Training Seminar on Eliminating Child Labour in Tajikistan

On 11 August 2016, Khorog, the capital city of Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region of Tajikistan, hosted a training seminar on the elimination of child labour in agriculture and the implementation of the National Plan for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour (WFCL) at farms.

News | 11 August 2016
The choice of Khorog as the seminar venue was not accidental. According to a national survey, the highest levels of child labour in Tajikistan have been found in Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region (53.1%), followed by Khatlon Region (37.7%), districts of republican subordination (15.6%), and Sogd Region (14.8%), and the lowest in Dushanbe (1.9%).

Muhayo Khosabekova, ILO-IPEC National Project Coordinator in Tajikistan, addressed the audience which consisted of representatives of local authorities, including experts on children's rights, and agricultural employers. She explained the concept, components and consequences of child labour and elaborated on the findings of a large-scale national survey of child labour, conducted in 2012 and 2013 and covering more than 6,000 households across Tajikistan. One of the survey findings was that 503,000 children, or 23.4% of the country's 2,231,000 children aged 5 to 17, were involved in child labour.

The survey also noted that as many as half of these children could be working in hazardous or unhealthy conditions potentially likely to cause the child's death, permanent injuries or serious health problems.

Using interactive learning methods, the seminar organisers and participants discussed the role of agricultural employers in the elimination of child labour and in advancing the goals of the country's National Action Plan for the Elimination of WFCL in the Republic of Tajikistan in 2015 to 2020.

In addition to this, the seminar participants discussed assessing the risks and hazards faced by children working in agriculture,  building systems for monitoring farms to facilitate detection of child labour and to track progress in its elimination.

The training was organized by the ILO, in collaboration with the Ministry of Labour and Employment and the Union of Employers of the Republic of Tajikistan.

Source: Media group "ASIA-Plus"