Understanding of child labour
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
