World Day Against Child Labour on Tuesday:

Human rights and social justice, the key to ending child labour

By Pramod DE SILVA

“Every day, millions of children in the world are carrying schoolbags where books have no place.” That is the theme of one poster featured on this page. What does this mean? It means that they go to work, not to school. The bags are usually used to carry implements needed for their work, be it at a rock quarry, garment sweatshop or car repair workshop.

And we must not forget the guns – children have been forced to carry arms and engage in combat by rebel groups in many parts of the world. These children have no rights, no privileges, no holidays, no minimum wages, no concept of a childhood and no hope for the future. They suffer in silence, having no collective voice to air their grievances.

This is the sad plight of more than 218 million children, the world over. The most recent estimates suggest that 127 million boys and 88 million girls are involved in child labour with 74 million boys and 41 million girls engaged in the worst forms of child labour and exploitation.

Nearly 45 million children are engaged in child labour in our region - South Asia - alone. Girl children are often treated in a much worse manner by their ‘employers'. Worse, parents in some countries prefer to educate their boys at the expense of the girls, who may be sent to work in menial conditions.

Deprived of their childhood and education, these children are forced to toil day and night in deplorable conditions, often for a pittance and sometimes for nothing at all. Theirs is a story that should be heard and a plight that should not be forgotten. Child labourers are exposed to physical, psychological or moral suffering day in, day out, that can cause long-term damage to their lives. And when they reach 18, they cannot find a decent job because they have had no formal education or vocational training. This is a very pathetic picture overall.

Social justice

A day in the calendar is not enough to work towards securing their freedom and rights, but that gives an impetus to all to achieve that goal sooner rather than later. The International Labour Organization (ILO) and the UN mark the World Day Against Child Labour on June 12 every year. This year’s theme ‘Human Rights and Social Justice: Let’s End Child Labour’ will provide a spotlight on the right of all children to be protected from child labour and from other violations of fundamental human rights.

The theme is appropriate since children’s rights are human rights too and vice versa. The UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights provides a basis for the protection of human rights everywhere while the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child focuses primarily on that aspect. Both of these instruments focus heavily on education.

The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights features the right to education, prominently stating that “Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory”.

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child states that children have the right to be protected from performing any work that is likely to be hazardous or to interfere with the child’s education, or to be harmful to the child’s health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development. It also states that primary education should be compulsory and available free to all and encourages the development of different forms of secondary education available and accessible to every child.

Important framework

The ILO’s Conventions seek to protect children from exposure to child labour. Together with other international instruments relating to children’s, workers’ and human rights, they provide an important framework for legislation established by national governments. Some gains are being made: 20 more countries have ratified the optional protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and pornography, while 15 States have become parties to the optional protocol on children in armed conflict since the launch of the campaign two years ago to encourage universal ratification.

On this World Day the ILO calls for:

*Universal ratification of the ILO’s conventions on child labour (and of all ILO core conventions)

*National policies and programs to ensure effective progress in the elimination of child labour

*Action to build the worldwide movement against child labour

In this regard, the ILO Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No.138) requires States to specify in law a minimum age for admission to employment not less than the age of finishing compulsory education, and which in any case, should not be less than 15 years. The ILO Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) calls for “immediate and effective measures to secure the prohibition of the worst forms of child labour as a matter of urgency”.

The worst forms include slavery, sale and trafficking of children, recruitment of children for use in armed conflict, child prostitution, child pornography and procurement of children for production and trafficking of drugs and other forms of work likely to harm the health, safety or morals of children.

In its most extreme forms, child labour involves children being enslaved, separated from their families, exposed to serious hazards and illnesses and/or left to fend for themselves on the streets of large cities - often at a very early age. Urgent action on these matters is required if all countries are to end the worst forms of child labour by 2016.

Victims of aggression

The World Day Against Child Labour comes just one week after the world marked the International Day of Innocent Children - Victims of Aggression on June 4. The two events are closely linked, since child labour is one of the worst forms of aggression against children.

We see more child labourers and slaves than ever before; more children are clutching guns and grenades in the world’s conflict zones; more children are being sexually and physically abused (including the mutilation of genital organs); more children are becoming victims of crime and vice; millions of children face hunger and homelessness. This cannot go on.

Governments can and should take positive steps to stop child labour and prevent other forms of child abuse. Sri Lanka has set an example to other countries by establishing a separate body to deal exclusively with child abuse and other related complaints. The National Child Protection Authority (NCPA), which also operates a hotline for child abuse complaints, is rendering a yeoman service for the welfare of children who have become victims of various forms of aggression. Several other arms of the State also have units and officials for the welfare of children.

But governments alone cannot solve the problem. Employers must desist from employing children, however financially attractive it may be. Can we do anything at an individual level? Yes, if you come across any instances of child labour or physical/sexual exploitation of children, inform the authorities immediately. Otherwise, your silence may ruin the life of a child.

Children must be able to lead fun-filled, carefree lives without any form of aggression or abuse affecting their growing minds. Governments, civil society groups, teachers, parents and others concerned must make this a reality.

Children are the future of our world and must be allowed to grow up in a safe and secure environment, free of exploitation. In this regard, eliminating child labour is no longer just an ethical duty, it is a necessity. It is time to give back these children their childhood. It is time to hear their laughter again.