REPORTS ON CHILD LABOUR AROUND THE WORLD: June 2002
SWEET SUCCESS FOR ANTI-SLAVERY LOBBY
Chocolate industry aims to eliminate use of child slaves in cocoa farms
Washington -- An international coalition of chocolate manufacturers,
human rights groups and unions adopted a "memorandum of co-operation"
aimed at abolishing the use of child slaves in West African cocoa
fields.
A cornerstone of the agreement calls for an international foundation to devise specific recommendations, including tougher laws and regional educational programs to combat the possible enslavement of hundreds of under-aged workers in five West African countries. The foundation will begin operation in July.
A Knight Ridder investigation published in June found that boys as young as 11 were sold or tricked into slavery to harvest cocoa beans in Ivory Coast.
The State Department's human rights report for 2000 estimated that 15,000 child slaves toil on cocoa, cotton and coffee farms in the West African country.
Larry Graham in Vienna, Va., president of the National Confectioners Association and the Chocolate Manufacturers Association said the memorandum is part of a process that began last year after the problem first came to light.
He called the agreement an "important step" that will result in specific actions later this year. "All of this is to set up a program in West Africa to get at the child labour issues and help find a solution," Graham said.
An initial key step is to complete an extensive survey throughout Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Ghana, Guinea and Nigeria to determine the scope of the problem. Investigators are surveying thousands of farms in the five West African countries and hope to complete their work by later this month.
After the survey is complete and the foundation begins its work, the international coalition will begin working with the governments of the countries to set up pilot programs and toughen enforcement of child-labour laws already on the books. Another proposal would include an extensive education program to warn parents about possible unscrupulous farmers.
The memorandum was signed by nearly a dozen groups, including Graham's two organisations, which represent all major chocolate manufacturers in the United States.Other signers included the Child Labour Coalition; Free the Slaves, US branch of Anti-Slavery International; and an international union representing agricultural, hotel, restaurant, tobacco and catering workers.
The Ivory Coast government has already
launched a crackdown by arresting abusive farmers, tightening the country's
borders and repatriating hundreds of under-aged workers.
(From the files of Knight Ridder)
GLOBAL REPORT ON CHILD LABOUR CITES "ALARMING" EXTENT OF ITS WORST FORMS
About 246 million children - one child in six - are working, most of them
involved in dangerous jobs, the UN's International Labour Organisation (ILO)
revealed. The greatest number of working children aged between five and 17
live in Asia and Africa, according to the study by the ILO.
"Despite the increasing commitment by
governments and their partners to tackle child labour worldwide, it remains
a problem on a massive scale," said Juan Somavia, Director-General of the
ILO. "While there has been significant progress towards the effective
abolition of child labour, the international community still faces a major
uphill struggle against this stubbornly pervasive form of work that takes a
tragic toll on millions of children around the world."
The ILO said it was particularly alarmed by 180 million children trapped in
the "worst forms" of child labour, in which they could be exposed to health
risks or physical injury. About 8.4 million children are caught in
"unconditional" forms of labour, including slavery, trafficking, debt
bondage and other forms of forced labour, forced recruitment for armed
conflict, prostitution,
pornography and other illicit activities.
The largest absolute number of working children between the ages of five and 14, with some 127 million, or 60% of the world total, are in the Asian Pacific region.
Sub-Saharan Africa is second, with 48 million, or 23% of the total. In Latin America and the Caribbean there are 17.4 million, or 8%, and the Middle East and North Africa with 13.4 million, or 6%.
The report says about 2.5 million, or 1% of the world's child labourers, are in the industrialised countries, while another 2.4 million are found in transition economies.
The report, released in Geneva, says poverty is a major factor, but argues that political instability, discrimination, migration, criminal exploitation, traditional cultural practices, a lack of decent work for adults, inadequate social protection, a lack of schools and the desire for consumer goods may also play their part.
It also says a lack of law enforcement, and the desire on the part of some employers for a cheap and flexible workforce worsens the situation.
So far, some 120 countries have ratified the ILO convention calling for a ban on child labour. "The world is increasingly aware of child labour and demanding action to stop it," Somavia said. "A majority of governments across the world now acknowledge the existence of the problem - on greater or smaller scales and in different forms. Many have already set out to measure and understand it, and are taking action against it," he added.
The report will be discussed at the ILO's 90th International Labour Conference to be held on 12 June in Geneva.Somavia added: "The effective abolition of child labour is one of the most urgent challenges of our time and should be a universal goal." For the full report, go to: www.ilo.org/public/english/standards/ipec/simpoc/others/globalest.pdf
(International Labour
Organisation Release)
CAMPAIGN HITS WORKER ABUSES, CHILD LABOUR IN SPORTING GOODS INDUSTRY
The Global March Against Child Labour and the Clean Clothes Campaign
called on the Federation of International Football Associations (FIFA) and
the sporting goods industry "to live up to their own promises and
responsibilities to make football a fair game, by giving adult workers
better working conditions and taking children out of work and into schools."
The statement cites recent studies on working conditions in factories making
sportswear and football products in China, India, Indonesia and Pakistan
that "show clear evidence of inhumane working conditions," including
violations of the rights to organise and collective bargaining, forced
overtime work, discrimination against women, the use of child labour, and
paying wages below the legal minimum. According to the statement, "some
products made by sponsors and licensees using the FIFA and/or the 2002 World
Cup logos are violating fundamental and other rights of workers." The
Brussels-based International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers'
Federation (ITGLWF) has also accused FIFA of ignoring the "abuse and
exploitation of labour" involved in production of footballs and other
soccer-related products.
HIGH RATIFICATION RATE FOR CHILD LABOR
TREATY
122 countries have ratified ILO Convention 182 on the Worst Forms of Child
Labour. The campaign for universal ratification of the treaty has given the
fight against child labor "a new urgency" and greater reach by focusing
world attention on its worst forms. The ILO's International Program on the
Elimination of Child Labor now operates in 75 countries and is funded by 26
donors. IPEC is working with El Salvador, Nepal and Tanzania on programs
to end the worst forms of child labor within 5 to 10 years. On June 12, the
ILO will launch World Day Against Child Labour to build broader support for
the global campaign to end child labour. Special event will be organised in
Geneva to mark the day. (ILO-US)
ONE IN SIX CHILDREN IN THE PHILIPPINES
HAVE TO WORK
According to the National Statistics Office, about one in six children in the
Philippines had to work to help support their families in the past year, and
most of them laboured without pay. Four million of the 25 million Filipino
children aged five to 17, or 16% of the total, were "economically active,"
according to the survey covering October 1, 2000 to September 30,
2001. Agriculture accounts for about 40% of the Philippines labour force.
Almost 221,000 of the children or 23% did "heavy physical work," the NSO
said. (Agence France Presse)
INDIA: 400 CHILD LABOURERS RESCUED
Around 400 children from Bangladesh and Kolkata, working as bonded or child
labourers in Nagarathpet, Bangalore, were rescued. They have been working
with jewellery-making units without pay for the last five years. The fume
filled environment of these units exposed them to lung disease and TB.
Officials maintain that they have covered only one per cent of children
working under similar conditions. 300 children, all over 14, have been
released. 53 employers have been arrested as they refused to pay fine laid
by the 1996 Supreme Court ruling. As per the directions, employers have to
pay a compensation of Rs 20,000 in case they are found engaging the services
of children below 14 years. Only two to three unit owners paid the amount
and got their workers released. (The Economic Times, May 24)
