KATHMANDU, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- Despite ratification of numerous international conventions and promulgation of legal provisions to prevent children's involvement in the labor market, almost no progress has been made so far in Nepal and the South Asian region.

    According to Sunday's leading newspaper, The Himalayan Times report, experts from the South Asian region are meeting in Kathmandu to formulate strategic plan for child labor.

    Addressing the inaugural program of a two-day South Asia Regional Strategic Planning meeting on child labor Saturday, SubasNembang, Speaker of Nepali House of Representatives, said "Even though we are party to many international conventions and successive governments enacted laws related to the children, they are still exploited, sexually abused and new forms of abuses like adoption, child pornography are coming up against them."

    Nembang was quoted by the daily as saying that the commitment of the regional meeting would ensure in improving the status of children within the region.

    According to the report, there are 127,000 children trapped in the "worst forms of child labor" in Nepal such as bonded laborers, porters, mine and carpet factory workers, domestic workers, rag pickers and trafficked children.

    The report from the meeting has estimated that there are 246 million children working as full-time workers, which is a mass phenomenon especially rampant in South Asia. The region alone holds more than 80 million children in servitude.