Pakistan: Revealed: child labor used to make NHS instruments
James Randerson, The Guardian, Monday December 8 2008
The surgical instrument manufacturing industry of Sialkot in Pakistan makes scalpels, scissors and other items for buyers all over the world – including Britain's NHS. Photograph: BMA Medical Fair and Ethical Trade Group
British hospitals are buying surgical instruments produced in dangerous working conditions in Pakistan using child workers as young as eight, the NHS has admitted. In some workshops, products such as scalpels, clamps and scissors to be used in NHS operations are made by workers paid as little as 170 rupees (£1.40) a day.
Injuries to workers are common because of a lack of safety gear, but buyers at NHS trusts - who spend £20bn each year on procurement - did not know about the problem because of the complex supply chains that bring the products to Europe.
To try to address the problem, the NHS is today issuing draft guidelines on ethical purchasing. According to NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency, the guidelines stem from a realization that some instruments they buy are made in parts of Pakistan where sub-standard working conditions and child labor are common. They admit they do not know the size of the problem.
Even if the guidelines are adopted, they will be a voluntary code - no NHS trust will be obliged to follow them.
The Pakistani companies that export the products to Europe argue that poor working conditions are the fault of buyers such as the NHS driving down prices.
The guidelines were prompted by Mahmood Bhutta, a surgeon and clinical research fellow at Oxford University who has investigated the industry in Sialkot, the city where the vast majority of Pakistan's surgical instrument makers are based.
Here, large companies typically sub-contract much of the early work on their products to small freelance workshops. These frequently subject workers to appalling sweatshop conditions.
"I have walked down a street and just in this one street there must have been 10 children working on surgical instruments. Some were certainly, I would guess, around eight or nine," Bhutta said.
"It is estimated that over a quarter of children enter the industry to pay off family debts owed to the employer."
One estimate from the International Labor Organization puts the number of children working in surgical instrument manufacture in Sialkot at 5,800. It is not known what proportion of surgical instruments bought by the NHS are produced under sweatshop conditions.
Shakeel Ahmed, 13, who earns around £1.40 a day making surgical instruments, said injuries in the workshops are common. He described an injury to a fellow worker who was using a polisher. "The stone blade broke suddenly and it hit his head and it started to bleed. Other workers caught him and carried him to hospital," he said. Ahmed left school aged eight to begin working in the industry.
"The health of our nation is actually indirectly linked to the health of people around the world," said Dan Rees, director of the Ethical Trading Initiative. He said part of the problem was buyers such as the NHS pushing for the cheapest deal. "The focus of public procurement has been value for money ... The hard facts are sometimes that where you find extreme forms of exploitation, then of course there are costs that have to be engaged."
The NHS is launching a consultation on ethical trade guidelines aimed at improving conditions for workers. The consultation ends in April and the guidelines could be in place by the summer. But because individual NHS trusts are responsible for their own procurement policies, none are obliged to adopt the guidelines.
Sandra Gidley MP who sits on the parliamentary select committee on health described a voluntary approach as "feeble". "I suspect most people sitting in an office procuring this stuff will not give a second thought to this aspect. They only way they will be forced to give a second thought is if it becomes part of compulsory guidance," she said.
David Wathy, head of sustainable development with NHS purchasing agency said: "We recognise some of the surgical instruments used in the NHS are primarily manufactured in Sialkot and if they are not manufactured in Sialkot they may be manufactured in other countries with similar challenges." But he added that a simple kneejerk reaction to stop buying from Pakistan would be counter-productive.
Bhutta said solving the problem would not happen overnight. "We want to work with the industry not against industry. We don't want to sit here and point fingers and blame somebody else."
Sheraz Safdir, of Sialkot's Surgical Instruments Manufacturers Association, said the 5,800 figure was overestimated. "No more children are coming into this field," he said, though he admitted some very small sub-contractors do use children. "Overall, 95% of the industry is clean."
He suggested NGOs were deliberately exaggerating the problem. "The trouble with these people is that if there is no child labor in the surgical industry, how are they going to get their funds from abroad? What are they going to work on?"
CHANDIGARH: Set up to assess children’s learning abilities, the Central Board Of School Education (CBSE) has taken a step further. In a bid to curb the social evil of child labor, the board has recommended all its affiliated schools across the country — 9823 for those interested in details — that students and staff should take a pledge in this regard during morning assemblies.
Taking a stand that the redressal of child labor issue can no longer be postponed; CBSE is trying to reinforce the idea that ‘school is the best place for a child to work’. The board said the pledge could be repeated twice a week.
“The move will undoubtedly make an impact on children’s mind and help in reducing the menace in the long run. But only taking pledge will not help the cause, it has to be complemented with telling them why it is wrong,” Sherry Sabbarwal, professor of sociology at PU, said.
Notably, earlier in a similar drive wherein students were educated against firecrackers yielded positive results, besides reducing pollution in many cities. However, the city schools are yet to wake up to this idea.
SK Jena, assistant education officer, CBSE regional office, said, “The board has issued direction to schools, now it is up to school managements and government education officers to see that these are implemented properly.”
DPI (S) Samwartak Singh assured that he would make it a regular feature in schools. “The aim is to spread awareness among kids about the menace and we have been doing so through other programmes also.”
Daman Duggal, principal, Vivek High School, too said, “Taking a note of the circular, we have started programmes to spread awareness.”
Bihar: Rally to Promote Awareness about Child Labor
Patna: Nov. 19, 2008
More than 500 children from several eastern states took part in a rally in Patna on Wednesday organized by the CCF India to raise awareness about child labor and child abuse to mark the World Child Abuse Prevention Day.
Bihar Assembly Speaker Uday Narayan Chowdhary, while inaugurating the rally, said that the problem of child abuse was widespread in the nation and there was an urgent need to raise the awareness among the parents, teachers, and small business owners to prevent child labor and identify and report any abuse when encountered.
Children from Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Orissa, and Chhatisgarh participated in the rally that marched through several streets of Patna.
CCF India chairperson Salil Bhandari also urged for an end to this shameful social evil saying it was frustrating to know that despite several related laws in place, a large number of people continued to employ child labor and ignored abuse hurled on them.
Bihar Labor Minister Awadhesh Narayan Singh and Bihar Child Labor Commission chairperson Ramdeo Prasad also spoke against child labor in the nation.
Pakistan: A threat to future of thousands of underage kids
Sunday, November 30, 2008, By Noor Aftab, The International News
Islamabad
Increasing domestic child labor, an invisible worst type of exploitation, has become a potential threat to the future of thousands of underage children belonging to poor households who otherwise can become useful members of society.
Unfortunately, the ratio of underage children being forced to work as domestic servants is increasing day-by-day in the capital. Employed through ‘informal arrangements’ between employers and parents, these children are often subjected to physical and mental torture that adversely affect their natural abilities.
Employers usually prefer these children over adult workers because they are considered more obedient and argue less against nominal monthly pays. Parents think it a two-fold opportunity that not only relieve them from upbringing of their children in some cases but also enable them to grab some money on monthly basis.
This kind of child labor sometimes turns into a bonded labor when employers refuse to let the child servants go out of their houses unless their parents return back the money borrowed from them. In such cases the children become the real protagonists of whole ‘drama’ where they can do nothing but to suffer endlessly.
One such case in the recent past exposes the ground realities that are generally ignored even in the capital city where an incumbent parliament is supposed to enact laws to protect each and every right of citizens irrespective of their age and sex.
The parents of two little girls, who were made ‘hostage’ by employers for non-payment of borrowed money by their parents, have vowed not to send their daughters to any household for domestic work in future despite lacking financial resources for their upbringing.
The case of these girls were brought to the notice of the local police officials who simply advised the ‘poor’ parents to return back Rs25,000 taken from the employers living in Sector F-11. Three days after the report was registered with the police station, a local non-government organization (NGO) working for children’s rights intervened into the matter.
The NGO after getting involved some mediapersons succeeded in rescuing the girls from the ‘clutches’ of their employers who are known to be ‘respectful’ citizens of this society. But who knows how many children are facing this kind of situation in which their parents are doing nothing except knocking at the doors of the employers with a hope that one day they may feel pity and release their children.
The exact number of children exploited in domestic labor is not known as they work behind closed doors and it is difficult to collect data to identify the numbers of children involved in this form of labor. However, it is easily said that thousands of families living in the slum areas send their children for domestic work in every locality of the federal capital.
A survey conducted by ‘The News’ revealed that male members of the families even small boys living in the slum areas get to their work places early in the morning and the adult female members who work in other houses bring their little daughters with them.
“Both my daughters who are under 10 years of age share my work which provides me with some kind of relief during a consistent hectic work all the day. So it is quite better to get them engaged in domestic work instead of leaving them alone in the house,” said Rashida Bibi, an inmate of a slum in Sector G-7.
The initiation of a project named ‘I am paid to learn’ by famous pop star Shahzad Roy under the banner of Zindagi Trust must be an encouraging step for other welfare organizations who may establish schools in pattern of this project that provides education to working children besides compensating their parents for monetary losses.
The National Education Foundation (NEF) has recently set up a charity school in a slum area adjacent to the Railway Carriage Factory to provide education to under-privileged children of the society. According to NEF Project Director Sirajuddin a total of 14,000 such schools have so far been established across the country.
If all these schools start providing compensation money to the parents of working children then it can yield extra ordinary results but it may not be possible for NEF that even lacks resources to get permanent land and structures for these schools. The government should provide adequate funds for these kinds of projects to save the future of hundreds of thousands of working children that would help eliminate child labor and increase literacy rate in the country as well.
UZBEKISTAN:TASHKENT RELIES ON CHILD LABOR DURING 2008 COTTON HARVEST
Nov 12, 2008, Eurasia Net
Despite signing two international treaties and adopting domestic legislation prohibiting the use of child labor, Uzbekistan continued to rely on a "state-orchestrated mass mobilization of children to bring in the 2008 cotton harvest," a new report has found.
By the end of September, with the pace of cotton collection lagging way behind harvest projections, officials in some areas ordered students as young as first graders into the fields, according to the report prepared by the International Labor Rights Forum (ILRF) and issued November 11.
The report surveyed child labor issues in nine of Uzbekistan's 12 regions. Schools in many areas were closed in late September as children were drafted to help with the harvest. "In all the provinces surveyed, respondents conveyed the increased desperation and harshness in the 2008 forced labor campaign," the report stated. "The use of children aged seven to 11 is unusual, even by the standards of Soviet times."
Drought conditions this year have heightened the hardships endured by children in the fields, the report asserted. "Though children in several provinces were promised that their labors would end by November 1, local officials' desire to maximize the harvest totals at whatever cost is now reportedly keeping them in the fields until November 15."
Uzbekistan has signed two International Labor Organization (ILO) pacts, known as Convention 182 and Convention 138, which together seek to eliminate the use of child labor. A government decree, issued in September, likewise, declares an intent to eliminate the practice on Uzbek soil. However, the ILO says that only the Uzbek government-signed Convention 182 has been properly deposited, and that it will not take effect until July 2009, the report said.
"The government of Uzbekistan has claimed credit for ratification of the ILO conventions prohibiting child labor, but has taken no serious measures to engage or work with the ILO to develop an action plan, or even undertake a credible assessment of the problem," the ILRF report said.
Kampala — MOSES Magomu, 13, is an orphan. Although the Government introduced Universal Primary Education (UPE) that allows all children to study free, Magomu is not in school.
Magomu, a resident of Naluwerere town, a truck-stop between Busia town and Kampala is instead working. As night falls, he engages in making chapatti and collecting water for restaurants to earn a buck.
"I lost my parents to HIV/AIDS. I am living with my grandmother, who cannot meet our needs," Magomu says.
His boss, a petrol truck driver operating between Mombasa and Kampala, pays him peanuts. "I earn sh5,000 monthly. If I go to school, my grandmom and I won't eat," he says.
Magomu is involved in child labor. The Uganda National Household Survey (UNHS) report of 2005/06 states about 2.5 million children aged 7-14 years are engaged in child labor and 38% of them are engaged in economic activity.
"Children are the most vulnerable to workplace abuses," the report said.
But the greatest concern that the report highlighted is that child labor is a key obstacle to achieving UPE.
The report said over 35% of 7-14 year-olds combine working with school, while 3% engage in economic activity without going to school.
Moses Musana, a child protection officer with Action Against Child Labor, a Kamwokya-based NGO fighting against child labor, said this prevents children from proceeding beyond primary level, compromising their prospects for employment later.
"Children who engage in early paid labor are likely to drop out of school before completing O'level," Musana said.
His fears are re-affirmed by UNHS which indicates that over 165,000 nine- to 17-year-olds, have never been to school. A further 422,000 who engage in child labor do not complete primary education.
The report also shows that only 15% of urban children aged 7-14 years old are engaged in economic activity compared to 42% of rural children.
"Many rural children live in poor homes and contribute to provision of basic needs in a home," he adds.
The report shows child labor is highest in the eastern and central regions, followed by the west. Children's work includes housekeeping, where 78% of the 7 to 14 year-olds are engaged in household chores.
"Girls are easy prey because some parents believe educating a girls is a waste of money," says Alice Nanono, the child officer, War Child.
The report adds the household income is important in child labor.
Increase in household income reduces the probability of a child working full-time, but raises the likelihood of him or her combining work and school," the report notes.
Orphans who have lost both their parents are more likely to be absent from school. "When a child is an orphan and lacks other alternatives he or she engages in child labor to earn an income," Musana adds.
Vincent Sennono, the chief statistician, Uganda Bureau of Standards, said the parents' education determines child labor. "Children of educated parents are more likely to attend school than children of uneducated parents," he says.
Sennono says the elimination of child labor requires better access to school and other services.
"Remedial schooling is important in overcoming work-related harm to children's welfare. Better formal workplace inspection and expanded grassroots level monitoring, are needed to rehabilitate children in unconditional worst forms of child labor," he adds.
Mwesigwa Rukutana, the state minister for labor, says the elimination of child labor requires sensitisation. "The biggest dilemma is distinguishing between child labor and usual work done by an African child. African parents believe for a child to grow well, they have to do housework, which some experts call child labor."
Despite the positive recommendations, children like Magomu who are looking for means of survival are no doubt saying, "As long as they do not reduce poverty, child labor will always be there for orphans like us to survive."
Egypt: Abuse of domestic help not given enough attention, say rights activists
By Manar Ammar, Daily News Egypt, Nov 27, 2008
CAIRO: To mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women Tuesday, Human Rights Watch (HRW) called on the international community to stop the abuse of domestic help especially in the Middle East and Asia.
The New York-based organization blamed governments and judicial systems for failing to protect domestic workers, especially foreigners.
HRW said that female Asian domestic workers are excluded from protection provided by labor laws in most countries in the Middle East and some Asian countries.
Countries such as Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Lebanon are among the worst Middle Eastern countries in terms of domestic worker abuse. While authorities receive thousands of abuse complaints each year, little is being done to prosecute abusers, the report said.
In 2008, a court in Riyadh dropped charges against a Saudi citizen who was accused of abusing his female domestic worker despite his confession of doing so.
“There are countless cases of employers threatening, humiliating, beating, raping, and sometimes killing domestic workers,” Nisha Varia, deputy director of the women’s rights division of Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.
According to the report, authorities receive thousands of complaints of labor exploitation or abuse each year. While most involve unpaid wages, food deprivation, and long working hours with no rest, a significant number allege verbal, physical, and sexual abuse. But many cases are never officially reported, due to domestic workers’ confinement in private homes, lack of information about their rights, and employers’ ability to deport them before they can seek help.
Earlier this year, Minister of Manpower and Labor Aisha Abdel Hady was heavily criticized for sealing an agreement with Saudi Arabia that would regulate Egyptian female domestic workers in the country, in what was dubbed the scandal of “exporting maids to Saudi.”
Recently, two Egyptian women working at a hair salon in Saudi escaped from their Kafeel (sponsor) and turned to the Egyptian embassy after allegedly being abused and beaten.
Although foreign domestic help is not as widespread in Egypt as it is in other neighboring countries, the local workers suffer poor working conditions, with no laws to protect them in case of abuse as they are not part of labor laws In Egypt.
It is common in cities like Cairo for families to hire teenage girls or even children to be in charge of house chores and to take care of a child not that much younger than these girls. These workers’ paychecks go directly to their parents.
However, this form of child labor doesn’t receive enough attention from women rights activists, but rather falls under a bigger campaign against violence against women.
“We have a general vision towards violence against women and domestic workers’ abuse falls under that, unfortunately we don’t deal with it in a direct way,” Mona Ezzat, coordinator of raising the awareness unit at the New Woman Research Center (NWRC), told Daily News Egypt.
“As we strongly condemn the abuse of these [girls] rights, we have human and financial resources enough for the current agenda yet, in the near future we are planning on tackling the issue directly through our campaigns and other activities,” Ezzat said.
Yet, the financial factor remains as a favorite justification for sending minors out to work as domestic help.
“Violent acts against female workers are not strange to Egypt, as girls are taken out of school to work and help their parents financially,” Sahar Taha, women’s rights activist, told Daily News Egypt.
“These girls are subjected to so many forms of abuse both physically and emotionally and from cases that I saw, they don’t get proper health care,” Taha said.
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Sierra Leone: Royal Asscher Launched a Sierra Leone Education Project
November 27, '08, 10:32 IDEX Online Staff Reporter
Royal Asscher launched last week a Sierra Leone focused charity project, called Star of Africa. The project aims to improve infrastructure in Sierra Leone by creating funding for education and self sufficiency programs. The project is named after the largest diamond ever found in Africa - the 3,105 carat Star of Africa (Cullinan) diamond, which was cut by the Asscher family in 1908.
The project focused on providing people with the cornerstones of society: health, education, economic stability and societal relationships, the company said. Through efforts on the ground, the outcome will be tangible, affecting the people who need the most help. Initially the Star of Africa project is looking to help end child labor in mines and begin attending school or vocational training. Often diamond mines are the only choice between starvation and survival, according to Lita Asscher, sixth generation diamantaire, but children deserve to be nurtured, hence the project will endorse child sponsorship, so a child can eat well, attend school and receive healthcare.
“Although Sierra Leone is now experiencing a period of peace time, the civilian population bears physical and emotional scars because of the atrocities committed during the war - which was partly funded by the illegal trade of diamonds for weapons,” Asscher said. “Devastation still exists and the civilian population needs support in order to heal and break the poverty cycle.”
“We invite other ethical companies and consumers to stand beside us and offer support, be it financial or skill based, to these projects.”
Another project aim is to provide micro grants to vulnerable families who now depend on their children’s income from the mines, so that they can establish an economic base. For example, a family will receive a micro-grant to buy livestock to breed, which also offers them milk.
The project will also seek to support discussion between community leaders and stakeholders to better communicate on important social issues by working with experienced NGO’s.
The number of children going to school regularly in Zimbabwe has fallen dramatically from 90% to 20%, a senior UN relief official says. Catherine Bragg said many teachers were not being paid and could not afford to travel to work. She warned Zimbabwe's humanitarian crisis would worsen. Meanwhile, it is reported that power-sharing talks have stalled because of insults traded between the opposition and mediator Thabo Mbeki.
Representatives of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change and President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF had resumed talks in South Africa earlier in the week.
Cholera threat
At a news conference in New York, Ms Bragg called for "massive" international assistance for Zimbabwe. In addition to the cholera outbreak, which has killed more than 360 people since August, she said there has also been a breakdown in both the health and education sectors.
For a country that used to have over 90% school attendance, now we're seeing less than 20%, she said.
As well as teachers not being able to afford to work, students were required to make payments in kind, including food, which they did not have, she said.
Zimbabwe used to have one of the best education systems in Africa.
Earlier, MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai said the cholera outbreak was "the greatest threat ever to face" the country.
Mr Tsvangirai is in South Africa to attend the talks, which are reported to be making little progress.
A letter from South Africa's former leader Mr Mbeki, who negotiated September's deal between the MDC and Zanu-PF, has been leaked to the press.
In a 10-page response dated 22 November to the MDC questioning his impartiality, he accused the opposition of not respecting Africa leaders and paying too much heed to the West, South Africa's Business Day newspaper reports.
"It may be that, for whatever reason, you consider our region and continent as being of little consequence to the future of Zimbabwe, believing that others further away, in western Europe and North America, are of greater importance," Mr Mbeki wrote in the letter also quoted on the ZimOnline news agency website.
He said the MDC had denounced regional leaders as "cowards".
"Such manner of proceeding might earn you prominent media headlines. However, I assure you that it will do nothing to solve the problems of Zimbabwe," Mr Mbeki said.
On Wednesday, Mr Tsvangirai repeated calls for Mr Mbeki to go as mediator.
"He does not appear to understand how desperate the problem in Zimbabwe is, and the solutions he proposes are too small," Mr Tsvangirai said in a statement, AFP news agency reports.
"He is not serving to bring the parties together because he does not understand what needs to be done."
Tanzania: Poverty leads to child trafficking in Rombo
Sunday Observer, Nov 30, 2008, By Robert Ochieng
Dire living conditions in Tarakea ward, Rombo district in Kilimanjaro region have seen parents sending children to work as domestic servants in Kenya.
``Burdened by economic hardships and extreme poverty, parents and relatives send out children to be employed in towns and urban centres,`` a research consultant, Dr David Kyaddondo, says, adding that parents sometimes connive with guards to let the children cross the border.
Presenting findings of a study commissioned by African Network for Prevention and Protection Against Child Abuse and Neglect (ANPPCAN) in Dar es Salaam this week, Dr Kyaddondo said poverty and bad living conditions encourage child trafficking in Tanzania.
With Kenya reportedly being the main destination of children trafficked from Tanzania, others end up in Arab countries, South Africa and Europe.
Within the country, Arusha and Dar es Salaam are the major destinations.
Dr Kyaddondo, a sociology lecturer at Makerere University in Uganda, pointed out that girls and orphans are the ones affected most by the illicit practice because of their vulnerability.
The university don noted that traffickers often use available transport and communication systems.
They fraudulently obtain children from unsuspecting parents with promises to educate them or offer them better lives.
Once trafficked, he said, the children are subjected to worst forms of child labor and sexual exploitation.
Other factors that have contributed to this malpractice include unemployment, mistreatment of children, poor parenting and laxity of laws and regulations as well as political instability.
He said there is need to increase the level of awareness on child trafficking as well as building the capacity of key actors. Dr Kyaddondo called for enhanced networking and alliance to effectively combat the scourge.
Against the backdrop of an estimated 1.2 million children that are illegally trafficked world wide each year, the study was conducted to gain an understanding of the existing situation of child trafficking in Tanzania.
The study also covered Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda.
Meanwhile, International Labor Organization (ILO), through its Tanzania office, says many children are moved away from their homes and are exploited in the informal economy, where they are even more difficult to trace and are at high risk of many forms of violence.
Besides working in a variety of manufacturing industries, mining, and fisheries as meagerly paid laborers, and always under extremely dehumanizing conditions, ILO observes that criminal networks and exploitative individuals engage trafficked children in begging, street hawking, and car window cleaning among other street-based activities.
Some children are exploited as drug couriers or dealers or executors of petty crimes such as pick-pocketing or burglary, which may not be immediately regarded as labor, but have a commercial motive for child traffickers, ILO stressed.
According to the definition of the ILO, a child is a victim of trafficking whenever it has been relocated and exploited. It further asserts that all those who contribute to or profit from this practice - recruiters, middlemen, document providers, transporters, corrupt officials, among others - are traffickers.
ILO's International Programme on the Elimination of Child labor (IPEC) terms child trafficking as a billion-dollar industry each year.
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Ghana: Government urged to intensify efforts at protecting children
Wednesday, 26 November 2008, Ghana News
The rights of these children is what is required to guarantee a better future for them.
The Ghana Media Programme (G-MAP), a civil society organization, has called on the government to intensify its efforts in initiating measures and providing resources towards the protection and development of Ghanaian children.
The G-MAP expressed dissatisfaction that despite government’s enormous plans for the promotion of children’s well being, child abuse and violence continued to affect their progress.
These were contained in a statement signed by Abdul-Kudus Husein, Communication Executive for G-MAP, in connection with “World Day for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Violence against Children”.
The statement stressed that “commercial sexual exploitation of children, child trafficking, child labor, the phenomenon of street children and other forms of child abuse and are also affecting the growth and development of our children.”
It said child trafficking in particular was a problem confronting all the countries in West African with Ghana becoming a transit point for the illegal activity.
The statement, therefore, called on the police and other security agencies in the country to strictly enforce the Human Trafficking Law (Act 694) and advised individuals, especially parents and organizations to desist from the practice.
It said child labor existed mainly in the informal sector because there were working regulations that sought to check the phenomenon in the formal sector.
The statement expressed worry that a study by the Ghana Statistics Services indicates that a significant number of children engaged in labor practices and that 39 per cent of children between 5–17 years of age were engaged in some form of economic activity.
It, however, commended Ghana for making significant progress in initiating interventions for the survival, protection, development and participation of children in issues bordering them.
The statement cited that Ghana prepared a National programme of Action dubbed: “The Child Cannot Wait”, covering the period 1992-2002, which sought to highlight child-related issues and intensified action to give Ghanaian children their right to survival, protection, development and growth.
It praised government and its partners for implementing programmes aimed at identifying, withdrawing, counselling and reintegrating children engaged in child labor.
The statement said there was the need to also eradicate “defilement, incest, harassment, corporal punishment, abduction, indecent assault, threatening, unnatural carnal knowledge and the lack of maintenance of children among others.”
It called on individuals and organizations to support the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) of Ghana Police Service to protect children against abuses.
The day initiated by the Women World Summit Foundation in 2000, aims to create a culture of prevention around the world by encouraging governments and community or society organizations to play more active roles in protecting children.
The day is marked globally, every year to highlight child related concerns and push for the elimination of all forms of abuse and violence against children in the world and this year’s event took place on 18 November.
Liberia: National Commission on child labor begins survey
Nov 14, 2008
Nat'l Commission on child labor begins survey.
The National Commission on Child Labor says, it has begun taking a comprehensive statistic, aimed at establishing which sector practices child labor at the highest level in Liberia.
According to the Executive Director of the Commission, Reginald Mehnpein, the labor survey is in response to continued allegations by child protection agencies that child labor is on the increase in the country.
Mr. Mehnpein also said, plans are also on way by government to enact a law that prevents child labor, molestation and abuse.
Meanwhile, the Executive Director of the National Commission on Child Labor is appealing to the Legislature to urgently pass into law the Children’s Act currently before it, when it resumes January 2009.
USA: Federal, state lawmakers vow to get tougher on child labor
Some in Congress want more inspections. In N.C., Gov.-elect Perdue calls for enforcement, stiffer fines
By Franco Ordoñez, Ames Alexander, Lisa Zagaroli
Thursday, Nov. 13, 2008
Lucero Gayton, 16, says she was hired at age 15 at the House of Raeford Farms chicken processing plant in Greenville, S.C. It's not legal for workers under 18 to work in dangerous jobs like the one Lucero held. JOHN D. SIMMONS (Photo)
Federal and state lawmakers said this week they will push to strengthen the government's power to keep youths out of dangerous jobs and punish employers who violate child labor laws.
In Washington, some members of Congress want to beef up child labor inspections. In Raleigh, some legislators – along with the current and incoming governors – said they will move to stiffen fines for violating child labor laws. The maximum penalty of $250 per violation in North Carolina hasn't changed in nearly three decades.
“The employment of underage workers in high-risk, physically dangerous jobs as uncovered by The Charlotte Observer is alarming,” N.C. Gov.-elect Bev Perdue said. “The need is clear – there must be tougher enforcement of our state's child labor laws and stiffer penalties for any business or industry caught breaking them.”
The comments came in response to Observer stories this week that showed a decline in federal child labor enforcement, despite new evidence that employers are ignoring the laws. As part of its investigation, the Observer interviewed more than 20 current and former House of Raeford Farms workers who said the N.C.-based poultry company often hired underage workers.
Gov. Mike Easley said he would instruct his staff to try to address the problems before he leaves office in January.
“It's hard to believe that's going on in this century and in this state,” he said. “…You're really talking about a form of child abuse here. We're not a state that wants children abused and endangered.”
With a stronger majority in Congress and their party's candidate preparing to enter the White House, Democrats say they will soon find it easier to make federal workplace safety changes.
U.S. Rep. Lynn Woolsey, D- Calif., who chairs the House Subcommittee on Workforce Protections, said she'll push to increase the number of inspectors who can investigate child labor complaints and update rules to keep juveniles out of hazardous jobs.
“Your story, I thought, was just heartbreaking,” said Woolsey, who in September held a hearing about federal efforts to protect working children. “Nobody should face dangerous working conditions – particularly our children. …We have a great deal of work to do.”
Federal child labor investigations have dropped by nearly half since fiscal year 2000.
Recent studies have found that a large percentage of young workers are taking on jobs deemed unsafe for people their age. On a typical day, more than 400 juveniles are hurt on the job.
In North Carolina, state Senate President Pro Tem Marc Basnight said he has directed his staff to work with the N.C. Department of Labor and the Attorney General to look at the issues the newspaper raised. He questioned whether the state's $250 fine was enough.
“You could be penalized more for throwing trash out the window than you could for abusing the laws that are in place as it pertains … to kids and young folks,” he said. “And that should not be.”
N.C. Rep. Paul Luebke, D-Durham, called for stiffer penalties and oversight of the state's Department of Labor.
“This could require some legislation if (N.C. Labor Commissioner Cherie Berry) doesn't do more on her own,” said Luebke, who chairs the House Finance Committee.
Commissioner Berry said it's up to the General Assembly to amend child labor laws, but she's willing to work with legislators.
Berry, a Republican recently elected to her third term, said her department has limited authority when it comes to investigating large employers for child labor violations, and said that parents have the “ultimate responsibility” to determine what type of work their children do.
Federal child labor law covers large employers. Most states – including the Carolinas – have their own laws to cover smaller employers.
The N.C. labor department has 14 field investigators who spend most of their time examining complaints about wages and overtime, but also investigate child labor violations.
The U.S. Labor Department has 750 investigators who look into both kinds of complaints. The number of investigators has declined more than 20 percent since 2001, Woolsey noted.
U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson, of South Carolina, the ranking Republican on the work force protections subcommittee, said he's not sure the U.S. Labor Department needs additional inspectors because advances in technology should make age verification easier.
But he agreed that stiffer penalties are needed.
Under federal law, the maximum penalty for most child labor violations is $11,000, but in 2006, the average penalty was less than $1,000.
“With child labor, you're really stunting a child's ability to fully perform in American society,” Wilson said. “They need to be in school, they need to be given assistance to reach their highest level … and then go to work.”
Federal and state laws prohibit anyone under 18 from working in jobs deemed hazardous, including poultry processing. But three young workers told the Observer they were under 18 when they held jobs at House of Raeford plants requiring them to make thousands of cuts a day with sharp knives.
The U.S. Labor Department is investigating possible child labor violations at the company's plant in Greenville, S.C., after a federal immigration raid uncovered more than 330 workers suspected of being in the country illegally – including six juveniles. House of Raeford has said it follows the law, requiring job applicants to show documentation that they are at least 18. The company said some applicants are dishonest about their age.
President-elect Obama next year will appoint a new labor secretary, who some workplace safety experts hope will push the department to take a firmer hand with enforcement.
Once every 10 days, on average, a worker under the age of 18 is killed. Although agricultural work accounts for most workplace deaths among children younger than 15, child labor rules are looser in agriculture than for other U.S. employers.
One federal bill likely to be considered next year would raise protections for young farm workers to the same level as youths working in other industries.
Here is a unique opportunity to help rescue, rehabilitate and educate children engaged in the worst forms of child labor, this academic year. Please consider giving a one-time donation of $300 to make possible the raid and rescue of 10 children from forced labor in India! With a 'recurring donation' of $55/month, you can provide 1 child rescued from forced labor with food, shelter, education and vocational training in a rehabilitation center.
Or, send a child from the brick kilns or shoe factories to school in Pakistan. With a 'recurring gift' of only $33/month (or a one-time donation of $396/year), you will provide a child with school supplies, textbooks, a daily meal, and a uniform! Do you know that some Americans spend more than $30/month on dyeing their hair?! With a generous recurring donation of $132/month, you can support 1 teacher of these children.
Please share this letter with friends or family members who might be interested in donating to this very just cause.
Global March remains the most recognisable global alliance against child labour and for universal education, but our profile in Europe has diminished in recent years. The Sofia consultation concluded that we need to adapt to the new legal, constitutional, political and economic realities of Europe; to coordinate more effectively across borders; and, in some cases, to rebuild national networks that have become weak or even inactive. The GM International Council and the ITUC - as the key international and pan-European trade union constituent of the Global March - wish to support a stronger regional alliance between NGOs and trade unions that can deliver a reinvigorated programme of work.
Agenda of the Meeting
To establish a new Pan-European/Euro-Mediterranean structure including all 51 states of the ILO’s European Region (EU and non-EU members; the Commonwealth of Independent States, Georgia and Turkmenistan; and Turkey) plus Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia. Nothing prevents us from seeking to enlarge our Euro-Mediterranean reach if we wish. We noted the benefits of continued sub-regional coordination and the need for more effective national coordination among effective and active member organisations.
To establish a permanent office in Brussels (or possibly the Netherlands).
