constitution of Pakistan fixes the minimum age for admission to employment at 14 years. Two years ago, the Law Ministry had recommended that the Constitution of Pakistan be changed to bring the age for employment in Pakistan to 15 years. However, this amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan has not yet been brought about.

The Factories Act which is the law for factory workers in Pakistan, defines an "adolescent" as "a person who has completed his fourteenth but has not completed his eighteenth year". Such an "adolescent" is allowed to work in a factory, if a "certificate of fitness" granted by a "Certifying Surgeon" is in the factory manager's custody; and he or she (the "adolescent") carries a token at work giving reference to such a certificate.

The rationale for this provision is that birth certificates are hard to obtain especially in rural areas of Pakistan where most births are still "home delivery" cases under the supervision of a "dai" rather than in the comfort of a hospital maternity ward. A strapping youth grown tall, if certified as physically fit by a "certifying surgeon" can thus work in a factory without the need of establishing his age. In many ways the requirements of the Factories Act checks the employment of sickly, weak or infirm children and allows a concept of "apprenticeship" to be introduced to enable youths to learn their trade under supervision. However, the system does need to be improved by identifying and removing adolescents or "children" at risk, especially in hazardous work.

Children Working in Agriculture
Of the 3.2 million children in the labour force in Pakistan, 2.2 million are in the agriculture sector. The remaining 1.0 million children are mostly working for wages in the "informal sectors" consisting of small establishments not covered by labour laws and laws protecting children.

The majority are found in decentralized units of carpet weaving; shoe making; carpentry; construction and tailoring firms, restaurants, workshops, petrol pumps, car washes, street workers, selling newspapers, sweets and flowers; picking rags; and working as shoe-shines add to the numbers. Domestic child workers often go un-noticed, but sometimes are the worst sufferers of child abuse. Brick kilns, with their system of engaging entire families along with their children, still continue to employ a large number of children, despite the enactment of the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act of 1992 in Pakistan. Getting rid of child labour in these informal sectors requires dedicated and persistent efforts of the community, motivated by NGOs and concerned government organizations. Because of the Afghan refugees the incidence of child labour is the greatest in the NWFP in general and Peshawar in particular. It is, therefore, heartening to learn that the Skill Development Council of Peshawar in collaboration with international; national and local organizations has initiated programmes to address these issues.

Population Growth Rate
Progress that Pakistan has made during the last many years has been negated by the high population growth rate. At present it is claimed that the population growth rate has dropped down to a percentage between 2.2% to 2.6%. However, the population growth rate amongst the poor is still far beyond this average figure which would be higher still if deaths of children who die before reaching the age of five are included.

Here again poverty, mal-nutrition, unhygienic practices, inadequate food, contaminated water, lack of sanitation facilities and inadequate availability of basic health facilities have all contributed to the large number of deaths of children below the age of five in Pakistan. A measure of progress for a Nation is the number of children who die below the age of five; and according to this criteria Pakistan has a long way to go before it can claim its place amongst the list of developed countries.

This all goes to show that a greater emphasis on family planning is required amongst the poorest segment of society in Pakistan and the poverty alleviation programmes need to concentrate on these areas; to reduce the incidence of child labour in Pakistan which is so essential for the permanent elimination of poverty.

Muhammad Salman
S.M.S Aga Khan School
Pakistan