A new political culture where lawmakers from all around the globe join one platform to fight for child rights is crucial to end child labour and slavery, Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi said on Saturday.

Such initiative will help in the mobilisation of political support to make a safer and better world for children, said Satyarthi at a press conference in Kathmandu on Saturday.

Satyarthi led the first ever meeting of Parliamentarians Without Borders for Children’s Rights along with Brazilian Senator Cristovam Buarque in Kathmandu . The two-day event was attended by 22 parliamentarians from nine countries to discuss ways to eliminate child slavery and trafficking, and the need for an equitable, inclusive and quality education.

“The meeting has formed a steering committee that will work towards transforming the decisions taken by the Kathmandu conclave into an international sustainable movement,” Satyarthi said. He added the meeting also decided to set up two secretariats in Nepal and Brazil respectively.

Constituent Assembly member Dilli Bahadur Chaudhary, who represents Nepal in the steering committee, said his aim is to consolidate all the steps that are being taken towards combating child rights. “There are so many organisations that are working in the same sector but we need to consolidate and unify our resources for a better outcome,” Chaudhary said. 

 The group will push for strong policies in the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Agenda (SDGs) to discourage child labour and slavery by enhancing  collaboration among the concerned partners and organisations working for children’s rights. It also plans to provide financial support for education for the hardest-to-reach children, encourage responsible and accountable corporates/businesses, and develop international cooperation and mechanisms to tackle inter-border trafficking of children and humans. According to Global March Against Child Labour,  there are 168 million child labourers worldwide.

Published on: 29 March 2015 | The Kathmandu Post