Child Labour

Child Labor – A Challenge the World is Facing
Childhood is the most innocent stage in a human life. It is that phase of life where a child is free from all the tensions, fun-loving, play and learns new things, and is the sweetheart of all the family members. But this is only one side of the story. The other side is full of tensions and burdens. Here, the innocent child is not the sweetheart of the family members, instead he is an earning machine working the entire day in order to satisfy the needs and wants of his/her family. This is what is called 'CHILD LABOUR'. There are various causes and effects of child labour. Eliminating child labour is one of the biggest challenges that the whole world is facing.
Child labour includes working children who are below a certain minimum age. This practice is going on since long and is one of the worst forms of child exploitation. Child labour not only causes damage to a child’s physical and mental health but also keep him deprive of his basic rights to education, development, and freedom. According to statistics provided by UNICEF, there are an estimated 250 million children aged 5 to 14 years employed in child labour worldwide and this figure is continuously increasing.
Child labour is not only affecting under-developed and developing countries, but developed countries are also facing this though the rate is comparatively very less. Child labor in Asia accounts for the highest percentage of child labour (61%) followed by Africa (32%). According to International Labour Organization (ILO), if child labor will be banned and all children gets proper education, world's total income would be raised by nearly 22% over 20 years, which accounts for more than $4 trillion. Banning child labor will help in boosting the economy of a country.

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Causes of Child Labour
The main causes of child labor include poverty, unemployment, and excess population. Among these, poverty is the primary cause of child labour. You must have observed that poor families have more number of children, so it becomes very difficult for them to survive on the income of only one family member which is also quite less. So they make their small children their source of income. They make their children work in factories, shops, even selling items on streets. Some parents even carry infants on the streets to earn money from begging. Some percentage of child labour also comes from harassment by parents, step-parents or relatives.
There are many cases of child labor where a child has to work against the repayment of a loan which was taken by his father who was unable to pay it off. This is called as 'bonded child labour'. Bonded child labor normally happens in villages. Such children work like slaves in order to pay the loan taken. Not only poor families, but some well established business families also put their children into business at a quite young age instead of making them complete their education.
Effects of Child Labour
There are very bad effects of child labor for our society, which forces some children to steal things from others in order to satisfy their daily living. Many small girls are even made to indulge in prostitution. A recent case of child labor came into picture where a 10 year old kid was beaten to death because the innocent kid was slow at things. The cruel owner went angry and threw the child across the room resulting in the most extreme punishments. It was not only the cruel owner who was at the fault, but the parents of the child were also equally involved in this incident. They took $10 as advance and sent their child to work for the sake of getting some monthly income. May be even the parents would never have thought that a little sum of money could lead to such horrible incident.
There are various organizations which are fighting against child labour by helping children and imparting education among that part of society from where majority of the child labour comes. Poor families should be given knowledge about family planning/control so that they are not burdened by children. It would be advisable not to keep small children at home for taking domestic help in daily household chores. Let us all take some step in this direction so that we can bring smiles to many faces and make this world a beautiful place for a child to live in.
This Hub was last updated on June 25, 2011 http://anujagarwal.hubpages.com/hub/Cause-and-effects-of-Child-Labour Child labour robs children of childhood, impedes development
Many child labourers deprived of school, healthcare and protection from violence
NEW YORK, 12 June 2006 – Hundreds of millions of children are forced to work when they should be learning and playing, which deprives them, their families and nations the opportunity to develop and thrive, UNICEF said today.
“Children who are compelled to work are robbed of childhood itself,” UNICEF Executive Director Ann M. Veneman said today on the International Day Against Child Labour. “The majority of child labourers are hidden from view and beyond the reach of the law. Many of them are denied basic health care, education, adequate nutrition, and the protection and security of their communities and families.
Worldwide, there are an estimated 246 million children engaged in child labour. Some 180 million children aged 5–17 (or 73 per cent of all child labourers) are believed to be en¬gaged in the worst forms of child labour, including working in hazardous conditions such as in mines and with dangerous machinery. Of these children, 5.7 million are forced into debt bondage or other forms of slavery, 1.8 million are forced into prostitution or pornography and 600,000 are engaged in other illicit activities.

Veneman said that education, which is a critical component of the protective environment that is needed to shield children from exploitation, is a powerful means of preventing child labour.
Removing barriers to school enrollment is the focus of the School Fee Abolition Initiative launched in 2005 by UNICEF and the World Bank. UNICEF also works with the International Labor Organization and other partners to promote policies, raise resources and put in place practical measures to combat child labour.
One such programme is the UNICEF-supported Basic Education for Hard to Reach Urban Children (BEHTRUC) project in Bangladesh, which has provided non-formal education to 346,500 working children, half of whom are girls, since 1997. The children, as young as eight and as old as 14, were primarily doing domestic work or toiling in factories. The government supports the programme with a network of 151 non-governmental organizations and provides stipends to the children’s families to compensate them for the lost income.
In addition to being denied education, children who work are frequent victims of maltreatment, physical and psychological violence or abuse by supervisors, co-workers and outsiders. Violence against children in the workplace is one of five key areas to be addressed in UN Secretary General’s Study on Violence Against Children, a global report to be issued in October.
UNICEF’s efforts to protect children from child labour and other forms of exploitation focus on creating a protective environment for children. In a protective environment, people at all levels of society work individually and together to enforce protective laws, develop the necessary services, equip children and those who work with children with the information and skills they need to prevent and respond to abuse, and challenge all forms of discrimination.
“Combating child labour requires political leadership and broad-based partnerships,” Veneman said. “Parents, community leaders, the private sector and governments – must all take responsibility to ensure that children are not exploited in the workplace.” http://www.unicef.org/media/media_34504.html is child labour?
Some types of work make useful, positive contributions to a child's development. Work can help children learn about responsibility and develop particular skills that will benefit them and the rest of society. Often, work is a vital source of income that helps to sustain children and their families.
However, across the world, millions of children do extremely hazardous work in harmful conditions, putting their health, education, personal and social development, and even their lives at risk. These are some of the circumstances they face: * Full-time work at a very early age * Dangerous workplaces * Excessive working hours Subjection to psychological, verbal, physical and sexual abuse * Obliged to work by circumstances or individuals * Limited or no pay * Work and life on the streets in bad conditions * Inability to escape from the poverty cycle - no access to education
How big is the problem? * The International Labour Organization estimates there are 215 million child labourers aged between five and 17 year old (ILO, 2010) * Just over half of these children, 115 million are estimated to work in the worst forms of child labour (ILO, 2010) * 53 million children under 15 year old are in hazardous work and should be "immediately withdrawn from this work" (2010) * 8.4 million children are in slavery, trafficking, debt bondage and other forms of forced labour, forced recruitment for armed conflict, prostitution, pornography and other illicit activities (ILO, 2002) * Girls are particularly in demand for domestic work * Around 70 per cent of child workers carry out unpaid work for their families child trafficking
Trafficking involves transporting people away from the communities in which they live, by the threat or use of violence, deception, or coercion so they can be exploited as forced or enslaved workers for sex or labour. When children are trafficked, no violence, deception or coercion needs to be involved, it is merely the act of transporting them into exploitative work which constitutes trafficking.
Increasingly, children are also bought and sold within and across national borders. They are trafficked for sexual exploitation, for begging, and for work on construction sites, plantations and into domestic work. The vulnerability of these children is even greater when they arrive in another country. Often they do not have contact with their families and are at the mercy of their employers. why do children work?
<LT;*>>Most children work because their families are poor and their labour is necessary for their survival. Discrimination on grounds including gender, race or religion also plays its part in why some children work.

Children are often employed and exploited because, compared to adults, they are more vulnerable, cheaper to hire and are less likely to demand higher wages or better working conditions. Some employers falsely argue that children are particularly suited to certain types of work because of their small size and "nimble fingers".

For many children, school is not an option. Education can be expensive and some parents feel that what their children will learn is irrelevant to the realities of their everyday lives and futures. In many cases, school is also physically inaccessible or lessons are not taught in the child's mother tongue, or both.

As well as being a result of poverty, child labour also perpetuates poverty. Many working children do not have the opportunity to go to school and often grow up to be unskilled adults trapped in poorly paid jobs, and in turn will look to their own children to supplement the family's income.</LT;*>>
Where do children work? * On the land * In households -- as domestic workers * In factories -- making products such as matches, fireworks and glassware * On the street -- as beggars * Outdoor industry: brick kilns, mines, construction * In bars, restaurants and tourist establishments * In sexual exploitation * As soldiers
The majority of working children are in agriculture -- an estimated 70 per cent. Child domestic work in the houses of others is thought to be the single largest employer of girls worldwide.
Export industries account for only an estimated five per cent of child labour. To see what you can do to help see our Fair Trade, Slave Trade leaflet.
Case Studies from around the world
Ahmed -- United Arab Emirates

When Ahmed* was five years old he was trafficked from Bangladesh to the United Arab Emirates to be a camel jockey. He was forced to train and race camels in Dubai for three years.
"I was scared .... If I made a mistake I was beaten with a stick. When I said I wanted to go home I was told I never would. I didn't enjoy camel racing, I was really afraid. I fell off many times. When I won prizes several times, such as money and a car, the camel owner took everything. I never got anything, no money, nothing; my family also got nothing."
Ahmed was only returned home after a Bangladesh official identified him during a visit to Dubai in November 2002. Our local partner Bangladesh National Women Lawyers' Association provided him with the specialist support and help he needed to resume his life with his family.
*Names changed
What do children want -- child domestic workers speak out
From May to October 2004, Anti-Slavery International and its local partners undertook consultations with more than 450 current and former child domestic workers in nine countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Consultations took place in Benin, Costa Rica, India, Nepal, Peru, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Tanzania and Togo reflecting the reality of child domestic labour in many countries. The majority of those who participated were female -- but more than 100 boys also took part.
Cutting across cultural and language divides, the child domestic workers who were consulted had some clear messages about the best kinds of assistance to protect them from the daily abuse and exploitation that many of them endure. Their common appeal for those who seek to help them are: * To provide opportunities for education and training which allow them to move on from domestic work; * To assist them in seeking redress from abusive and/or exploitative employers; * Not to alienate employers, but to make them part of the solution to their problems; * To provide more services which cater specifically to the needs of child domestic workers (since their needs are often quite different from those of other child workers); * To develop longer-term interventions, i.e. not to develop services for them and then pull-out after just one or two years; * To develop interventions which take into consideration some of the issues which most affect child domestic workers, for example, early pregnancy and the effect of HIV/AIDS; * More awareness raising about their situation, and to ensure that this awareness raising goes hand-in-hand with concrete services for child domestic workers;
Assistance in accessing government and state infrastructure that can help them; for example, in obtaining birth certificates, enrolling in school, in accessing health care, in locating families and returning home.
Perhaps the strongest message to emerge from the consultations was the importance of those providing assistance to talk to the children themselves about what they need. The work of Anti-Slavery International's partners in this area has shown that the most effective interventions are those which systematically involve child domestic workers themselves in the planning and implementation of their projects and programmes.
Child soldiers
There are about 300,000 child soldiers involved in over 30 areas of conflict worldwide, some even younger than 10 years old. Child soldiers fight on the front line, and also work in support roles; girls are often obliged to be sex slaves or "soldiers' wives". Children involved in conflict are severely affected by their experiences and can suffer from long-term trauma. The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict entered into force on 12 February 2002, which encourages governments to raise the age of voluntary recruitment into the armed forces and explicitly states that no person under the age of 18 should be sent into battle.
The United Kingdom, which has the lowest minimum recruitment age in Europe at 16, ratified the Optional Protocol on 24 June 2003. The Government, however, added a declaration to reserve the right to send under-18s into hostilities "if there is a genuine military need" or "due to the nature or urgency of the situation". This clause is in direct conflict with the spirit of the Protocol, which urges that states "take all feasible measures to ensure that members of their armed forces who have not attained the age of 18 years old do not take a direct part in hostilities".
International law
International law forms the basis of our work against the worst forms of child labour. The Conventions of the International Labour Organization, the 1926 and 1956 Slavery Conventions and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child are the major tools we use.
Article 32 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989):
"State Parties recognize the right of the child to be protected from economic exploitation and from performing any work that is likely to be hazardous or to interfere with the child's education or to be harmful to the child's health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development.”

http://www.antislavery.org/english/slavery_today/child_labour.aspx

Nestle 'failing' on child labour abuse, says FLA report
By Humphrey Hawksley BBC News
Nestle signed an agreement in 2001 aimed at ending the use of child labour on cocoa farms
The food company Nestle has been accused of failing to carry out checks on child labour and other abuses in part of its cocoa supply chain.
A report by an independent auditor, the Fair Labour Association (FLA), says it found "multiple serious violations" of the company's own supplier code.
The code includes clauses on child labour, safety and working hours.
Cocoa is the raw product that makes chocolate in a global industry worth more than $90bn (£58bn) a year.
Earlier reports found that 1.8 million children in West Africa are at risk of abuse through dangerous child labour.
After increasing pressure, Nestle, which is the world's biggest food company, commissioned the FLA to map its cocoa supply chain in the Ivory Coast from where almost half the world's cocoa comes.
Rampant injuries
FLA investigators tracked the journey of cocoa from the poorest and most remote villages to the exporters that sold directly to Nestle.
They found that while Nestle insisted their primary suppliers - mostly big multi-nationals - agree to their code, it often went no further, despite Nestle knowing the supply chain involved many other stages.
"Now that its supply chain has been mapped," says FLA President Auret van Heerden, "Nestle will be held accountable.
"For too long child labour in cocoa production has been everybody's problem and therefore nobody's responsibility.
Injuries causes by machetes, which are used to harvest cocoa pods, have been reported
"Nestle is taking direct responsibility for decreasing the risks."
The report also found rampant injuries, mainly with machetes that slice into the children's legs as they harvest the cocoa pods, as well as both adults and children working long hours without pay.
There has been evidence of child labour on the Ivory Coast cocoa farms for many years.
In 2001, under pressure from the US congress, Nestle and other major chocolate companies signed an agreement to end the problem - but little was achieved.
'Top priority'
The FLA says this is the first time a multi-national chocolate producer has allowed its procurement system to be completely traced and assessed.
It believes the flaws it uncovered apply to all the big chocolate companies.
They say they are studying the findings.
Nestle has now laid out a detailed plan to try to solve the problem.
"The use of child labour in our cocoa supply chain goes against everything we stand for," says Nestlé’s Executive Vice-President for Operations Jose Lopez.
"No company sourcing cocoa from the Ivory Coast can guarantee that it doesn't happen, but we can say that tackling child labour is a top priority for our company."
For more than 10 years, Ivory Coast has suffered civil war and unrest, much of which activists blame on the fight between rival groups for the tens of millions of dollars earned from cocoa.
The new government that came to power last year has introduced initiatives against child labour and exploitation.
Nestle and the FLA says that if the problem is to be totally eradicated the role of government will be critical. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-18644870 From Africa Recovery, Vol.15 #3, October 2001, page 14
(Part of Special Feature: Protecting Africa's Children)
Child labour rooted in Africa's poverty
Campaigns launched against traffickers and abusive work
By Ernest Harsch
In some of the poorest provinces of Burkina Faso, villages are "haemorrhaging" their children, several local journalists reported after a recent tour through Sanguié, Nayala, Kossi and other parts of that West African nation. They uncovered a recurring story: countless children, mostly under the age of 14, have left their families in search of work elsewhere in the country or across the border in neighbouring Côte d'Ivoire. Some departed "voluntarily" or at the urging of their parents to escape the severe poverty of their home areas. Others were ensnared by labour traffickers.
In almost all cases, according to some of the children who managed to return, they ended up in arduous and poorly paid jobs on plantations or in domestic service, often at great risk to their health, sometimes beaten or prey to sexual predators. Eric Bationo, a child in Réo, was kidnapped in 1997 and did not come back until three years later, suffering from gangrene, according to his mother.

Faced with a clear increase in "such abominable practices," stated Mr. Boniface Coulibaly, secretary-general of Kadiogo province, "the highest authorities of our country could not simply cross their arms or close their eyes." In May, the national government ratified Convention 182 of the International Labour Organization (ILO) prohibiting the worst forms of child labour. And like a number of other countries in Africa, it launched a campaign, supported by the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and other agencies, to oppose the practice.
Local government authorities, child welfare experts, community leaders and rights activists have begun educating parents about the dangers of child labour. According to the ILO, slightly more than 51 per cent of all children in Burkina between the ages of 10 and 14 work, even though the labour code bars employment under 14.
Across Africa, there are an estimated 80 million child workers, a number that could rise to 100 million by 2015. Since the problem is closely linked to the continent's poverty, and can only be eliminated with increases in family incomes and children's educational opportunities, UNICEF, the ILO and other groups are focusing initially on the "worst forms" of child labour. These include forced labour and slavery, prostitution, employment in the drug trade and other criminal activities, and occupations that are especially dangerous to children's health and security.
Targeting traffickers
In April, news reports circulated internationally that a Nigerian-registered "slave ship" carrying 250 children was sailing off the coast of West Africa. When it finally docked in Benin, no children were actually found on board. Nevertheless, the furor aroused by the reports helped "put a spotlight" on the reality of child trafficking in the region, notes Mr. Alec Fyfe, a senior adviser on child labour for UNICEF. "Trafficking is beginning to get on the policy agenda," he told Africa Recovery.
Because trafficking tears children away from the protection of their families and communities, it is especially perilous to their well being. An ILO study issued in June found that child trafficking in West and Central Africa is on the rise. Reports from Benin, Burkina, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Gabon, Ghana, Mali, Nigeria and Togo suggest that most of the children are sent to other countries for domestic service, or put to work on plantations, in petty trade, as beggars and in soliciting. The trafficking of children for commercial sexual exploitation was also reported.
Trafficked children, the study found, were working between 10 and 20 hours a day, carrying heavy loads and operating dangerous tools. They often lack adequate food and drink. Nigeria reported that one out of five children trafficked in that country died of illness or accidents. Others contracted sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS. Although parents were sometimes persuaded by recruiters to send their children away to earn some extra income, often neither the children nor the parents were paid.
In fact, many such children are "treated like slaves," according to Dr. Rima Salah, UNICEF regional director for West and Central Africa. In a paper presented to a pan-African conference on "human trafficking" held in Nigeria in February, Dr. Salah agreed with the ILO assessment that child labour trafficking has become a "substantial problem" in the region. Among the reasons influencing the phenomenon, the paper listed:
-- Poverty, "a major and ubiquitous causal factor," which greatly limits vocational and economic opportunities in rural areas in particular and pushes families to use all available avenues to increase their meagre incomes.
--- Inadequate educational opportunities. "The motive for moving children from the protective envelope of the family is often the search for education rather than the search for work."
-- Ignorance among families and children about the risks of trafficking.
-- Migration of adults from villages to urban slums, which exposes their children to greater risks.
-- High demand among employers for cheap and submissive child labour, especially in the informal sector.
-- Ease of travel across regional borders.
-- The desire of young people themselves to travel and explore.
-- Inadequate political commitment, legislation and judicial mechanisms to deal with child traffickers.
Over the past year, however, African countries have been moving more systematically to counter this trend. In Nigeria, the national legislature has outlawed human trafficking, while Gabon has set up a national commission against child trafficking, headed by the vice-president. Côte d'Ivoire and Mali signed a cooperation accord to combat cross-border trafficking, which should improve the detection and tracking of trafficking networks and the repatriation of children who have been rescued. Mali has opened a special transit centre in Sikasso to receive repatriated children and provide special services, including psychological care, before reuniting them with their families.

Africa has the highest incidence of child labour in the world. According to the ILO, 41 per cent of all African children between the ages of 5 and 14 are involved in some form of economic activity.

Some programmes also emphasize mobilizing key sectors of society. In Burkina, officials of various ministries are meeting with local authorities, traditional chiefs and other village leaders in the worst-affected provinces. They aim to set up community "vigilance" structures against child trafficking. At the end of September, two civil servants in Balé province spotted a large group of children travelling with several adults. Suspicious, they questioned members of the group, and quickly determined that the 69 children -- a few of them under the age of 10 and a big majority of them girls -- were being transported to work on cotton plantations in Burkina's Sourou Valley. A soldier who happened to be passing by on a motorcycle took the adult traffickers into custody, while the children themselves were taken to the provincial capital for return to their parents.
In late June, the International Federation of Transport Workers urged its affiliated road, port and sea workers' unions to be on the alert against trafficking networks. "Since the traffickers use public transport," said the federation, "the contribution of your unions will prove important in the struggle against this despicable and shameless exploitation of our children.... Together, we can defeat child trafficking and forced labour."
'Poverty is the problem'
Child trafficking is only one of the more pernicious aspects of a much broader problem. Africa has the highest incidence of child labour in the world. According to the ILO, 41 per cent of all African children between the ages of 5 and 14 are involved in some form of economic activity, compared with 21 per cent in Asia and 17 per cent in Latin America. Among girls, the participation rate also is the highest: 37 per cent in Africa, 20 per cent in Asia and 11 per cent in Latin America.
It is no coincidence that Africa also is the poorest region, with the weakest school systems. And among African children, those from poorer families are far more likely to seek work. A 1999 Child Labour Survey in Zimbabwe, conducted by the ILO, found that about 88 per cent of economically active children aged 5-17 came from households with incomes below Z$2,000 (US$36) per month. As family incomes rose above Z$3,000, the participation rate dropped to less than 1 per cent. Parents and guardians of working children, when asked why they let their children work, most often responded "to supplement household income" or "to help household in enterprise."

Educational poster in Tanzania against overworking of children.
Photo: © UNICEF / Giacomo Pirozzi

In Tanzania, too, parents often see little choice but to have their children help directly on their own farms or in informal sector activities. Ms. Leila Sheikh, director of the Tanzania Media Women's Association, states simply: "Poverty is the major problem."
According to an ILO study on Tanzania, the incidence of child labour in the country has risen partly because of the deterioration of the school system, itself a result of economic decline. Poor infrastructure, low teacher morale and the introduction of school fees under the country's structural adjustment programme have contributed to higher drop-out and truancy rates. This has brought down Tanzania's once-high primary enrolment rate: from 90 per cent in 1980 to 77.8 per cent in 1996. Thirty per cent of all children between 10 and 14 are not attending school, and many end up working. In villages around mining sites, the school drop-out rate is around 30-40 per cent.
AIDS is another contributing factor in many African countries. By killing so many breadwinners, it has driven more families deeper into poverty, placing an even greater burden on the survivors, including children. Asked about child labour on Tanzanian tea estates, Mr. Norman Kelly, general manager of the Brooke Bond plantation replied: "The adult workforce is fast diminishing because of the high incidence of HIV/AIDS among many workers."
A UNICEF study of six countries in Eastern and Southern Africa found that the "dissolution of families from HIV/AIDS increases the likelihood of children being forced into exploitative labour.... Just when children should be in school, their burdensome new role as family breadwinner forces them to drop out."
Education and mobilization
Recognizing that the roots of child labour lie in family poverty -- and that it cannot simply be legislated out of existence -- the ILO draws a distinction "between normal family obligations and work which gives rise to exploitation and abuse." The UNICEF study on Eastern and Southern Africa similarly acknowledges that African culture allows children to work within the family and community, but economic hardships, HIV/AIDS and other disasters "have distorted traditional forms of child work into exploitative practices."
Since the conditions do not yet exist to end all types of child labour, the immediate challenge is to educate the public about the dangers to children of the most exploitative and abusive forms of child labour and to mobilize governments and societies to combat them.
Mr. Fyfe of UNICEF believes that this focus on the worst forms is useful in helping to set priorities and winning broad support from governments. He recalls that the ILO's Convention 138, which urged countries to set minimum ages of 14 or 15 years for regular employment, won support only slowly after its original adoption in 1973, with scarcely 40 governments ratifying it by the mid-1990s (a number that has since climbed to 112). But Convention 182 prohibiting the worst forms of child labour has won support very rapidly -- it has been ratified by 100 countries in just two years. "It has worked in that strategic sense, in getting a global consensus," he observes.
Mr. Fyfe cautions, however, that an excessive focus on the worst forms of child labour may "cast into shadow" the broader problem. "Too much of a focus on the worst forms may be at the price of neglecting the more fundamental things you need to do, in terms of the macroeconomic environment, education and changing attitudes, which would actually undermine child labour itself."

The immediate challenge is to educate the public about the dangers to children of the most exploitative and abusive forms of child labour and to mobilize governments and societies to combat them.

With its years of experience in children's issues in Africa, he says, UNICEF is well-positioned to address these broader contexts. In addition to its extensive work in children's education and health, it approaches the struggle against child labour as a children's rights issue. For several years, UNICEF has been campaigning for universal birth registration, which helps children gain admission to school and facilitates enforcement of minimum-age regulations. UNICEF's extensive presence in Africa has enabled it to play an especially active role in partnership with the ILO, which has relatively few offices in the region. In Rwanda, for example, UNICEF persuaded the government to ratify Convention 182.
Numerous national programmes are now under way in Africa, involving the ILO, UNICEF, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), trade unions and others. In Tanzania, a local project linked to the ILO's International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour has made some progress in exposing the dangers faced by children working in mines, where they were often used in narrow tunnels to place dynamite for blasting. Thanks to the campaign, child labour has been virtually eliminated from the large mines, although it still exists in the smaller ones. The Tanzania Federation of Trade Unions has become involved in fighting for better and safer working conditions for children on tobacco, tea and other plantations. The federation also wants to reduce child labour, in part to safeguard the jobs of adult workers.
In Senegal, the national media has given extensive coverage to child labour issues and a number of NGOs have mounted campaigns. Three major Senegalese union federations have conducted investigations in all ten regions, focusing on sectors that are particularly risky for children -- including agriculture, fishing, transport and tourism. At a two-day workshop in late July, the unions cited the risk of serious injuries posed in some occupations, the potential of sexual abuse of children working in domestic service and the tourism trade, and the general psychological and developmental problems that face such "precocious workers."
The federations decided to establish an Observatoire Intersyndical ("Inter-union Observatory") to monitor and combat the worst forms of child labour. It will work with other labour groups, employers' associations, parents and civil society organizations to raise awareness about the problem. According to the Observatoire's vice-president, Mr. Macissé Lô, it also will take a longer-term development perspective, to elaborate "alternative programmes aimed at overcoming educational shortcomings and improving the incomes of families who feel obliged to let their children work in such occupations." http://www.un.org/en/africarenewal/vol15no3/153chil4.htm Stop Child Labour
Child labour is the employment of children under an age determined by law or custom. This practice is considered exploitative by many countries and international organizations. child labour was not seen as a problem throughout most of history, only becoming a disputed issue with the beginning of universal schooling and the concepts of workers' and children's rights.
Child labour can be factory work, mining or quarrying, agriculture, helping in the parents' business, having one's own small business (for example selling food), or doing odd jobs. Some children work as guides for tourists, sometimes combined with bringing in business for shops and restaurants (where they may also work as waiters). Other children are forced to do tedious and repetitive jobs such as assembling boxes or polishing shoes. However, rather than in factories and sweatshops, most child labor occurs in the informal sector, "selling on the street, at work in agriculture or hidden away in houses - far from the reach of official labor inspectors and from media scrutiny."[1]
The most controversial forms of work include the military use of children as well as child prostitution. Less controversial, and often legal with some restrictions, are work as child actors and child singers, as well as agricultural work outside of the school year (seasonal work).
Protect our children... Stop child labour
Child labour continues to exist throughout the world. Children work because their survival and that of their families depend on it, and in some cases, because unscrupulous adults take advantage of their vulnerability. child labour is also due to weaknesses in education systems and is deeply rooted in cultural and social attitudes and traditions. The problem is further compounded by the fact that child labour remains hidden from public view, making the problem seem less of a priority.
What can be done about child labour?
There are many approaches, and no single magic solution. Here are some suggestions.
1. Prioritise primary education It is no coincidence that the countries where child labour is worst are those that spend least on primary education. Primary education should be free, compulsory, well-resourced, relevant and nearby. It is much easier to monitor school attendance that to inspect factories and workshops. Sponsoring a child doesn't solve this problem - it might make us feel good, but it only helps educate one child, isolating them from others in their community.
2. Regulate global trade The World Trade Organisation (WTO) is the international body charged with overseeing and enforcing the rules of world trade as drawn up during the four decades of GATT negotiations.
Given the impact that globalisation combined with economic rationalist policies have had on workers' wages, conditions, safety standards and basic rights, the global union movement is calling for additional regulation of international trading laws.
Trade unions globally are pushing for a set of rules stipulating the minimum labour standards to be included in the rules of world trade enforced by the WTO. Including core labour standards would enforce several key ILO Conventions such as the right for workers to join a trade union and bargain collectively, and the banning of child labour, as well as banning slave labour, prison labour and discrimination in the workplace.
3. Get rid of poverty Many things are needed to overcome global poverty, but two urgent steps are:
a) Get rid of Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs): When a country has a balance of payments difficulty, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) implements a SAP for that country. This IMF program usually demands cuts to government social spending such as health and education, spending cuts which impact hardest on the poorest.
b) Restructure Third World Debt. The repayments of the poorest and most indebted countries should be redirected into spending on local health and education rather than to Western bankers. An international campaign aims to cancel the debts of the poorest countries - see the Jubilee Australia website for details and to get involved.
4. Strengthen unions Trade unions also play a crucial role in preventing and eliminating child labour. Adult workers who have the right to organise, negotiate and bargain for a living wage do not have to send their children to work. Where strong unions exist, child labour is diminished. Unions not only strongly oppose child labour on the grounds of social justice, they also resist the hiring of children at wages that undermine their own.
5. Consumer education As consumers, we are the driving force behind the global economy - let's drive it the right direction. We can raise awareness, we can question stores about the labour conditions under which their goods were made, and we can demand proper labelling. If they can tell us what's in a product, they can also tell us who made it. Where labelling exists (eg, Rugmark for hand woven carpets) support these products. Pester multinational companies to adopt codes of conduct for themselves and their subcontractors.
6. Ban the worst forms of child labour Demand the government support the ILO Convention 182 banning the worst forms of child labour such as bonded labour, work in heavy industry or with dangerous substances and commercial sexual exploitation.
7. Give the jobs of child workers to their adult relatives This way, the family does not suffer, and indeed should be better off, as adult wages are generally much higher than child wages.
8. Campaign on specific industries It's hard to take on the whole global economy, so just work industry by industry. Recent ACTU and international union campaigns have involved sporting goods made by child labour, medical instruments made by children (often exported to Australia) and the gem polishing industry in India where children polish diamonds, often sourced from Australia's Argyle diamond mine. Another recent campaign has involved the role of children in citrus juice production in Brazil.
9. Join the Fair Wear campaign Where exploitative child labour does exist in Australia, it is predominantly in the outsourced clothing industry. The Fair Wear Campaign is a coalition of unions, churches and community organisations. It works in association with the Textile, Clothing & Footwear Union and uses consumer pressure to fight for the rights of all homebased outworkers. Contact the Fair Wear Campaign for further details.
10. Education and training for women All studies show that when women are educated, trained and empowered, the incidence of labour by their children, especially girl children, drops dramatically. Your union's overseas aid agency, Union Aid Abroad-APHEDA - has many projects assisting skills training for women. Support them.
11. Our overseas aid The Australian government's overseas aid budget is approximately $1.8 billion per year. This should give it leverage to encourage other governments to enact and enforce adequate legislation banning child labour. We need to demand that a greater share of this budget goes to non-government aid agencies for primary education and teacher training, rather than to big, for-profit companies and to subsidising middle class students to study in our universities.
12. Get more data While the ILO has collected a lot of data on child labour in recent years, there are still many gaps. We need more data especially in those "hidden" areas such as domestic servants, on farms or with home-based out-workers.
WHAT ARE SOME SOLUTIONS TO STOPCHILD LABOR?
Not necessarily in this order:
1. Increased family incomes
2. Education - that helps children learn skills that will help them earn a living
3. Social services - that help children and families survive crises, such as disease, or loss of home and shelter
4. Family control of fertility - so that families are not burdened by children
The 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child calls for children to participate in important decisions that will affect their lives.
Some educators and social scientists believe that one of the most important ways to help child workers is to ask their opinions, and involve them in constructing "solutions" to their own problems. Strong advocates of this approach are Boyden, Myers and Ling; Concerned for Working Children in Karnataka, India; many children's "unions" and "movements," and the Save the Children family of non-governmental organizations.
Child Slavery and Child Labour
Ask most people about slavery and they'll tell you it's a thing of the past with only rare, unfortunate occurrences today. But what most people don't know is, there are more people living as slaves than any other time in history, including the four decades of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. That is, an estimated 27 million people live in bondage. Of that figure, it can only be estimated how many are children: five to six million.
Exacerbated by extreme poverty, children are often sold into slavery by their parents or guardians. Along with paying desperate families for a child, parents are promised the child will receive food, shelter, clothing and a proper education. In many cases, however, parents are unwittingly pushing their children into a dismal life of slavery. They may never see their child again.
Children work in agriculture, domestic work, industry and the sex trade. The cocoa industry in West Africa, for instance, is one of the most notorious employers of child slaves. Young boys, ranging in age from 12 to 16, are coaxed from their villages with promises of money and a better life. Once on the farm, the children are kept against their will and work in inhumane conditions to harvest cocoa beans to sell to the world market. Child slaves are also used to manufacture cotton, rugs, and silk, among other things.
Many child slaves denied an education, freedom of movement, and freedom of information. They are confined, beaten, and terrorized and are forced to work in dangerous conditions that often result in life-long injuries. Because poverty is so widespread, children are seen as disposable and are often fed just enough to be kept alive. It seems there is always a desperate family that could be enticed to sell a child. On average, slaves are sold for US$90.
While millions of children are slaves, 246 million more are child laborers. The difference between the two is faint. Child labor is an activity performed by a child for which he/she receives compensation, no matter how little. Child labor can range from children combing landfills for things that can be recycled to children who harvest sugar cane in a field. At least 120 million children work full-time, 61 percent in Asia, 32 percent in Africa and 7 percent in Latin America.
Some children are born into bondage and are forced to follow a parent's trade. Bonded labor also occurs when a child is forced to work to pay off a debt. Many times children incur "expenses" at their workplace, for food and shelter for instance, and are unable to pay off the debt.
Both child slavery and child labor cause physical and psychological damage for children. Many children attempt to escape and return home again, only to be forced into similar situations. Others live on the streets to avoid punishment and re-enslavement. In rare circumstances, children are rescued by aid and non-profit organizations who attempt to secure them a better future. Chocolate Covered Child Labour
Most of our children play with teddy bears, children in West Africa play with Machetes. Why? So you can enjoy your cup of coffee.
Coffee culture is rapidly growing and the demand for chocolate never seems to stop. For every bar we buy more children are forced into child slavery on cocoa farms. Over 67% of the world's cocoa comes from West Africa. As the trading wheel of injustice spins, children are tortured, farmers go hungry, and large companies such as Nestle and Cadburys make a profit. When we consume more chocolate the demand for cocoa increases, and so farmers can make money to feed their family from the fruits of their labor.
Unfortunately that is not the case as it's the corrupted trading system which dictates the price.
Instead global companies charge high prices for their products but refuse to pay a fair price for cocoa beans, the primary ingredient needed for the coffee and chocolate they sell. As a result farmers sell their beans to middlemen who then negotiate trading prices to sell on to companies. Farmers only receive half the amount of money the beans are originally bought for as the middleman receives the rest. In most cases they do not make a profit. Desperate farmers transform into corrupted farmers and become involved in the business of child trafficking. Young children wandering the streets of Ghana, and Cote d'Ivoire are lured by traffickers who promise them a life where they can earn an honest wage so they don't go hungry.
Opportunity knocks at the wrong door as children are then abducted and sold to farmers as slaves.
They are forced into painful work, long days in inhumane conditions without pay and with little food. Work includes using machetes to cut the cacao pods from high branches, and applying pesticides without protective equipment. Dangerous days and fearful nights is the typical day in the life of child slaves. Young children are psychologically deceived into staying on the farm. If they are brave enough, attempting to escape back home to their parents, they are beaten, whipped, and tortured.
According to Global Exchange.org 240,000 children have been sold as slaves in West Africa to work on coffee, cocoa, and cotton plantations, and according to a US State Department Report 15,000 of those children are aged between 9-12. While our children attend school the children we have forgotten dream of such opportunities. These children don't receive their basic right to an education instead they have a tortured life of abuse and daily beatings so you can have your Mars bar.
It's a tricky cycle to break as cocoa beans produced by slaves are hard to detect. Once the farmer gives his goods to the middleman to sell, the beans are taken to a warehouse and mixed with beans produced by paid workers. At this stage companies play the blame game by stating they have no way of detecting which beans are from slave free farms. If we refuse to use all cocoa then farmers would be under more pressure which would result in more cases of child slavery.Global companies need to make their products fair trade. If they pay the farmers a minimum wage, farmers are obliged to form an agreement which states their working standards are democratic with no slavery involved, and their cocoa is of good quality. Direct business will mean the middleman is no longer needed and farmers can reap what they sow. It all sounds very fair and simple, so why don't all products have the fair trade label on? Because companies like Nestle are quite happy making $65 billion a year.While we blissfully sip our hot chocolate, we are tasting the blood of another child. http://veeranath.hubpages.com/hub/Stop_child_labour Child Labour
Shortly after Iqbal Masih was born in a small village in rural Pakistan, his father abandoned the family. Iqbal's mother struggled to support her children as a housecleaner, but could not. When he was four years old, Iqbal was sold for $16 into bonded labour at a carpet factory. He worked 12 hours a day and was horribly undernourished and beaten by the foreman many times.
When Iqbal was nine years old, a local labour rights organization helped him escape the factory. He was given a place at a school for freed child labourers in Lahore where he'd be safe. Iqbal began telling other child labourers about the law in Pakistan that made bonded labour illegal-they had never heard about this law. When children started to follow Iqbal's example and escape the factories, the owners threatened Iqbal and his family. But he didn't back down. At age 12, he travelled to Sweden and the U.S. to speak out against child labour. When he returned to Pakistan in April, 1995, Iqbal was shot and killed.
Iqbal's story reflects the lives of over 200 million children around the world who have been forced to give up school, sports, play and sometimes even their families and homes to work under dangerous, harmful, and abusive conditions. After reading about Iqbal's life and death, Craig Kielburger started Free The Children to continue what Iqbal had started: children helping children be free to live better lives.

Good Work and Harmful Work
Many children all over the world do some kind of work. You might have an after-school job, or maybe you help out with chores around the house. This kind of work can be great: you build skills and earn extra cash. It’s not child labour. Only work that’s harmful to a child’s physical and mental development is considered to be child labour. One in seven children is exposed to this kind of labour, kept from school and the chance to improve the situation they were born into. They are often put in danger too. Every year, 22,000 children die from accidents related to their work. And that doesn't say anything about the mental and emotional harm of being forced to work long, hard hours or experiencing things that no person should.
Child labour involves: * Work performed by children under the age of 18 (depending on the country) * Long hours of work on a regular or full-time basis * Abusive treatment by the employer * No access, or poor access, to education

Types of Child Labour
Child labour includes selling things in the street or working in someone's house as a domestic servant. In these cases, it's not so much the work itself that's bad, but how the child is treated, how many hours a day they work, and whether the work prevents school attendance. In the worst cases, children are trapped in these situations by debts or outright slavery.
Then there are extreme kinds of child labour. One type of what are called the "worst forms" of child labour is "hazardous work," work that is very difficult and harmful to the child's physical development. This includes anything from carrying heavy loads and using dangerous machinery to spraying pesticides and working in unclean environments.
The other worst type of child labour is called "unconditional worst forms." That means that no matter what the circumstances are, not matter how much is paid or how little the child does, it is illegal-even for adults. Every effort must be made to end this form of labour. This includes slavery, the buying and selling of a human being (called "human trafficking"), forced or bonded labour, using children in armed conflict, prostitution, pornography, and involvement in drugs or any other illegal activity.

Reasons for Becoming a Child Labourer
Each child has his or her own story. In some cases, such as Iqbal's, poverty causes parents to sell their child to a factory or mine. Many street children in Vietnam, for example, sell gifts in the street, bringing all the money they earn to an unemployed parent or guardian. Unfortunately, because of high unemployment and labour laws, it can be easier for an adult to make a child work informally than for them to find a wage-paying job. Illness may also be a cause of child labour. A parent may be too sick to work, or worse. In sub-Saharan Africa, HIV/AIDS has orphaned 11.5 million children, taking the kids out of school to care for their siblings, run the household, and earn an income any way they can.

The Global Fight
Every child in the world has the right not to work. Every child deserves a fair chance to learn and be healthy. Unfortunately, many kids fall into the cracks and can't get out by themselves. A global effort to fight child labour is incredibly important, and at its heart are the children who stand up and speak out for one another. One child's voice can be drowned out, especially when it has been weakened by oppressive conditions and stronger adults. But even just a small group of brave kids can make a difference. Don't let your voice go unheard. Speak up and speak out, stand beside kids around the world to fight for a fair chance to grow up healthily and happily.

As of 2004, there were 218 million child labourers around the world. |

| The number of child labourers fell by 16 percent between 2000 and 2004. |

| Twenty-six percent of all children in Africa are workers. While the percentage of child labourers is decreasing across Africa, there are actually more children in the workforce now than 10 years ago. |

| Seven out of 10 children work in agriculture, two in services and the last one in industry. |

| It is estimated to take $760 billion over 20 years to eliminate child labour completely. The estimated benefit in terms of better education and health is over $4 trillion, a six to one difference. |

http://www.freethechildren.com/getinvolved/youth/issues/index.php?type=childlabour

What can be done about child labour? |
There are many approaches, and no single magic solution. Here are some suggestions.
1. Prioritise primary education
It is no coincidence that the countries where child labour is worst are those that spend least on primary education. Primary education should be free, compulsory, well-resourced, relevant and nearby. It is much easier to monitor school attendance that to inspect factories and workshops. Sponsoring a child doesn't solve this problem - it might make us feel good, but it only helps educate one child, isolating them from others in their community.
2. Regulate global trade
The World Trade Organisation (WTO) is the international body charged with overseeing and enforcing the rules of world trade as drawn up during the four decades of GATT negotiations.
Given the impact that globalisation combined with economic rationalist policies have had on workers' wages, conditions, safety standards and basic rights, the global union movement is calling for additional regulation of international trading laws.
Trade unions globally are pushing for a set of rules stipulating the minimum labour standards to be included in the rules of world trade enforced by the WTO. Including core labour standards would enforce several key ILO Conventions such as the right for workers to join a trade union and bargain collectively, and the banning of child labour, as well as banning slave labour, prison labour and discrimination in the workplace.
3. Get rid of poverty
Many things are needed to overcome global poverty, but two urgent steps are:
a) Get rid of Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs):
When a country has a balance of payments difficulty, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) implements a SAP for that country. This IMF program usually demands cuts to government social spending such as health and education, spending cuts which impact hardest on the poorest.
b) Restructure Third World Debt.
The repayments of the poorest and most indebted countries should be redirected into spending on local health and education rather than to Western bankers. An international campaign aims to cancel the debts of the poorest countries - see the Jubilee Australia website for details and to get involved.
4. Strengthen unions
Trade unions also play a crucial role in preventing and eliminating child labour. Adult workers who have the right to organise, negotiate and bargain for a living wage do not have to send their children to work. Where strong unions exist, child labour is diminished. Unions not only strongly oppose child labour on the grounds of social justice, they also resist the hiring of children at wages that undermine their own.
5. Consumer education
As consumers, we are the driving force behind the global economy - let's drive it the right direction. We can raise awareness, we can question stores about the labour conditions under which their goods were made, and we can demand proper labelling. If they can tell us what's in a product, they can also tell us who made it. Where labelling exists (eg, Rugmark for hand woven carpets) support these products. Pester multinational companies to adopt codes of conduct for themselves and their subcontractors.
6. Ban the worst forms of child labour
Demand the government support the ILO Convention 182 banning the worst forms of child labour such as bonded labour, work in heavy industry or with dangerous substances and commercial sexual exploitation.
7. Give the jobs of child workers to their adult relatives
This way, the family does not suffer, and indeed should be better off, as adult wages are generally much higher than child wages.
8. Campaign on specific industries
It's hard to take on the whole global economy, so just work industry by industry. Recent ACTU and international union campaigns have involved sporting goods made by child labour, medical instruments made by children (often exported to Australia) and the gem polishing industry in India where children polish diamonds, often sourced from Australia's Argyle diamond mine. Another recent campaign has involved the role of children in citrus juice production in Brazil.
9. Join the Fair Wear campaign
Where exploitative child labour does exist in Australia, it is predominantly in the outsourced clothing industry. The Fair Wear Campaign is a coalition of unions, churches and community organisations. It works in association with the Textile, Clothing & Footwear Union and uses consumer pressure to fight for the rights of all homebased outworkers. Contact the Fair Wear Campaign for further details.
10. Education and training for women
All studies show that when women are educated, trained and empowered, the incidence of labour by their children, especially girl children, drops dramatically. Your union's overseas aid agency, Union Aid Abroad-APHEDA - has many projects assisting skills training for women. Support them.
11. Our overseas aid
The Australian government's overseas aid budget is approximately $1.8 billion per year. This should give it leverage to encourage other governments to enact and enforce adequate legislation banning child labour. We need to demand that a greater share of this budget goes to non-government aid agencies for primary education and teacher training, rather than to big, for-profit companies and to subsidising middle class students to study in our universities.
12. Get more data
While the ILO has collected a lot of data on child labour in recent years, there are still many gaps. We need more data especially in those "hidden" areas such as domestic servants, on farms or with home-based out-workers.

Last Modified: Sunday, 22-Apr-2007 14:48:56 EST http://www.apheda.org.au/campaigns/child_labour/resources/1071218961_8072.html | | |

Well, you can support a child, campaign, buy products like rugs, coffee etc.,and buy products that weren't produced by children. well we couldn't be stupid and make our children work and we could get a job and learn and make money wooo=) you can begin by helping children start in school fundrasing to stop the child labor law.

A well we can create websites telling ppl around the world telling how children live in other parts of the world.
MUN SOO we can send a letter to the president:)

go to save the children to donate money
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Overview
What is child labour?
Child labour is defined in ILO Conventions. It is work that children should not be doing because they are too young to work, or – if they are old enough to work – because it is dangerous or otherwise unsuitable for them. Not all work done by children should be classified as child labour that is to be targeted for elimination. Children’s or adolescents’ participation in work that does not affect their health and personal development or interfere with their education, is generally regarded as being something positive. Whether or not particular forms of “work” can be called “child labour” depends on the child’s age, the type and hours of work performed and the conditions under which it is performed, as set out in the ILO Conventions.
There are many forms of child labour worldwide. Children are engaged in agricultural labour, in mining, in manufacturing, in domestic service, types of construction, scavenging and begging on the streets. Others are trapped in forms of slavery in armed conflicts, forced labour and debt bondage (to pay off debts incurred by parents and grandparents) as well as in commercial sexual exploitation and illicit activities, such as drug trafficking and organized begging and in many other forms of labour. Many of these are “worst forms” of child labour as they are especially harmful, morally reprehensible, and they violate the child’s freedom and human rights. Child labour tends to be concentrated in the informal sector of the economy. For some work, children receive no payment, only food and a place to sleep. Children in informal sector work receive no payment if they are injured or become ill, and can seek no protection if they suffer violence or are maltreated by their employer.
The causes and consequences of child labour
“All child labour, and especially the worst forms, should be eliminated. It not only undermines the roots of human nature and rights but also threatens future social and economic progress worldwide. Trade, competitiveness and economic efficiency should not be a pretext for this abuse.” Toolkit for mainstreaming employment and decent work/United Nations System Chief Executives Board for Coordination (ILO, Geneva, 2007)
Child labour is a complex problem and numerous factors influence whether children work or not. Poverty emerges as the most compelling reason why children work. Poor households spend the bulk of their income on food and the income provided by working children is often critical to their survival. However, poverty is not the only factor in child labour and cannot justify all types of employment and servitude. Countries may be equally poor and yet have relatively high or relatively low levels of child labour.
Other factors include:
Barriers to education – basic education is not free in all countries and is not always available for all children, especially in remote rural areas. Where schools are available, the quality of education can be poor and the content not relevant. In situations where education is not affordable or parents see no value in education, children are sent to work, rather than to school.
Culture and tradition – with few opportunities open to children with more education, parents are likely to share a cultural norm in which labour is seen as the most productive use of a child’s time. Children are often expected to follow in their parents’ footsteps and are frequently summoned to “help” other members of the family, often at a young age.
Salissa from Burkina Faso
Salissa used to work with her mother at a gold mine in Ziniguima. They left very early each morning and came back late at night as they lived far from the site. Every day, they sorted through the stones looking for gold. All the workers were afraid of the employer, especially the children. At the end of the day, he never paid them their full wage. One day, Salissa saw a very thin man who could hardly walk and could not stop coughing. Her mother told her that he was suffering from the “gold disease”, a respiratory disease caused be the dust at the site. This made Salissa even more afraid to work there. Fortunately for Salissa, a local community organization working to help children at the mine convinced her father to enrol Salissa in school.3
Market demand – child labour is not accidental. Employers may prefer to hire children because they are “cheaper” than their adult counterparts, can be dispensed of easily if labour demands fluctuate and also form a docile, obedient work-force that will not seek to organize itself for protection and support.
The effects of income shocks on households – households that do not have the means to deal with income shocks, such as natural disasters, economic or agricultural crises or the impact of HIV, AIDS, may resort to child labour as a coping mechanism. For example, millions of children have been affected by the HIV pandemic. Many children live with HIV, while an even larger number have been orphaned or made vulnerable by AIDS. If a parent falls ill due to HIV or AIDS related illnesses, the child may have to drop out of school to care for family members. The phenomenon of child-headed households is also associated with the HIV, AIDS epidemic as orphaned children work to care for younger siblings.
Inadequate/poor enforcement of legislation and policies to protect children – child labour persists when national laws and policies to protect children are lacking or are not effectively implemented.
Childhood is a critical time for safe and healthy human development. Because children are still growing they have special characteristics and needs, in terms of physical, cognitive (thought/learning) and behavioural development and growth, that must be taken into consideration. Child labourers are at a high risk of illness, injury and even death due to a wide variety of machinery, biological, physical, chemical, ergonomic, welfare/hygiene and psychosocial hazards, as well as from long hours of work and poor living conditions. The work hazards and risks that affect adult workers can affect child labourers even more strongly. For example, physical strain, especially when combined with repetitive movements, on growing bones and joints can cause stunting, spinal injury and other life long deformation and disabilities. Children often also suffer psychological damage from working and living in an environment where they are denigrated, harassed or experience violence and abuse. In addition, child labour has a profound effect on a child’s future. Denied the right to a quality education, as adults they have little chance of obtaining a decent job and escaping the cycle of poverty and exploitation.
“No to child labour is our stance. Yet 215 million are in child labour as a matter of survival. A world without child labour is possible with the right priorities and policies: quality education, opportunities for young people, decent work for parents, a basic social protection floor for all. Driven by conscience, let’s muster the courage and conviction to act in solidarity and ensure every child’s right to his or her childhood. It brings rewards for all.” Juan Somavia, ILO Director-General

http://www.un.org/en/globalissues/briefingpapers/childlabour/index.shtml