Deputy Prime Minister Men Sam An called on media outlets yesterday to provide more positive programming for children, in order to help combat child labour.

Speaking at the closing ceremony of a music festival organised in conjunction with the World Day Against Child Labour, she said media organisations such as private and state television stations should create programs that focused on education and raising awareness of problems that children face.

“Some television and radio stations produce programs for education and encouraging children to avoid doing bad things like using drugs,” Men Sam An said.

“They also broadcast about avoiding engaging in child labour, for example, showing how some children [falsify] their age in order to find jobs to help their family.”

However, more stations need to follow their example, she added.

According to a statement issued by the International Labour Organization, 1.5 million children are involved in labour worldwide, with about 310,000 involved in the “worst forms” in Cambodia.

However, recent monitoring in the provinces of Kampot, Kep and Poipet had shown “very significant” declining trends of child labour since 2008, it notes.

To contact the reporter on this story: Mom Kunthear at [email protected]