By IANS,

New Delhi : Former child labourers, survivors of trafficking for forced labour and school dropouts along with government officials of six South Asian countries will come together for a dialogue in Delhi on World Day Against Child Labour June 12.

The one-day programme will be a collaborative effort of the Bachpan Bachao Aandolan (BBA), an NGO which works on the issue of child labour in India and South Asia, Global March Against Child Labour (GMACL) and the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

Umesh Gupta of BBA said that six countries - India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan - will participate in the South Asian Regional Congress on Child Labour and Education.

“Along with children participants, government officials of the six countries, NGOs, bilateral and multilateral agencies, UN agencies and export promotion councils and corporations engaged in protection of child rights will come together on this occasion,” he said.

“The aim of this conference will be to provide a platform for discussions on the interlinking issues of child labour and education to the stakeholder groups such as policy makers and academia. It will also aim to draw attention to the existing mechanisms to mainstream out-of-school children and child labourers through education,” he added.

After the conference, the participating delegates along with the children, will be regaled to a musical evening in which well known Ghazal singers Penaz Masani and Talat Aziz will perform.