Childhood National Council discuss child labor, street children

Egypt's First Lady Suzanne Mubarak, Chairperson of the Consultative Technical Committee of the National Council of Childhood and Motherhood, on Wednesday chaired the committee's meeting held to discuss four key issues on the agenda.

Issues probed by the committee included the recommendations of the fourth stage of the five-year plan on economic and social development on child labor and the phenomenon of street children.

"On the issue of child labor, Mrs. Mubarak said that child labor should be eliminated on the long run which requires drawing up policies to poor families and employers," she said.

Poverty and education evasion are connected with child labor, said Mrs. Mubarak. Egypt has ratified Agreement 182 on eliminating the worst forms of child labor and thus launched a new phase of national action for protecting these children, she added.

Head of the National Council of Childhood and Motherhood, Ambassador Mushira Khattab, then, reviewed the council's activities over the past year and focused on three major issues:

child labor, street children, and a follow-up plan.

Khattab reviewed 14 fields of the council's activities including education of girls, family courts, protection of young people from smoking and drugs addiction, the overall development project for children in urban and rural areas.