Participants seek stronger actions to stop child labour

Participants and delegates at the ongoing Centenary International Labour Conference  (ILC) in Geneva have demanded  stronger actions from major players and world leaders to end child labour.

They said the world of work is facing major challenges resulting from the major transformations occurring globally.

Youth advocate and trainer Molly Namirembe, who set the stage for the discussion, recalled how she and her sister worked on a tea plantation in Uganda as kids after their parents died.

According to him:  “We would work for 12 hours, sometimes on an empty stomach.”

The forum titled “Together for a brighter future without child labour” also focused on accelerating action towards SDG Target 8.7 that calls for “immediate and effective measures to eradicate forced labour, end modern slavery and human trafficking and secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour, including recruitment and use of child soldiers, and by 2025 end child labour in all its forms.”

ILO Director-General Guy Ryder said since the creation of the International Labour Organization, the elimination of child labour has been a top priority adding that he expected the ILO would soon achieve the universal ratification of convention 182 on the worst forma of Child Labour.

Read Also: Kubwa residents task govt. to end child labour

Secretary-General, Amnesty International, Kumaran Shanmugam Naidoo, , called for a holistic approach “where we not only view the phenomenon of child labour but also the very systems that drive children to work at such a high cost.”

Sue Longley, General-Secretary, International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers’ Association, said, “The key question, the key accelerator will be addressing the fundamental power imbalance in rural areas – we really still do have feudal landlords and slavery.”

Juneia Martins Batista, Women’s Secretary, Single Confederation of Workers (CUT), Brazil, spoke of the need to improve the situation of women who make a living as domestic workers and rural workers.

“The idea is that we can empower these adults, mostly women, to have a decent life. With decent work, we may be able to eliminate child labour.”

Assefa Bequele, Founder and former Executive Director, African Child Policy Forum, said: “The big question … is what needs to be done to initiate the kind of policy we need to narrow the gap between rhetoric and action and that would put children at the heart of public policy.”

Jacqueline Mugo, Executive Director, Federation of Kenya Employers, stressed the need “to address the root causes and systemic issues. These are poverty, informality and the lack of educational opportunities for young people.”

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