Child labour is affront to children

World Day Against Child Labour is observed yearly on June 12 to rally stakeholders around the world to put up measures to protect children from engaging in work which deprives them of their rights and dignity and exposes them to physical, social and emotional harm.

The day especially is used to put the spotlight on the worst forms of child labour which happens when children below the age of 18 engage in income generating activities such as fishing, selling by the roadside, mining, etc. often at the peril of their lives and to the detriment of their education.

Child labour is deeply rooted in poverty and high unemployment levels, making poor and impoverished families with no regular sources of income to force their children to engage in such hazardous activities with a view to getting money to keep their homes running. Also, single parenting as a result of broken homes and the lack of enforcement of child labour laws have all provided fertile grounds for child labour to fester.

For this year, the day is being marked globally on the theme: In Conflicts and Disasters, Protect Children from Child Labour. Ghana has adopted: In Conflicts and Disasters, Protect Children from Child Labour: Mobilising Resource for Effective Implementation of NPA2 (2016-2020), as national theme.

Worldwide view
It is estimated that about 250 million children live in areas affected by armed conflict, while almost 70 million children are affected by natural disasters every year. Indeed, many of the 168 million children engaged in child labour across the globe live in conflict and disaster-affected areas. Children also make up more than half of the 65 million people presently displaced by war.

Stakeholders have decided to focus on the need to protect children in times of conflicts and disasters because during such times, they become more vulnerable and prone to indulging in child labour.

Conflicts and disasters bring about displacement of people, with most children falling prey to trafficking and child labour during transit and after arriving at their destination. Such children are denied an environment where their specific and cognitive needs can be nurtured to bring out the best in them.

In such circumstances, children lack access to education and are also unable to avail themselves of any opportunity to acquire any skill or training except to resort to child labour as means of survival.

Also, most families are unable to withstand the economic shock and impact conflicts and disasters wreck on their income and livelihood. Families have to adopt several ways and means to survive, and sending children out to engage in income generating activities usually becomes an option.

Additionally, there is family separation as a result of conflicts and disasters. Some conflicts and disasters could unfortunately wipe out an entire family leaving children as the only survivors. Such children would be willing to do anything to survive, including engaging in child labour.

Effects
Child labour impacts negatively on the growth and development of children. The children are usually exposed to physical and emotional hazards and this could have debilitating effects on their health, and some could even lose their lives.

Some of these children are also exploited sexually and they risk contracting sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS. Some also get impregnated in the process, while others become addicted to hard drugs.

This also impacts negatively on children’s future as they are denied access to quality education, thus having little prospect of securing decent jobs or escaping cycles of poverty and exploitation. Also, children with special qualities, gifts and talents are also left to go untapped because of their lack of formal education.

Again, children are exposed to working and living in environments where they are belittled, harassed or experience violence and abuse of their fundamental human rights and freedoms as a result of child labour. Some of the children suffer from exhaustion and malnutrition as they perform heavy manual labour for long hours under unbearable conditions, and do not earn enough to feed themselves adequately.

Some child survivors of conflicts and disasters, who are also forced into child labour, have some bad character traits ingrained in them. Some become merciless in their dealings with their fellows.

Their minds are awash with the idea that, life ought to be fought the hard way because of what they have had to go through in their pursuit of better future.

Need to fight child labour
There is, therefore, no gainsaying that child labour is a bad practice and must be uprooted from the country, especially in our fishing and mining communities.

In its Mining Report and the Specialised Research into Exploitative Child Labour in the Fishing Industry: Livelihood and Survival versus Human Rights, conducted in 2014, the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) drew the attention of authorities to the prevalence of child labour in the fishing and mining industries. There is, therefore, the need for all to be committed if the nation is to make any headway in the fight against child labour.

So, as we observe this year’s World Day Against Child Labour, CHRAJ is urging stakeholders across the board to redouble efforts at dealing with this practice in order to secure the future of children. There is the need for proper coordination by strengthening synergies with relevant stakeholders to carry through the National Plan of Action(NPA) for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour in Ghana (NPA2 2016-2020).

Considering the fact that NPA1 could not eliminate the practice as envisaged, a lot needs to be done this time if the nation is to achieve the desired result.

Measures
In particular, there is the need to strengthen inter-sector coordination on issues related to child labour, with special focus on education, gender-based violence, and early recovery of victims. It is extremely important that efforts are made to ensure children affected by conflicts and disasters continue their education at all levels in a safe, protective and conducive environment.

Most importantly, the government should put in measures to make children who lose or are separated from their parents as a result of conflicts and disasters, and those from poor homes, automatic beneficiaries of the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) and other social intervention programmes. Other innovative programmes, such as scholarship for children in child labour prone areas as well as free vocational training opportunities, should be introduced to provide better alternatives to child labour.

This way, children would not have to think about fending for themselves which might lead them into doing hazardous works.

Also, the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights directs businesses and multinational companies to respect internationally recognised human and labour rights, including those enshrined in the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at work. The ILO Declaration sets out principles which governments, employers’ and workers’ organisations and enterprises are recommended to observe, including what is on child labour.

It is, therefore, incumbent upon multinational companies to ensure that children are not engaged in any of their supply chains in order to secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour.

CHRAJ is also calling on the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection to put in mechanisms to monitor and collate data on all victims for effective identification in order to refer them to appropriate institutions for psychosocial care. This would also go a long way to assist the ministry to follow up on the victims to meet their needs.

Child labour does not only affect every facet of our economy, it also impinges the fundamental human rights and freedoms of children. And of course, the children are our future; let us all work collectively to promote and protect their rights in order to guarantee a bright future for them. CHRAJ invites you to join the fight against child labour now!

From: Public Relations and Communications Unit, CHRAJ