Talk:Ipyet/Child Labour Considerations Youth Enterprise training
Discussions for Child Labour Considerations Youth Enterprise training will take place here as moderated by Mukatimui Chabala.
--Victor P. K. Mensah 18:52, 3 March 2011 (UTC)
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Contents
| Thread title | Replies | Last modified |
|---|---|---|
| Child labour in your context | 25 | 16:48, 23 April 2011 |
| Causes of child labour | 16 | 08:54, 20 April 2011 |
| Consequences of child labour | 16 | 06:00, 16 April 2011 |
| Child labour and youth enterprise | 10 | 03:07, 15 April 2011 |
| Understanding of child labour | 22 | 23:28, 9 April 2011 |
| What role can you play? | 11 | 10:38, 17 March 2011 |
| Wrap up | 1 | 05:36, 8 March 2011 |
| Deleted discussion | 8 | 19:00, 7 March 2011 |
Dear participants, Now that there is a general common understanding and agreement on what child labour is, please share some examples of common forms of child labour around you. Have you noted any differences in levels of type of work and geographic concentration? Are there any youths among them and how do you think it affects them?
Hi Everyone,
The most common forms of child labour in Nigeria are hawking and having children serve as domestic helps to relatives in return for the education and upbringing of the child. Poverty is a major reason for this. Children in some cases are also hired as deomestic helps to non-relatives for financial renumeration to their families. Hawking and domestic labour are the most common forms of child labour in the cities while in the rural areas common forms of child labour are children working on farms.
Traditional beliefs is an underlying factor in child labour in Nigeria, because children supporting their parents in their economic activities after school by hawking or children serving as domestic helps to a more financially stable relative are often not considered as child labour, traditionally. However, with the passage of the Child Rights Act, which is a domestication of the Convention of the rights of the child In Nigeria, since the year 2003, awareness is growing on the need to prevent these common forms of child labour and other worst forms such as child trafficking.
Youths are not victims of child labour in Nigeria, because the age definition of youth is 18-35years. A most common form of exploitative labour among youth in Nigeria is the Human Trafficking problem. Youth are often victims of Human Trafficking to countries in Europe. Trafficking in persons is illegal in Nigeria and the government has an agency to deal with issues of human trafficking, but still youth fall victims because of poverty and unemployment.
Most times the youth are trafficked for prostitution, and so it affects their health and moral well being and they often have problems of reintegration into the society when they return either voluntarily or when they are repatriated.
Hi Shining Star. Indeed, much of child labour incidences are linked to the family 'enterprise' and this is where we see the concentration of child labourers in agricultural activities, vending and domestic work. It is however interesting to note that countries with similar poverty levels have varying magnitudes of child labour. While poverty is almost always associated with child labour, it is not necessarily the main cause. This is why it is important to determine other factors which lead families to send children to work or to the children themselves taking that step (e.g. low value attached to education).
Hello, I believe that forms of child labour in Africa is the same in that children are usually involved in street vending or hawking, agriculture, prostitution, stone crushing, domesticate child labour (maids, doing house chores fit for adults, children minding fellow children). These forms of child labour is dependent on the geographic setting (Rural or Urban), the economic status of the family and belief. For example, in Zambia, it is believed that they are teaching the child to be a responsible adult or playing their role in bringing income so as to help the family.
Agricultural Child labour is a common form in Zambia according to Child Policy of 2006, The statistical survey conducted by ILO statistical information and Monitoring Programme on Child Labour in 2001 estimated 600,000 childrren that are economically active and that 87% of these children were where found in agricultural related occupations and mostly liveed in rural areas als that t5he majority of the working children 97% were working as unpaid family workers and 75.7% combined work with schooling.
I also found this one common in Zambia in urban areas stone crushing, in my community this at one time was so heavy, that the children who were invlved in the work could not attend schools, there was some interventions through Jesus Cares Ministry through ILO to put back these children in school. it was both garl child and boy child.
Yes there are youths among them and what we did in our community was to work with Jesus Cares Ministy through ILO's support to empower Youths with Livelihoohs or skills that would enable these youths who have not been to school and some who drpoed from school, I remember one parent who came to my office bring her son so we could train him in carpentry, the father is a security guard and during day time he and the wife crashes stone just to make ends meet so we enrolled their son who was at 15 yrs old this son was adropout from school in grade 3. so what I did was I recommende for a training of two years since the boy could not read or write. but was able to get instruction. so we trained about 10 of these 2 we retained them in our carpentry department some have been employed as they come to my office they regard me as a second parent. Now those who have not such an opportunity end up in streets and sometimes in child labour which at the end of their lives affect them as they beggin to leave in the streets and can not contribute to the grouth of our economy.
Hi Rabrod,
Thanks for the elaboration on the situation in Zambia. You may also be interested in looking at the CSO child labour survey report of 2005 and the Understanding Children's Work report of 2009 which was shared with JCM. There was a subsequent survey by CSO in 2008, the results of which we are all anxiously waiting to be released. The experiences from your direct interventions will be of particular interest in further discussions to come. For now, please join in the next discussion.
Dear all,
I believe that the most common form of child labour in Kenya is where the children (read young girls) are "employed" by relatives as househelps but no pay is forthcoming, sometimes it is channeled to the parents and in other times none at all.
Another major form of child labour is in the agricultural industry and especially in the flower sub sector. Child prostitution cannot be downplayed and I agree that this is perhaps the most disgracing form of child labour that robs off the dignity of the child.
There seems to be some pattern in the distribution of child labour with the rural areas leading in agricultural related child labour while the urban areas are notorious for domestic related child labour and child prostitution. Of course there has been a lot of effort by the government to wipe off this vice, especially child prostitution, but there have been major obstacles especially surrounding tourism.
By definition, youths are not subject to child labour but there is a new challenge at this age........underemployment. This is where the employer simply takes advantage of the high unemployment rates to pay "peanuts" to the workers, especially the new workers in teh market who happen to be the youth.--Marcosmburu 15:05, 3 March 2011 (UTC)
Dear Marcosmburu,
These are indeed serious challenges that communities and countries at large are grappling with. Please also refer to my comment to Leah yesterday on the worst forms of child labour. Do you know of any policies in place in Kenya to tackle child labour? On the aspect of the youth, if the national definition covers any ages below 18 years, then one would look out for hazardous working conditions which would place them in the category of child labourers.
Lungowe,
There is a very clear policy on children in Kenya and of course it is meant to protect the Kenyan children from exploitation. Please have a look at the Children Act 2001
Lungowe, I do not know whether if the countries where this thing is going on as has been mentioned by the other participants have no policy on the right of the child nor are not signatories certain UN convention on the right of the child. the issue is about its implementation and who supervises the implementation process. I think of it as more of educating and persuading people to change such attitude than go strictly according to laws.
My colleague from Zambia RABROD has aptly summarised the most common forms of child labour in Zambia.Let me add a few more. These are:
- Working as porters around the Central Business Districts and in various communities;
- Selling various items either as street vendors or in markets;
- Being bus conductors or call boys and
- Girl prostitution.
Gabriel, It is very true that most of the practices are very common to most of the countries.--Kafuiaheto 06:55, 4 March 2011 (UTC)
Child labour is serious in the cocoa production process around the cocoa producing areas in my country. Fishing, mining, prostitution and drug peddling cannot be left out. Circumstances beyond the control of children are what force them into these forms of labour. Most of them work for very long hours for just little or no money or acknowledgements.--Kafuiaheto 06:37, 4 March 2011 (UTC)
I believe the forms of child labour are largely dependent on the economic activities a particular community is involved in. For instance in Zambia's Lusaka city, stone crushing is one of the most common forms of child labour. In the other provinces, most children, especially in villages are involved in the agricultural sector while those living around townships are involved in trading.
Zambia has different pieces of legislation aimed at protecting the child but with different age definitions of a child, some of which overlap with the age definition of a youth. In this regard, it can be said that the youth are equally affected
Hi Mui and my colleaques oncemore!
Some forms of child labour prevelant in Nigeria include:street hawking, farming, househelp, street begging, casual labourers at construction sites,automobile mechanics, etc. Child labourers engaged in farming are more noticeable in rural settings while the other forms are more prevelant in urban settings.
Hi Mui and my colleaques oncemore!
Some forms of child labour prevelant in Nigeria include:street hawking, farming, househelp, street begging, casual labourers at construction sites,automobile mechanics, etc. Child labourers engaged in farming are more noticeable in rural settings while the other forms are more prevelant in urban settings.
Hi colleaques,
Very sorry, was away to attend family issues. The type of child labour which is common in Nigeria are :street hawking, , force labour, child exploitation farming, househelp, street begging, casual labourers,prostitution and most of them lead to HIV/AIDS etc
Hi Mui & all,
Most forms of child labour I have witnessed around (Lusaka, Zambia) are concentrated in the illegal settlements. I have seen children helping their parents at the expense of their education. These are children who take their blind parents by the hand and go begging in the street. Close to where I live, I have noticed a lady in a wheelchair who comes pushed by a boy going from car to car by the traffic lights asking for money. This boy looks to be about 9 or 10 years old. This has been going on for close to 2 years. Sometimes I wonder what goes through his mind when he sees his peers in uniform going to and from school as they pass him by. I fear to think how this boy’s youth will be affected.
=wilson j mbongwe= Hellow to all
Apology . I have not been effectively participting becsuase of the network problem. The notable type of child labour in Botwana is that affecting Basawa (Bushman) tribe since they suffer ethnic discrimination and negative social attitude from the rest of the socity. That therefore hinders them in attainng their social and economic advancement and as a result thier children are subjected to odd jobs like heard boys and girls or work in fields lands and not given an opportunity by the their master to go school. however the goververment has paased for directives that seek to punish those who would practise any form child labour that is aginst the expected practise.
Most of child labour issues are common in rural areas with a percentage of about 87% of the children involved in agriculture related occupations, particularly in the commercial farms. Compounding the problem of Child labour is the prevailing economic situation in Zambia,which exposes vulnerable Children such as orphans to exploitation as a result of need,this affects their well being as some of their rights are denied,such as access to a good education,i have seen this with my own eyes where children are heading families and the only way out for them to take care of their young ones is to get employed even when conditions relating to their well being are pathetic.
I grew up spending vacations with my mum at Yeji in Ghana (a town just like Siavonga in Zambia) The common trade of the people were fishing and the owners of such businesses used mainl child labour. The children are contrated for between two and three years. At the end of the contract, the fee is paid to the parents. The conditions these little children live and work in is so inhuman that the children are affected psychologically, mentally, physically, etc.
Also, on the streets of major cities, you see children selling all kings of things while others are used as porters in markets.
I grew up in farming community in the western part of Ghana, where the children are deemed to be a blessing of God to help in farming. The more children you have, the better it is for increasing the farm size. Children are used for weeding, collecting fire wood, harvesting at the expense of their education.
Child labour is serious especially in the streets of our towns we see children selling different kinds of goods and products. May i just say child labour should be discouraged at cost in compromises the quality of products for those that are production.
The result of child labour is streetism, armed robbery, drug peddling,petty thievery and begging. The effect is a cycle of having more parents who engage in further child labour and sometimes, child trafficking.
You ask the question of what can we do? we can form community groups, youth advocacy groups, to educate and advise the people and tell them the negative implications of child labour.
Please share your understanding on the causes of child labour.
Child labour is a know fact in Zambia. When you look in the streets children are the ones selling groundnuts and many other things. This has stood the test of time and issues of child labour have not been adequately handled.
Child labour is caused by low income levels. If a family has working parents and their income is not enough for household needs, parents or guardians may force their children to be involved in some form of child labour.
Hi Everyone,
Child labour in most countries can and is caused by the high poverty levels of families, as well as one being orphaned hence having to engage in it, lack of financial support from guardians etc but in a nutshell most of these causes are interrelated and children of one parent POVERTY!!!
Some other causes of child labour are:
- poverty,
- parental illiteracy,
- social apathy,
- ignorance,
- lack of education and exposure
- exploitation of cheap and unorganized labor.
- family practice that inculcates traditional skills in children also pulls little ones inexorably in the trap of child labor, as they never get the opportunity to learn anything else.
- (Source: http://www.childlabor.in/causes-of-child-labour.htm)
Child labour refers to the employment of children at regular and sustained labour. This practice is considered exploitative by many international organizations and is illegal in many countries.(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_labour). So many factor may result in child labour. In my view I think poverty is the root cause for this. Other factors are the lack of (proper) education, high unemployment rate of parents, High school fees, insatiable human needs, economic hardships, single parenting, divorce or death of parents.
Dear all,
Thank you for the very lively discussion so far. This is certainly a strong network of advocates for children's and young people's rights. Please also be encouraged to interact with fellow participants in the discussions.
From your discussions so far, you have shared examples pointing to the link between child labour, poverty and other social and economic factors. In this way, you have highlighted that even though poverty is a significant determinant, it is not necessarily the main cause of child labour. We will now move to the next discussion.--Lungowe 07:04, 4 March 2011 (UTC)
Child labour has also become rampant due to the fact that these children are ophaned and as a result od HIV/AIDS. They are left to fend for themsleves. Here is a link showing the child labour activities in Zambia http://www.mapsofworld.com/zambia/useful-information/child-labor.html Farai-Zambia
Hi Mui.
Poverty is the main causes of child labour, Poor parents send their children to work, not out of choice but for reasons of economic expediency. The hunting grounds for child traffickers are invariably areas of the most extreme poverty where families have exhausted all other strategies for survival. Economic setbacks arising from recession, climate disater, longlasting civil conflict, lack of education and unemployment. Excess population, you must have observed that poor families have more number of children it usually become very difficult for them to survive on the income so they make their children to work, hawking. While some carry their infants on the street to earn money from begging and most of them indulge in prostitution.
Hello Everyone,
Has anyone bought items from a Child hawker before? Well I have, and sometimes I do just to get the child off the street at night. A personal experience I had was of a child who was out as late as 8-9pm local time in my country, just waiting to sell the last bunch of banana. Probably, that child may have been asked not to come home until each bunch is sold out.
My point is that the major reason parents will have their children out late at night hawking is poverty, well there are other causes, such as ignorance, traditional beliefs and practices, like other colleagues have stated, but Poverty is responsible for majority of the cases.
Shining star an all,
I just want to throw the spanner to the work hoping that my boss Victor will not delete this post since I believe that this is a valid question; can child labour be justifiable in any circumstances? I take your example of that little child selling out bananas and your action to buy from the child knowing very well that you are advancing child labour- the advocate you are, regardless.
Look at this scenario, a child is orphaned and is at the age of 17 and has two siblings who have nobody else to look upto; of course we know that our respective societies can be very cruel to orphans. This young teenager mobilises little resources to start a hawking business where he manages a meal for his siblings...... of course this is child labour but with a different circumstance. Would we frown at this or congratulate it as innovation when we look at the contribution of this child in securing a future for his siblings? Or is child labour evil. period!
Dear Shining Star
I'm sorry to tell you that you have supported child labour. What you did is really encouraging child labour. I'm sure you saw that child the next day at your door or neighbourhood. What is unethical cannot be justified underany circumstances. I think you should have taken that child to the Police so that the parents would be dealt with by the law.
Hi,
Child labour is not only common in Zambia, it is also common in Nigeria. However, the causes of child labour to my understanding are: poverty of the mind and money, parental care, ignorance, family practice, and quest for cheap labour.
Child labour in most countries can or is caused by the high poverty levels of families,Poverty is the main causes of child labour, Poor parents send their children to work, not out of choice but for reasons of economic expediency. As well as one being orphaned hence having to engage in it, lack of financial support from guardians.
our government here in Botswana is trying by almeans to help overcome poverty hence preventing child labour but in a way someway somehow one might find herself involve in child labour due to some things which are beyond or control , I had to find myself at some point doing some piece jobs during my school vacation in order to meet my siblings needs .
But let me tell you the truth right now I wish I can go back to my young age and enjoy to be a child , because I think I grow up so fast , I didn't go through some stages which some children went through , I always wish my parents were still alive by then and i could have not gone through what I went through.
Cheers!!!!
The Causes of Child Labour
These are various underlying causes that are prevalent behind this slavery practice.
Child Abuse
An example is the child labourers that 90 percent of workers employed in hazarous cracker industry are chilodren.
Exploitative Employers
The employers pay less wages and no leave is allowed .
- Poor financial background of parents
- Parents in the hope of earning money and repaying loans normally sends their children to work.
- Girl child labourers have no choice, they are at risk of being exploited sexually . Apathy of the society people still want such kids as domestic helpers for law wages.
This is not happening in my country but was just giving an overview of what might be the causes of child labour.
Though this not under discussion
I think these can be the solutions of child labour
There are no maginal solutions but if a collective effort is taken, conditions may improve.
Parents - should be provided financial help : this will make them more sensitive towards their children . Imparting basic education skills All the schools should be opened for abondoned child labourers. This will enable them to focus on their education
Law enforcement agencies
Should be made active . This would deter employees from employing them underage. Social revolution is the biggest key . Once |Media mobilizes biggest key. once media mobilizes the society ,the practice shall stop .
Thus it is essential that the economic condintions should be imporved for the child labor to stop .When parents would think of sending their children to school as compared to mines and factories, but a social revolution at basic level is needed where every one of us should refuse to employ an underage domestic help. Children are the future dreams of every notion. Let us pledge to make to make their childhood safe and secure.
Cheers!!!
Hi All, In most cases poverty is the main driver of child labour. The absence of alternatives at the family level, child labour becomes one of the coping mechanisms.--Smauye 14:03, 14 April 2011 (UTC)
Poverty and illiteracy are the main causes of child labour. The argument has always been that children must support the family financially. Due to illiteracy and ignorance, such parents who give their children out to greedy employers do not see the harm done to the poor innocent child. I have seen children as young as 5 (five) sell in my neighbourhood and remember threatening to cause the arrest of the parents if the practice continued.
Please give your views on consequences of child labour on the affected individual as well as on national development efforts and how these affect the youth.
Hi Mui, Child labour that deprives children of their childhood and opportunity to go to school deprives nations of talent. This has negative effects on both social and economic development. Criminal activity, vandalism are a few of the social effects. Economically nations loose out since the children are not able to grow into mature informed and productive citizens.--Smauye 07:30, 4 March 2011 (UTC)
Hi Smauye, this is indeed the crux of the matter when looking at the consequences on national development. Missing out on attaining the education and skills to effectively participate in the labour market denies a lot of child labourers the opportunity to have a better means of sustenance in the future. Do you have any specific cases you have encountered or dealt with to share on children directly impacted on?
Hi,
I believe that all the consequences of child labour have been shared by my colleagues and i can say that they are similar in most areas regardless of age, sex, race and geographical location, these include emotional, psychological and mental trauma and children are also exposed to STI, physical and sexual abuse. these children do not also grow up or develop into responsible and productive individuals.
Hi Mui,
The victims of child labour may be exposed to dangerous situations that may affect their health, as well as their social and moral well being. Child labourers who most times are sent to hawk may fall victims of sexual exploitation which may expose them to HIV/AIDS. Their social orientation also becomes affected, this is because they mix up with adults on the streets and since they are at an impressionable age they easily become recruited into armed gangs, exposed to hard drugs and other vices.
Victims of child labour when they attain the youth age bracket often become maladjusted. They may have been denied the opportunity of education as a child and so may not have a means of livelihood; with no skills and unemployed these groups of youth may become delinquent in their bid to survive and this may adversely affect the socio-economic development of their nation.
The consequences of child labour are as varied as the forms of child labour. If child labour prevents one from getting educated, such an individual's chances of getting out of poverty are greatly reduced. Whem you have big numbers of such individuals, a nation will be deprived of the necessary human capital.
Political inability. Mental deformity. Increased illiteracy. Perpetuation of poverty. Inability to contribute or benefit from development. Stunted growth of future generation. Persistence of child labour and inability to harness human resources.
Dear Chichi, you have interestingly brought up the aspect of the spiral of child labour and poverty. Just to pick one angle of this, a family may consider the opportunity cost of sending a child to school as a discouraging factor compared to having them bring in some income or help with some family activities. The child then gets into adolescence without the education and skills required to compete favourably in the labour market and ends up in continued exploitative working conditions, struggling to survive or other undesired situations. In adulthood, the person is much less likely to take their children through school and so the spiral goes on.
Indeed,child labour has a lot of consequences on the affected individual and national development. I see the consequences as one thing leading to the other. It has psychological problems on the individual. The victim may always wonder why s/he has to go through this ordeal or practice. The situation can also impede the educational ability of victims. Victims along the line may not become educable because they either lose interest or perform poorly in education. Cumulatively, I may say that it causes increased illiteracy and ignorant citizens. Interestingly,it can also pose health hazards that go unnoticed. child labour can result in stunted growth of the child and his/her posterity. Most child labourers are highly malnourished thereby reducing their immunity against various diseases. The list may go on and on but child labour as a consequence on national development can not be underestimated.
Nationally, child labour has the potential of promoting rural- urban migration of citizens. This does not suggest to mean that child labour only goes on in the rural areas. It can also heighten the frustrations of citizens of a nation as great persons and future eminent individuals get extinct through child labour. Due to low income levels, there will always be the inability of such victims to contribute to national development because of perpetuation economic downturn. Again, I will agree to the fact that child labour can be come a persistent activity or cycle in a family if nations do not fight against it through policies such as free compulsory and universal basic education.
Effects on the youth: Victims of child labour may be serious potentials for gangsterism. They become targets of rebels and revolt groups who may use them for very diabolic activities. Again, potentials will be lost in brain drain to child labour. Greats minds would not be able to climb to the top because of the limitation of good education and exposure. --Kafuiaheto 17:56, 5 March 2011 (UTC)
Mui,
I think child labour is a counterproductive encounter in that parents, as well as the children themselves, engage in the hope of getting an extra coin to add to their income; however, the lost chance of education sinks the child into deeper poverty in future and of course this leads to a bitter youth who is willing to hit back at society, ushering in crime among the youth. We say that everything has its time and let the child go to school at the expected age and start working later.
Child labour has a negative effect on national development by denying the future drivers of the economy, the children, the chance to be educated--Marcosmburu 16:28, 7 March 2011 (UTC)
Hi colleaques,
The consequences of child labour are; psychological problems which may affect the mental ability of the child, child migration, health hazard which could lead to HIV/AIDS and STIs diseases, illiteracy, poverty, drug abuse etc. All these have negative effect on national development.
Hi all,
Child labour will not break the cycle of poverty. Most of these people will never have a chance of attaining a basic level of education to improve their standard of living. Eventually, these individuals will have families and they will not have much to offer to their children. This entails enlarged illegal settlements for urban areas. It is mostly in these areas that crime thrives and these areas are not catered for in terms of national development. Most of these areas lack clean drinking water, sanitation and proper housing just to mention a few. There will be no sustainable development for the youth.
The consequences are grave as the adage says,children of today are the adults of tomorrow,as these children grow up into adults they tend to have psychological problems which may lead into them not realizing what good is in them and they can do to bring about national development.
Let us now delve a little deeper into child labour in the context of youth enterprise, which will take us into Monday's discussions.
Please share your views on whether you think there is need for child labour considerations in youth enterprise. Please also refer to the picture of the blacksmith in the notes sent to you via e-mail in pdf (by Victor) and give your reactions particularly on:
- The life of this boy when he becomes a youth
- Implications for youth enterprise (the setting in the picture might well be a youth targeted establishment...)
This is one of the refection of real example of child labour issues. we could imagine his health condition and who can pay for that at the end?. This is one of the most hazardous conditions. He has missed his school as well. He is mostly missing his productive child age which he could have invested for his education. It is really a painful picture for me. The ultimate effect of this condition will have greater impact on his youth entrepreneurship life because he is mostly missing most of the basic opportunities/ foundation required to be a capable youth
Dear Mui and all,
In my opinion I think it is necessary for us to discuss the issue of child labour in youth enterprise in the sense that we all undergo different stages of development as human beings and as such our childhood is what determines what sort of youth we will become.
The young blacksmith in the picture has not only been deprived or of a childhood whether intentionally or unintentionally. At that stage that child already feels that he is an adult and will behave as an adult because he has been placed with the burden that was meant to be for the parents.
Hi Mui, I strongly believe that there is need for child labour considerations in youth enterprise.
My position is based on the fact that the children are potential youth who are expexcted to be the adults of tomorrow.With the attendant deprivation,physiological and anatomical deformites occassioned by prematuer exposure to streneous activities,the child labourer is more likely to graduate from childhood to adulthood,by-passing the youth stage of devvelopment .This should not be the case at all!
The child worker in the picture must have lost the joy of childhood already and sees himself as an adult.His perceptions and orientationt about life must have change, having found himself conciously or unconciously in that situation.
His parents may have not engaged him consciously,or might have engaged him in order to sustain the family trade,or as an apprentice in the spirit of "catching them young."
Either way we look at that scenerio, the childsmith stands a greater risk of being infected by the deadly gas from the Blacksmith's shade.It is quite a pity!
The potential young blacksmith may be a victim of the family cycle of child labour. The parents may have enrolled him early enough so that he did not struggle too much in life. But from the picture a person can quickly conclude from the face won by the young guy that he is already frustrated.
There are so many implications for the youth enterprise. This young guy is really exposed to a lot of risk and hazards. He is also a potential school drop out and may not be able to contribute his full potentials to the nation as a youth later in life and as an adult.--Kafuiaheto 18:48, 5 March 2011 (UTC)
Hi to all and thank you for these contributions. Indeed the problem of child labour is a real issue. A child labourer misses a lot from their childhood and youth and may end up dysfunctional in one way or another, experience varying health and emotional problems, suffer injury which may lead to disability or in the most severe of circumstances lose their life. The impact at individual level filters through to the macro level. It poses a challenge in strengthening the skills base particularly targeting the youth, a much needed ingredient to drive national development, if the foundation is shaky.
Hi, The child is already a victim of child labor because of his age. To my understanding, the parents thought is good for the child but little do they know that is harmful to the child because of the danger of gas the child inhaled which has effect on the child's health
Hi all
Child Labour considerations in Youth Enterprise are essential because it will guide youth entrepreneurs from offending the law on child labour where it exists. On the child blacksmith, I have in mind two scenarios, The first is that the child may never be able to break out of the cycle of poverty, with no education and skills, he may continue in that trade throughout his youthful years, raise a family and it could even transcend to generational poverty, because he may end up raising his kids with no education, and the kids are likely to become child blacksmiths as well.
On the other hand the child may abandon the trade as a youth and because he lacks education and a means of livelihood, he may engage in a number of vices in a bid to survive, that may affect the socio-economic development of his country e.g armed group violence, militancy etc…Well I sincerely hope the child gets rescued.
Hi Mui,
When I think of the boy in the picture, I suppose his father went through a similar lifestyle. There is little the boy can do when he becomes a youth other than continue working there. In most cases an external force would be needed to change that life. I heard of a couple that decided to sponsor a child labourer to school by paying the parents the same amount of money that the child brought to help feed the siblings. The education the child received opened new opportunities for him which saw him through to college and later helped his parents in a way never dreamt of. It’s important to consider child labour in youth enterprise in order to draw the line between a child labourer and one being taught survival skills. A child being taught survival skills leads to widened opportunities in youth enterprise rather than threatened health.
Hi all I do agree Mui that what we only give out what we ourselves have received,i believe even the boy thinks that,this all there is for him accepting the situation and there is very little he can do when he grows up into a youth,much is needed to change the mind set of the Child.
Dear Participants,
Welcome to this class. My name is Mukatimui Chabala. You can simply call me Mui. I hope you have had a good break and are ready for the next series of sessions. To begin the discussions on this topic:
share your views on your understanding of child labour.
--Lungowe 12:57, 2 March 2011 (UTC)
Good Morning to you all
Child labour in Namibia has occasionally been reported. This involved cases of child prostitution as well as voluntary and forced agricultural labour, cattle herding and vending.
Namibia ratified both the ILO Minimum Age Convention (C138) and the ILO Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (C182) in 2000. In addition, the country also ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1990. Namibia signed the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child in 1999, but has not ratified it as yet.
Namibia's Labour Act is the principal law governing employment-related matters in Namibia and contains provisions prohibiting employment of children.
According to the 1999 Namibian Child Activities Survey child labour exists in the country, predominantly in the agricultural sector. The results of a follow-up survey conducted in December 2005 have not been made publicly available.
Between 2006 and 2008 the country has been in the process of formulating the Action Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour in Namibia, which was nationally endorsed in February 2008. This was done with the assistance of the International Labour Organisation's (ILO) programme Towards the Elimination of the worst forms of Child Labour.
From
Leah T Olu-King Windhoek Namibia
Hello Leah. Thank you for sharing this information from Namibia. I can see that you have been following issues on child labour in the country. The examples you have shared on child prostitution and forced labour are among those types of child labour consitered under the Worst Forms and deemed for elimination by 2016. Have you in any way been involved in the programmes you mention that are ongoing to deal with the issue of child labour?
Iam working for the City of Windhoek Department of Economic Development and Community Services and we are working with Junior Councillors , this are Junior Councillors from different schools in Windhoek elected by their fellow learners as representative in the management of the City.
The Junior Councillors of the City of Windhoek are involved in various programs working with the Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare in Namibia and Iam coordinating some of their program, last year the Junior Councillors conducted various workshop in schools to raise awareness of Child Labour and Trafficking of children in order to encouraged victims and members of the public to report suspected trafficking offenders and assist in investigations and prosecutions. Traffichers exploit Namibian children as well as children from Angola and Zambia, through forced labour in agriculture, charcoal production and commercial sexual exploitation.
One major factor that causes Child labour in Zambia is children being orphaned or their parents are unable to take care of their children and so you find a child whom by law, is not supposed to be engaged labour intensive activities but should be enjoying the right to education, is digging pits, portering, fetching water, doing domestic chores, quarrying and stone breaking or hawking on the streets or in markets. This is really alarming and is robbing children of their right to be a child and have a decent childhood. Farai Chansa- Zambia
Hi,
Child labour is using either boys or girls aged from as early as 03 years of age to about 12 for the pure purpose of monetary gain. Child labour in Africa is high due to the high levels of poverty and I am of the view that parents or guardians try to use as many hands in the family to ease the economic pressures the family may be experiencing. I am a strong advocate against using children to do what would be termed as adult jobs because not only are children robbed of their innocence but they are also exposed to other vices such as defilement, and other forms of abuse.
Child labor in Zambia is a curse which if not lifted quickly to return the children to school, it will relegate Zambia to the depths of unending poverty. Child labor in Zambia is a deep rooted problem, which has its origin in the parental poverty and orphanhood of almost 1/3 rd of the children in the country. Zambian child labor is a very serious issue because not only does it reflect the dire situation of the country's HIV/AIDS problem but it also holds the keys to Zambia's future.
Hi Mui Mui, Child labour refers to the employment of children who are under a minimum legal age at regular and sustained labour. This practice is considered exploitative by many international organizations such as ILO and is illegal in many countries, including Zambia. History records that it has been in existence for ages but entered public dispute with the advent of universal schooling, with changes in working conditions during the industrial revolution, and with the emergence of the concepts of workers' and children's rights. Minimum ages vary from 14 to 16. "Be-The-Best"
Hi Susiku. You've highlighted the important aspect of age adn the law. Please also remember that the type of work is the other critical factor in the equation. As you have rightly noted, there has been a history to the discussions on the minimum age which is currently recommended to be the age of completion of compulsory education. However, in a lot of countries, education is not compulsory and the labour law is the first line of enforcement and protection.
My understanding of child labour is that it is any work that is not suitable for the wellbeing of a child. It is the kind of work which negatively affects the health or socio-economic development of a child.
Many countries including Zambia are signatories to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and also have national policies aimed at protecting children. However, because of high poverty levels, a lot of children are forced to work to supplement their family incomes. The HIV and AIDS epidemic has worsened the situation as a lot of children are now heading households and therefore have to work to support their siblings.
More often than not, such children lack information on services available.
Dear Mui and all, Thanks for your interesting postings so far on child labour, Personally, I did not find any standard and consistent deifications on child labour. It most varies as per the country socio economic structures. Therefore here I am not in position to exactly reflect my understating on child labour on youth entrepreneurship context . If I have to give my country reference on child labour issues, In Nepal the major jobs children involved in are: agriculture, cottage industry, manufacture, plantation, domestic, catering, selling, manual labour, tourism and travel industries, and others like ragpicking, prostitution, begging, etc. (Suwal et al. 1997; Sattaur 1993; Bajracharya, 1999).. Most exploitative forms of child labour include bonded child labour, forced labour, girl trafficking, use of child labour in domestic and industrial sectors, and exploitation of child labour by carpet industries, street children etcs .
Please I want to learn more on this issues from other colleagues and moderator
Dear Ekanath. Thanks for sharing your personal experience on the definitions of child labour. This is also commonly encountered in the field and it is good that you have brought it up. There are three international conventions which give us a standard definition of child labour namely the ILO Minimum Age Convention (C.138), the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the ILO Convention on the Worst Forms of Child Labour (C.182). thes provide the standard basis for national and international action against child labour. I would encourage you to read more on the provisions in the conventions and find out what legislative and policy frameworks Nepal has in place.
Thanks Mui for your respond and suggestion to browse some of the conventions and the current legislative and policy frameworks of Nepal . Yes I foud quite number of initiative ,for example the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1999, followed Nepal's ratification of the ILO Minimum Age Convention (No. 138), and has made important amendments in the Labour Act, 1992. The Child Labour Act enlists specific occupations as hazardous work and prohibits the use of children below 16 years of age in such activities. The Act regulates hours of work for children aged 14 - 16 and provides that no child shall be engaged to work during a period from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. Further, it prohibits the engagement of children below 14 in any kind of employment.
Most importantly, the Kamaiya Labour Prohibition Act, 2001, Prohibits bonded labour; frees bonded labourers and extinguishes debt flowing from such arrangements. As a result of the Kamaiya Act, many bonded girls in domestic servitude have been withdrawn and reintegrated with their families.
Thanks for your support to better understand this context
Dear all,
Thank you for the interesting contributions. Now that you are conversant with the basics, we will move on to the next discussion, which some of you have already ushered into.
Hi!!!!!!!
Child Labour
<u</u>Is basically exploiting the underage children in any form forcing them to work illegally which harms or abuses them . This abuse may be physical mental or sexual depriving the children (child labourers) of their rights of basic education . Generally every school of thought believes that child labour would be absent in the developed countries due to their higher economic strata. Sadly this is far from true. But it any country , the degree of abuse is just the same . We have landed on moon but failed to revolutionize our society and politicians to take up the cudgely on behalf of small children who do not even know that they are exploited.
Cheers!!!!!!!
Hello Mui, and Hi Everyone,
In my own understanding, Child Labour is when children are engaged in employment or other economic/income generating activities. In most cases such activities are harmful to the physical, mental and social well being of the child. Child labour is often exploitative, because remuneration is very poor and conditions of service are most times not clearly indicated or are not even considered at all. Victims of child labour do not attend school or do poorly at school, as a result.
Hi Mui.
In Nigeria government and some organisation are putting effort to prevent or eliminate the worst form of chid labour as the country is deeply rooted in poverty and cultural attitudes of the people. Nigeria like many other countries, ILO policies are often flawd and violated but in Nigeria there is no legal minimum age for starting work,ILO recommends that children should be in school until the age of 14, but the children under 14 are working mostly to help pay their school fees, buy text books and help their parents for daily up keep. While most of them are drop out due to poverty or because of parents demand to contribute to the family income and many are exposed to long hours of work in dangerous & unhealthy environment. While some children are manage to stay in school and work in their spare time but due to high demands these children often skip classes and missing out on education makes it impossible to break the cycle of poverty and prevent children from having a better life and a safer future.
Dear all,
I believe child labour is simply work to a person who has not attained majority age and thus cannot decide on the appropriate terms of engagement including but not limited to; renumeration, working conditions and terms of reference. Child labour is almost always exploitative.
Child labour in my understanding is any form of labour that is not fit and conducive for children as it is harmful to them and negatively affects their developemnt as children.
Employing or engaging the services of children (i.e. someone aged between 5 and 17 years) for reward or payment. Child labour must not be confused or replaced with household chores or school-related work.In Africa, most of our children are been trained in our various homes through assignments that may engage their services, skills and knowledge. This phenomenal again, cannot be child labour.
Gooday Mui and my Colluques,
Having read through your presentation on the critical issue of child labour and the contributions of my colleaques, i commend your efforts. My understanding of child labour in whatever form, region or culture, is the engagement of the services of minors(young persons below the age 10 years) for economic purposes either for the child concerned or his immediate family or community.This is usually with unpleasant consequencies for the child.
Hi Lungowe, Good test for one knowledge on the topic- 'Child labour'. My view on child labour is any form of danger which children are exposed to or it is the engagement of services of young people into hard labour for economic purposes which has negative effect on the children, it is also the form of labour that is not conducive for a child(Children) which is harmfol to him/her and affect its development
Dear participants,
I hope you all had a good and enjoyable if not restful weekend. Today is our last day of discussions for this sub-module!
In this session, please share some ideas on roles that YOU can play in addressing child labour through your youth programmes or interactions.
Hi All,
Well, I will start by enlightening the youth on the causes and consequences of child labour and on how they could become advocates on Child labour issues in their homes and communities. Young people are good advocates because of their energy and creativity. Their channels of social interaction could be used for advocacy purposes on child labour, e.g. social meetings, online networking sites, drama groups in their communities etc.
Hi Shining Star. Thanks for the ideas - are these examples of networks that you are already actively engaged with? Hope we can have additional suggestions from others in the group. Are people already caught up in the Women's Day 'festivities'?
Hi Shining Star, Your contribution is great, but how can the youth imploy their channels of social interaction to advocate against child labour in an enterpise?
Hi Luckyluka,
Well the youth can be encouraged to use these channels to inform and enlighten others on the issues of child labour e.g. on the Online Networking Site like Facebook, the youth can start a discussion on facebook among their peers and other facebook users on the causes and consequences of child labour
Shining star,
I like the aspect of advocacy you mentioned, but to whom and with who?
Thanks Ubandoma,
Advocacy will be to all members of the community :( Men, Women, Youth and Children)
Good day everybody, The roles i can play in addressing child labour through my Youth programmes include:
-Giving lectures on the definition,causes and effects of child labour;
-Arranging a field trip to sites where child labour is in practice for them to have indepth knowledge of child labour practise ;
-Organise advocacy workshops and rallies to sensitise not only the youth ertrepreneurs, but the society in general; etc
Hi Lungowe,
The role i can play as a youth development officer and student of IPYET are; through prevention, withdrawal and reintegration and mitigation measures. These involve training and skills development, creating awareness on the menance, social mobilization at different levels,empowering the children to speak for their rights, print and distribute IEC materials on 'STOP THE ABUSE OF THE CHILD'
By taking it personal as our own problem and share through the networks we have created such as the one we have,and any other social networks.
Dear Participants,
We have now come to the end of this module. I hope you enjoyed the interaction as much as I did. You have been a very lively and active group - though today we seem to have lost a number of you...
We have covered a lot of ground over the last 3 days, notably:
- Exchanging ideas on when child work is considered child labour and coming to a common understanding that child labour is exploitative and detrimental.
- Highlighting some of the causes and consequences of child labour and showing some examples.
- Noting that children who lose out on getting an education due to being engaged in child labour enter into their adolescence and youth without the skills needed for gainful employment. This leaves them much more vulnerable to joblessness or to low paid, insecure work in hazardous conditions.
- These young people have a high probability of developing into adults lacking decent, secure work; lower productivity and earning lower income; unemployment; possible reliance on children's labour for survival; and high vulnerablility to social and economic shocks.
- Considering all the above in outlining the cycle of child labour and poverty and identifying the importance of child labour considerations in youth enterprise
You are encouraged to continue sharing ideas for the remainder of today on what input you can make in contributing the child labour elimination efforts.
You have been a wonderful group - I look forward to seeing you in the residential programme. All the best with the remainder of the training.
--Lungowe 15:09, 7 March 2011 (UTC)
Mui,
You have tackled thus discussion very well and with a lot of insight. Keep up and I hope we shall meet in Zambia if you are not taking us for another module. Thanks.
this discussion post was deleted because it was not a reply to the moderator nor to another member of the class. For more information, read the instructions on the header above or email me for details.
--Victor P. K. Mensah 13:01, 4 March 2011 (UTC)
Very interesting already, joining the discussion rather or the late note is not exciting to the already discussion this is because one may just repeating issues already pointed out by others. Never the less, child labor in Zambia has been one such social vice that is commonly experienced mostly in suburbs, peri urban centers and much more in the rural parts of Zambia. Causes of child labor a. Ideally in most cases it is one silent social vice that is done unconsciously due to lack of knowledge in many families especially rural based. b. Others because it is costumed, they went through selling during their time of growing hence their children should sell too. c. Relative Depravity is another causes, a thing which comes as a consequent of being poor, chronicler poverty stricken homes. This family has not choice but to send the young one into the street of Lusaka begging for money, selling food stuffs,crushing stones. Also some gets even into prostitution....
Drug addicts also drives young ones who cannot find money for their drug supplements to go into other Income generating Ventures so that they can raise their money. Farming as already pointed out accounts for a bigger percentage of children that are meant to farm at the expense of school.
Child headed households are also heavily indulged into this vice. The parents are not their to take care of their basic needs hence the elder child goes to the street to look for their bread and butter.
Hi Isaac,
Welcome to the discussions and you are not too late. Thank you for your obervations on interelated common causes of child labour. Do you know of any child labour networks supporting the national efforts to address these problems?
hello Mui,
Sorry am late in my contributions. I have followed other colleagues with interest. Indeed child labour as described in various contexts is quite heart breaking, especially where HIV AIDS is the main driver. However, we also need to distinguish between 'allowable' survival strategies and child labour. Personaly I grew up in a poor family and was taught skills in selling and through that I managed to complete my education. Today I am a university graduate. I welcome comments from colleagues.--Smauye 07:25, 4 March 2011 (UTC)
Hi Smauye and welcome to the sessions. You have indeed raised a very important point and participants are encouraged to interact a bit more on this i.e. distinguishing between child work that is positive and child labour. When child work becomes injurous, negative, harmful or undesirable to the child or in short infringes on their childhood rights, it constitutes child labour. Hope to see more discussions and examples on this.
Yes, most of the issues areas covered on the above postings. Thanks for the interesting insights!!!!!. Because the children are the most vulnerable and easier to control and exploit many employers prefer to employ children and youths. This adds to the plight of young people seeking dignified work at a living wage. When children and young people lack education and skills, when their families cannot adequately support them, and when the local economy offers no prospects of dignified work at a living wage, youth are vulnerable to exploitation and in the mean time they could lost their confident to be independent entrepreneurs , definitely this practice will restrict the youth entrepreneurship prospects in the country.
Thank yo very much for the observaton guys i appreciate it so much. My points were based on my experience and what may be considered to be above normally consideration under normal human perspectives of survival. Iam glad Smuye you are a graduate today because your mother did not exploit you but taught you survival mechanisms. Iam Zambian and African hence am using African perspective of considering what is abuse and what is okay. Lets face it my friend. If you were not given time to do school work and may be asked to trade off between your school and selling so that you can have something on your table i dont think today you may be a a proud graduate. You could have simply not have been educated period. There a number of young people out there who are simply not being allowed to go to school because they will be needed to be in the street. I agree more profoundly though that your points are very much varied but the thing is, many young people are being abused , deprived and mistrusted becouse there are a weak element in society.
To answer the other question, yes there are a number of organisation but not handling the whole issue holistically. Many of them are in Lusaka with no presence in rural and other peri urban areas. We need a very robust approach, vicious movement ,which will embrace multifaceted approach in executing this vice if Zambia is to attain the Education for all MDG, and produce a number of graduate like SMUYE
This interaction is very enriching and encouraging. Madam moderator, i would suggest that this interaction is sustained beyond this training. We can come up with a movement to advocate for the children rights in a broader context through a wider network interaction such as this one. I see most of all the critical stakeholder being represented here thus it can make a very powerful advocacy campaign team. Its just a proposal but i strongly think it can effectively help various organisations to deliver their mandates efficiently.
Hi Isaac,
Your contribution is very interesting. However, my personal experience with selling has been different. As a young girl my mom used to teach me to sell. She explained that the household income was not adequate so she needed more income for paying school fees. I sold fritters with understanding. Like I said today I am glad she did because I am well educated. I think there is a tension between real child labour and allowable socialisation that empowers children with survival skills. --Smauye 07:36, 4 March 2011 (UTC)
