The Hon. Mahinda Jayasinghe
Hon. Mahinda Jayasinghe reported on Sri Lanka’s participation in the 6th Global Conference on the Elimination of Child Labour in Marrakesh, noting global figures of about 138 million child labourers despite the 2025 elimination target. He said Sri Lanka records very few complaints annually but is focusing on eradicating child labour in informal sectors, especially agriculture and plantations. He linked the issue to poverty and said poverty alleviation, community awareness with the relevant Ministry, and further targeted measures are being pursued to eliminate child labour in Sri Lanka.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Hon. Speaker, representing Sri Lanka I attended the 6th Global Conference on the Elimination of Child Labour in Marrakesh, Morocco, from the 11th to 13th. Globally, about 138 million children are identified as child labourers, despite a prior goal to eliminate child labour worldwide by 2025. In Sri Lanka, numbers are very low; typically, fewer than 10 complaints per year are recorded. We are striving to eradicate child labour, particularly in the informal sector, with focus on agriculture and plantation sectors. Poverty is closely linked to child labour; therefore, poverty alleviation is essential. Collaborating with the Ministry represented by Minister Upali Pannilage, a large community awareness project has been launched. Further measures are being taken to address multiple factors, with a program to eliminate child labour from Sri Lanka in the near future.
Provenance
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- Hansard, Wednesday, 18 February 2026 ·No. 23308 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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/lk/speeches/20257
Cite as: The Hon. Mahinda Jayasinghe. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 18 February 2026. No. 23308. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/20257