World Day against child labor: During Pandemic protects children from child labor, more than ever.

The economic and labor market shock as the aftermath of COVID19 Pandemic will have a huge impact on human life and livelihood, unfortunately again children are the most to suffer, very often. The shockwave of this crisis will put millions of children at the risk of child labor, globally. Existing estimation shows that 152 million children across the planet are child laborers among them 72 million children are performing hazardous works.

  A child hangs on his one hand at the main entrance of the public transport bus, knocking on the door, calling people. He knows no risk, he wants to accommodate as many people as he can and stride towards earning more money for his boss. He beats on the metal plate of the bus, shouts, and calls for more people, the hands should have pen and paper, his voice should be reading the texts and lesson and he now should be under the protection and guidance of his guardians.

 And why can't our heartbeat hear that beating even when child rights are being violated right in front of our eyes? Maybe our system has nothing better to offer him, maybe we don't care or maybe this is his fate. Street children carrying sacks to collect some of the garbage that has to be thrown out of the house are sometimes chased away from here, sometimes from there, beaten up, and face the contempt of a civilized society. Why don't they understand that these children are also like our children, siblings, and our family members?

 Due to their parents' low financial situation, isolated by various natural calamities, and the attraction of employment and education to children entering the city as domestic workers to do heavy and risky work as children, not sending them to school and even if they are not given enough time to study, torture, abuse, and various unnecessary insults still exist in our society, isn't it?
 The Children's Act 2048, which was enacted to protect the rights of children in Nepal, defines everyone under the age of 16 as a child and forbids them to work for income or to become a laborer. May the International Day against Child Labor, which is celebrated all over the world on the 12th of June, make the Nepali society aware of this. I would like to quote Kailash Satyarthi, a world-renowned child rights activist and Nobel Laureate from India, who said, "Childhood without education is not childhood and even if one is deprived of school, it is as if many are deprived.

The slogan of the day is 2021 against child labor is Act now: end child labor. The entire international community has been called upon this year to end child labor. Corona infection, impending lockdown, and bandh have further boosted child labor.

It is very sad that millions of children are deprived of their minimum child rights for various reasons. Their childhood of laughing, playing and reading is taken away and what is even sadder is that even after watching so many things, the society is still silent like the perpetrator, the level of consciousness may have increased but the condition of the children is still the same.

 Nepal has also signed and expressed solidarity with Part 138 of the International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention. According to this section, children will be able to work 14 hours a week, but this work will not harm their regular schooling, health, and overall development. Will these definitions and solidarity documents ever come out of paper into real lives?

 Now imagine that the children of our society mentioned above who are stranded on public transport or running after plastic bags carrying sacks, serving food in hotels, looking for the dim shadow of their future in the leftover dishes eaten by customers, has this law and equality reached them?

 How long will the child members of the family who cannot afford two meals per day, be forced to go to work? The existence of child labor in any country is also a reflection of the underdeveloped country. Just as the role of all citizens is important in the development of the country, so is the role of children.

 Their access to education should be increased rather than labor, but all these things are ignored in our society and the problem of child labor is increasing day by day. Until the end of World War I, even in the most developed countries today, children were employed in agricultural work, in various mills, and, to a large extent, in coal mines. It was normal for them to be involved in household chores, on average they worked for more than 12 hours. The use of child labor in such a risky manner was considered normal by the society of that time, but as the facts became public that such acts had a profound effect on the overall development of children, social awareness campaigns against child labor began in various countries.

 World Day Against Child Labor will be celebrated on 12 June 2009. World Day this year marks the tenth anniversary of the adoption of the landmark ILO Convention No. 182, which addresses the need for action to tackle the worst forms of child labor.

 Children should be the responsibility of the state, flowers should flourish, and the color of their ability should be spread all over the world. Let the children work for their dreams. Meaningful wishes.

 Suyog Dhakal