ILO presents six stories to highlight the problem of child labour in the agricultural sector

BUENOS AIRES (ILO News) — Daniel Berruezo started working in the tobacco fields when he was just seven years old. "We didn't have the possibility to continue with the social life that any child should have. Those things are making, in one, a furrow," he explained. Today he works as head of the Rosario de Lerma delegation of the Salta province's Secretary of Labor, but he still feels the traces of that experience.

This story is part of a series of audiovisual testimonies presented by the Country Office of the International Labor Organization (ILO) for Argentina, which were produced as part of the project "Offside: ¡Marcando la cancha!"

Daniel's experience is not isolated. According to the latest global estimates by the ILO and UNICEF, 160 million children work and 70 percent of them are concentrated in agriculture. In Argentina, 1 in 10 children and adolescents under the age of 15 work. This figure doubles in rural areas of the country, where poverty and vulnerability levels are higher.

In this scenario, through the dissemination of these six life stories, the ILO aims to make visible the problem of child labour and unprotected adolescent labour, as well as to share achievements, articulations and challenges that are part of the results of the project since its inception in 2019.

The six short films narrate experiences related to the identification and prevention of child labour and the protection of adolescent labour in the agricultural sector in Argentina. Some pieces focus on personal experiences, others on causes and organizational and institutional processes. All of them have as background the role of the State and the importance of the articulated work between the government, the employer sector and the union sector around public policies so that children and adolescents have the possibility of exercising their rights.

"When children are guaranteed social protection, they are guaranteed a right and are given the opportunity to develop their full potential and contribute significantly to their communities and society as a whole. However, when they are denied such protection, they are left vulnerable and the cycle of poverty and exclusion is perpetuated," said Yukiko Arai, Director of ILO Argentina.

According to María Eugenia Figueroa, national coordinator of the ILO Argentina's Offside project, the deterioration of the income of workers in the informal economy has had a differential impact on the rural sectors, which often have limited access to infrastructure, services and adequate social protection," she said. "An articulated work is necessary between the government, the trade union sector and the employer sector in the construction of comprehensive responses that contribute to identify, prevent and eradicate child labour and unprotected adolescent labour in the Argentine agricultural and agri-food sector", highlighted Figueroa.

Voices from Salta to Buenos Aires

Daniel Berruezo
Head of the Rosario de Lerma delegation of the Secretariat of Labour of the province of Salta

Daniel's personal experience is present in the responsibilities he assumes in the fight against illegal labour and the eradication of child labour: from the age of seven he worked in the tobacco fields.

Jimena Álvarez Parma
Salta Territorial Agency of the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security of the Nation

Jimena's early interest in promoting labour rights and her experience as a model at the age of 14 prompted her to commit herself to the protection of adolescents at work.

Yaneth Davila
Horticultural producer from Florencio Varela, Buenos Aires

Yaneth is a migrant and is engaged in the agroecological production of vegetables and strawberries. She participated in the training on financial education for the rural economy carried out by the ILO's Offside project and the Ministry of Labour of the Province of Buenos Aires.

Juan Brasesco
Former coordinator of the Provincial Commission for the Eradication of Child Labor (COPRETI) of Buenos Aires

Juan puts into context the joint work with the project "Offside: ¡Marcando la cancha!" in the development of an information system to prevent child labour in horticultural areas.

Lidia Fernandez
Member of the COPRETI Buenos Aires node, from El Peligro, La Plata

Lidia presents the work of the action node of the Provincial Commission for the Eradication of Child Labor (COPRETI) and narrates the social mapping process carried out with families in order to prevent child labour in the area.

Florencia Lance
Officer of the Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA)

The head of INTA's Network of Institutional Approach with Indigenous Peoples talks about the construction of a joint agenda with the ILO for the prevention of child labour in rural areas.

The Offside project is an initiative of ILO Argentina, with the participation of a wide institutional network, to prevent and eradicate child labour in the country. Its different goals include generating knowledge and promoting public policies in different productive sectors. The project is funded by the United States Department of Labor (USDoL).