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by Carol Aloysius

Representatives of several trade unions under the umbrella organisation of the National Workers' Congress Wednesday, pledged to fight to the end in order to achieve their common goal of eliminating child labour in Sri Lanka.

Speaking at a press conference to brief media personnel on their work, Mr A. Lodwick, the Secretary-General of the National Workers' Congress under which the National Forum of Trade Unions to Eliminate Child Labour (NATFEC) operates, explained that the forum was set up two years ago for the purpose of co-ordinating and obtaining information on the basis of face to face and individual contact with trade unions and various other interested sectors to create awareness on the child labour problem in Sri Lanka. " Our first step is to establish contact, the second to work as a team and the third and final to build leadership and motivate others to take up our cause", he said. "Our end goal is to get all trade unions in this country to get involved in the cause of children and to eliminate child labour completely from our island, in keeping with the ILO ratification of the Convention and Recommendation on the worst forms of Child Labour."

Ms Claudia Coenjaerts, Director, ILO, Colombo, paid a tribute to the trade unions in the country for taking up the cause of child labour to the extent of forming a National Forum to Eliminate Child Labour. Drawing from her own personal experiences she noted that whereas previously it was difficult to get trade unions involved in the child labour issue, she was heartened to observe more and more trade unions making child labour elimination a core issue. She expressed the wish that many more trade unions would pledge their support for this cause in the near future.

Ms Pearl Weerasinghe, Commissioner of Labour, Women and children's affairs, explaining what her department had done for the past five years, noted that the extent of child labour in Sri Lanka was less as compared with other countries in the region.

"This is because we have laws against child labour in place and regular monitoring of workplace by our officers . Still, a lot more is needed to be done to create awareness on the subject so that the public would bring to the notice of the department any cases of child labour. "Approximately 46 cases of child labour were brought to our notice last year - and these were mainly by the public. So public awareness and co-operation is very important in dealing with this problem", she emphasised.

Mr Jayaratne Adikari, General Secretary of COPSITU, taking up her plea for greater awareness, observed that his organisation was currently carrying out awareness campaigns among all trade unions islandwide to alert them on the importance of the child labour issue.

Ms Shyama Salgado, National Program Manager ILO/IPEC, which supports the activities of the National Forum of Trade Unions to Eliminate Child Labour (NATFEC) referring to a survey on child domestics in partnership with the National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) which was conducted in four plantation districts, Hatton, Matugama, Deniyaya and Badulla, said that the survey had unearthed a great deal of useful information and data on children being trafficked from such areas to work as domestics in houses outside their home districts. The report should be released by the NCPA sometime next month, she promised.

The activities of the NATFEC already done and to be done, were outlined by Mrs M, Rajamoney, President of the All Ceylon Free Trade Unions (ACFTU). They included; the survey on child domestics done in January this year and a sticker campaign to stop child labour launched at Lipton circus on June 12 this year. On the cards in the near future were a poster exhibition to be held in October with the participation of schools in eleven zones of the Education Department of the Western Province.

A handbill on child labour in all three languages to raise awareness on the adverse effects of child labour, a second survey on child labour at Obeysekerapura and Bandanaikepura which is currently being conducted and awareness raising seminars and workshops to be held in Galle, Kandy and Colombo, for trade unions and community leaders on the ILO Convention dealing with the Worst Forms of Child Labour.

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