|
Child labour is work performed by children aged below 18 years, paid or unpaid, that is exploitative, hazardous, or otherwise inappropriate for their age, detrimental to their schooling, or social, mental, spiritual or moral development. The boundaries of acceptable work are defined under international conventions, notably the ILO Minimum Age Convention (No. 138) of 1973, the ILO Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (No. 182) of 1999, and their associated Recommendations, No. 146 and No. 190, respectively.
According to the latest ILO estimates published in the 2006 ILO Global Report - [pdf, 1.11 MB], based on data from several African countries, 26.4 % of children aged 5 – 14 years were economically active in 2004. This compares to an estimate of 28.8 % for the year 2000. However, the number of child workers is estimated to have increased from 48 million to 49.3 million over the same period, on account of the high rate of population growth. Africa has the highest incidence of child work among the major regions of the world, and is the only region where the number of child workers actually increased. The Global Report notes the persistence of widespread, chronic poverty, the effects of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, rapid population growth, and associated difficulties in enhancing access to quality education as some of the major challenges to the fight against child labour in Africa.
There are still knowledge gaps on the magnitude and nature of the child labour problem in Africa, but available data from across the region indicate that large proportions of child workers are, in fact, performing activities that are considered to be inappropriate for their age or maturity or detrimental to their education or development. There is a high incidence of child labour, including many of its worst forms.
Child labour is a serious challenge to the realization of decent work in Africa. Child labourers are often exploited with little or no pay, long hours of work and no social protection, and have no bargaining power. They often suffer from exposure to activities that pose immediate and long-term dangers to health, physical and moral development. Child labour prevents or disrupts children’s education, denying them opportunities for acquiring knowledge and developing their personal abilities to compete in the labour market, and subsequently limiting their productivity and potential income. Moreover, the consequences of child labour go well beyond the infringement of the individual child’s fundamental human rights, perpetuating a vicious cycle in which poverty is transmitted from one generation of ex-child labourers to the next, and adding up into substantial social burdens at the aggregate level.
There is broad consensus among African governments on the need to tackle the child labour problem, as demonstrated by the near universal ratification of the core ILO child labour conventions, No. 138 (Minimum age for employment) and No. 182 (Worst forms of child labour). High levels of ratification have also been achieved with regard to the UN Convention on the rights of the child and, to a slightly lesser extent, the African charter on the rights and welfare of the child. However, ratification is only a first step, and commitments made at the highest levels need to be translated into effective protections and guarantees, with real enforcement of the relevant legal and policy provisions.
Although an encouraging number of countries in the region are beginning to take the necessary measures to address child labour in terms of policies, legislation, awareness raising, and direct actions in favour of children in the worst forms of child labour, including efforts in enhancing access to quality education, much work remains in translating the ratification of the two ILO conventions into concrete and effective measures. Effective action requires strong national ownership and leadership of the problem, and concerted efforts based on a strong partnership between governments, the social partners and civil society, at central, sub-national and community levels. Moreover, given the complex and multi-sectoral nature of its causes and consequences, the problem needs to be addressed through holistic and cross-sectoral approaches as integral elements of national development, education and poverty reduction strategies and programmes.
The elimination of child labour ranks high among the ILO’s priorities for Africa and within the Decent Work Agenda for Africa adopted by the ILO Constituents at their 11th Africa Regional Meeting - [pdf, 126 KB] held in Addis Ababa in April 2007. The ILO’s International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) is active in most countries in the sub-region, working with national and sub-national governments, the social partners, civil society organizations, local communities and international development partners to address the child labour problem.
The SRO provides technical support to countries in Eastern, Southern and Anglophone West Africa for the development of policy responses and action plans, strengthening the knowledge base, and building institutional capacity for effective and sustainable impact. In line with the conclusions and targets of the Decent Work Agenda for Africa, SRO assistance is currently focused on the design and implementation of comprehensive national action plans aimed at eliminating the worst forms of child labour within the shortest possible time. The vast majority of countries in the sub-region are developing such action plans.
|
 |
|
|
|
