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Rich families are perpetrating child labour, charges BETUZ

Rich families are perpetrating child labour, charges BETUZ
Written by Mutale Kapekele
Saturday, June 13, 2009 3:49:01 PM

THE Basic Education Teachers Union of Zambia (BETUZ) has charged that rich families are perpetrating child labour among girls. And the International Labour Organisation (ILO) has warned that the global financial crisis is threatening to erode progress made in fighting child labour.

In his message to commemorate the World Day Against Child Labour which fell yesterday, BETUZ general secretary Cosmas Mukuka observed that many “well-to-do” families were using girls from rural areas as cheap labour.

“BETUZ is cognisant to the fact that many girl children from rural areas and poor homes are employed as maids at the expense of their education,” Mukuka observed. “It has become a common trend that people perpetrating this vice are well to do and educated families that have been employing girl children below the age of 15 as maids.”

He appealed to the Ministry of Labour to introduce punitive measures through legislation to combat the “continued exploitation of girls.”

Mukuka said child labour infringed on children’s right to economic and social development.

And according to a new report issued by ILO, the global financial crisis could push an increasing number of children into child labour.

The ILO report titled ‘Give Girls a Chance: Tackling child labour, a key to the future’, noted that while recent global estimates indicated that the number of children involved in child labour had been falling, the financial crisis threatened to erode that progress.

“We have seen some real progress in reducing child labour. The policies chosen in the present crisis will be a test of national and global commitment to take this fight forward,” ILO director-general Juan Somavia is quoted in the report.

The report stated that the danger of girls being forced into child labour was linked to evidence that in many countries, families gave preference to boys when making decisions on education of children.

It also observed that the increase in poverty, as a result of the crisis, forced poor families with a number of children to make choices as to which children stayed in school.

“In cultures in which a higher value is placed on education of male children, girls risk being taken out of school, and are then likely to enter the workforce at an early age,” the report observed. “Other factors which could push up the numbers in child labour include cuts in national education budgets, and a decline in remittances of migrant workers, as these remittances often help to keep children in school.”

This year’s World Day against Child Labour also coincides with the tenth anniversary of ILO Convention No. 182 on the elimination of the worst forms of child labour.

“With 169 ratifications, we are now just 14 short of universal ratification by our member States” stated Somavia. “It is a remarkable expression of commitment. This Convention calls for special attention to the situation of girls and we want to highlight the particular risks that girls face during this crisis. Protecting girls – and all children – from child labour calls for integrated responses that include jobs for parents, and social protection measures that help them to keep both girls and boys in school. Access to basic education and training for girls and boys must also be part of the solutions for the future.”

The ILO report states that the most recent global estimate indicated that more than 100 million girls were involved in child labour and many were exposed to some of its worst forms.

Labels: BETUZ, CHILD LABOUR, ILO

posted by MrK @ 2:53 PM