Child Labour
by Bill Toxvard
"The true winning strategy against child labour is to reduce poverty in rural areas of the developing world, offering income opportunities, addressing health and safety in agriculture, improving pesticide management, and ensuring sustainable development."
José María Sumpsi, FAO Assistant Director-General for Agriculture and Consumer Protection, 12 June 2007, World Day Against Child Labour
The Issue
Imagine a life where each and every day you go to bed each bound to a loom so that you will not run away. Or, that you are unable to attend school or simply go outside to play because you have been taken from your family to work in a factory where a small portion of the money you make is sent to your family, if at all. This is the case each day where according to the International Labour Organization (ILO), 1 in 6 children work globally.
The highest numbers of child labourers are in the Asia/Pacific region, where there are 122 million working children and the highest proportion of child labourers is in Sub Saharan Africa, where 26% of children (49 million) are involved in work.
In 2004, figures from the International Labour Organization (ILO) show that:
- 218 million children aged 5 - 17 are involved in child labour world-wide
- 73 million working children are less than 10 years old
- Every year, 22,000 children die in work-related accidents
- 8.4 million children are trapped in slavery, trafficking, debt bondage, prostitution, pornography and other illicit activities
- 1.2 million of these children have been trafficked
But, what is Child Labour?
As defined by the International Labour Organization's International Program on the Elimination of Child Labour (ILO-IPEC); the term "child labour" is often defined as work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity, and that is harmful to physical and mental development.
It refers to work that:
- is mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous and harmful to children; and
- interferes with their schooling by:
- depriving them of the opportunity to attend school;
- obliging them to leave school prematurely; or
- requiring them to attempt to combine school attendance with excessively long and heavy work.
One of the primary difficulties in addressing child labour is how to define it. Each country's circumstances may dictate what forms of "work" can be called "child labour". Factors to consider are the child's age, the hours and work performed, the conditions that may vary between sectors as well. It is important not to confuse child labour with activities that assist in child development, such as helping around the house, doing chores, and assisting in the family business to earn extra money during school holidays. The largest sector that employs children is agriculture, estimates show that 1/3 of children involved in child labour must work for their own, and or, their family's livelihood. This regularly exposes the child to long hours, hazardous equipment, and often harsh weather conditions. In addition, they are frequently exposed to pesticides and physical labour that is detrimental to a child's physical development. Their immune systems are not fully developed to mitigate the exposure to the pesticides, herbicides, or fertilizers that contain toxins that hinder healthy development into adulthood. Beyond the farms, other industries that use child labour experience higher occurrences of injuries as children must use tools otherwise designed for adults, such as construction equipment, knitting looms, working in mines, and manufacturing assembly lines.
Compounding the physical implications is the danger of missing out on the childhood opportunities that most of us enjoy. This leads to the child not receiving basic education or experiencing simple joy in playing. Education is fundamental as a corner stone of a solid foundation to break free from the cycle of poverty. Spending time playing on the playground, using their imagination, and interaction with other children develops a child's abilities to create social bonds or coping skills that create sustainable communities and strong families. Without access to school a child's potential may never be fully realized.
Child Labour Myths
UNICEF's "The State of the World's Children" lists four "myths" pertaining to Child Labour:
1. It is a myth that child labour is only a problem in developing countries. "But in fact, children routinely work in all industrialized countries, and hazardous forms of child labour can be found in many countries. In the US, for example, children are employed in agriculture, a high proportion of them from immigrant or ethnic-minority families. A 1990 survey of Mexican-American children working in the farms of New York State showed that almost half had worked in fields still wet with pesticides and over a third had themselves been sprayed."
2. It is a myth that child labour will only disappear when poverty disappears. Hazardous labour can, and should be eliminated by even the poorest countries.
3. It is a myth that most child labourers work in sweatshops making goods for export. "Soccer balls made by children in Pakistan for use by children in industrialized countries may provide a compelling symbol, but in fact, only a very small proportion of all child workers are employed in export industries - probably less than 5 per cent. Most of the world's child labourers actually are to be found in the informal sector - selling on the street, at work in agriculture or hidden away in houses - far from the reach of official labour inspectors and from media scrutiny."
4. It is a myth that "the only way to make headway against child labour is for consumers and governments to apply pressure through sanctions and boycotts. While international commitment and pressure are important, boycotts and other sweeping measures can only affect export sectors, which are relatively small exploiters of child labour. Such measures are also blunt instruments with long-term consequences that can actually harm rather than help the children involved."
The challenge of addressing the issue of child labour is interdependent on the issue of child poverty. Child labour offers a short term solution to a long term issue, where if a child can be afforded the opportunities of access to education and a healthy childhood, it will provide a long term sustainable solutions to child poverty.
What can you do?
You can educate yourself and spread the message to raise awareness of this issue.
Write to companies that use child labour and demand that they stop.
Try to buy fair trade when you can. Be sure that your actions as a consumer do not exploit children.
Ask your government to ratify and implement the Convention on the Worst Forms of Child Labour.
Choose to donate directly or volunteer with organizations that are working at the heart of the issue, such as GVN or GVN Foundation. By volunteering in communities of need you will have an opportunity to directly effect change by supporting our partners on the ground whose programs are working toward the common goal of strengthening communities, which in turn will result in the reliance of child labour.
Observe World Day Against Child Labour every year on June 12. Don't forget that it's important to think and talk about these issues every day, not just once a year.
Other solutions
Micro-lending and education initiatives in local communities, especially in rural agricultural areas, are showing strong signs of success. By providing credit to those who otherwise are unable to obtain capital, the need to have the children work to bring income into the family is negated. This then makes it possible for the children to enroll in school rather than work so that the family can sustain itself. With education, both through the lending institutions and schools, it is possible to educate members of the community of the negative impacts of overdependence on child labour.
For further reading visit:
International Organization of Labour (International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour)
Human Rights Watch - Children's Rights-Child Labour
UNICEF - Child Protection from violence, exploitation and abuse