KATHMANDU: Minister for Labor, Employment and Social Security Gokarna Bista has reiterated that Nepal was committed to ending forces labor, child labor and human trafficking.

Address the inaugural session of the Asia Regional Conference of Alliance 8.7, a global partnership in support of target 8.7 of the Sustainable Development Goals in Kathmandu, Minister Bista said that he dubbed the event as significant that would bring the concerned actors and stakeholders together to reflect on the outcomes of the past efforts.

He said that all concerned stakeholders need to discuss challenges ahead to accelerate progress towards the eradication of forced labor, human trafficking and child labor.

In the conference organized by the International Labor Organization (ILO), he said there are around 152 million children in child labor and 24.8 million people in forced labor across the globe.

Minister Bista said that the number of child labor and forced labor is 62.1 million and 16.5 million respectively in the Asia-Pacific region.