Sri Lanka marking this international event will hold a commemoration ceremony today (22nd June) at 9a.m. at the BMICH under the patronage of the President Maithripala Sirisena who is expected to place his signature to end child labour and take oath.

According to the this years’ theme, no child under 14 years can be a part of the supply chain and a child between the ages of 14 to 18 is permitted to only be engaged in this chain if it is not a hazardous form of work and does not affect the health, safety, and morals of the child.

 
Nations at the International Child Labours Conference held in Hague, Netherlands in 2010 took a decision to eradicate the Worst Forms of Child Labour by 2016. Sri Lanka also became a signatory to this decision and drew up a Road Map, 2010-2016.

Since 2010, the Women and Children’s Division of the Department of Labour in Sri Lanka has implemented many activities in this regard. In 2013 the Ratnapura district was declared itself as a child labour free zone, followed more recently by Kegalle, Kandy, Nuwara Eliya, Badulla, and Ampara.