TODAY, I would like to tell you the story of 10-year-old Abid Ali who is forced to work as a rag picker to survive. He lives in a small village called Kissan Colony of Bahawalpur district in southern Punjab. Abid Ali is growing up in an environment marked by poverty, where families work in the fields during cotton-picking season and struggle to make ends meet once the season is over.

For such a family, every mouth is hard to feed.

When Abid`s mother died, his father remarried and lef t for an unknown location, severing all contacts with his 10 children.

Since then, this boy has lived on his own without any family member to love, protect or guide him. To feed himself, he must dig through garbage to collect anything that he can sell to earn some money.

There are millions of children in Pakistan who share Abid Ali`s plight, having no other option but to engage in some form of exploitative economic activity to survive. Others live a relatively normal life in their family and are pushed to work in order to increase the household`s income. If all age groups are considered, it is estimated that up to 11 million children may be properly categorised as child labourers, a situation which is unacceptable.

Globally Unicef and ILO estimates suggest that11pc ofchildren ñve to17years of age are considered child labourers. Today, as we commemorate the World Day Against Child Labour, we should pause for a while and think about children like Abid Ali who need our supportforabetterlife.

Let us take a stand and remind ourselves that under no circumstances should a child below the age of 15 be permitted to enter the labour force, nor should any child under the age of 18 be engaged in economic activity to the detriment of his or her physical or mental health, safety or morals. All children have a right to develop to their full potential with access to education and the care of their families.

Mohammad Ali Jinnah said, `without education it is complete darkness and with education it is light. Education is a matter of life and death to our nation.` And indeed the lack of education is part of a vicious cycle.

Lacking adequate education and skills as adults, former child labourers are more likely to end up in poorly paid, insecure work conditions or to be unemployed. In turn, there is a high probability that their children will also end up in child labour.

Breaking this cycle of disadvantage is a nationalchallenge and education has a key role to play.

There are still 6.5 million children of primary school age who are out of school, 25million in the age group of five to 16. Poverty remains one of the critical barriers to education. Accordingly, ef forts must be made to ensure that education is accessible for all children from five to 16 years of age, with no hidden costs.

For those who miss out on receiving an education, a second chance must be provided through non-formal learning opportunities. This would ensure that children who have been out of school due to economic compulsions or child labour have access to an education that is age-appropriate and relevant. Child labourers should not have to carry a burden of disadvantage into adulthood.

The Pakistan government has committed to increasing the education budget and Unicef will continue to lend support in its efforts to ensure that all children receive a quality education.

Pakistan has ratified the United NationsConvention on the Rights of the Child which obliges the state to protect children from exploitation and also the International Labour Organisation Convention (No.

138) concerning the Minimum Age for Admission to Employment, wherein it is stipulated that any person enteringthe labour force should not `...be less than the age of completion of compulsory schooling and, in any case, shall not be less than 15 years`.

However, Pakistan has yet to ratify the ILO Labour Statistics Convention No.160 (1985) which mandates states parties to regularly collect, compile and publish basic labour statistics as specified in its guidelines.

Unicef, in collaboration with ILO, stands committed to support Pakistan in the ratification of this crucial international instrument.

If we want to help children like Abid Ali, we need to design responsive programmes based on reliable data. We need to know how many children like Abid Ali exist, struggling everyday for their and their family`s basic survival.

It is a matter of urgency to achieve meaningful results to improve lives so that all the children in Pakistan live with dignity and reach their full potential to contribute to the country`s future. • The writer is Unicef representative for Pakistan.