The police and labour department officials today rescued four child labourers, hailing from Uttar Pradesh, during raids conducted at bed manufacturing units here.

In a release here, Deputy Commissioner Anjum Pervez said the raids were conducted as part of the district administration's drive to identify and rehabilitate child labourers. UNICEF, a non governmental organisation, also helped in the endeavour.

Action would be initiated against the owners of these units under the Anti-Child Labour Act.

The children would be sent back to their native, the release added.

The Children's Human Rights Centre of Albania – CRCA, a major child-rights organisation in the country, issued today its latest report on the situation of child labour and street children. This is the very first in-depth research-report published by a national organisation in Albania, on the situation of the rights of child labourers and street children in Albania. The research is funded by Palme Center and SIDA Sweden, as part of the programme 'The Rights of the Child a Democratic Right'.

"Today we have issued our report on child labour and street children in Albania”, said Altin Hazizaj, Director of CRCA and one of the authors of the research, “and I have to say that the situation is far more serious then previously thought by us. In the next few days we will make public our requests towards the Albanian authorities, especially Ministry of Labour, which for so many years has left without protection thousands of children throughout Albania, which have fallen victims of economical exploitation."

27 th February: The Child Labour Rehabilitation-cum-Welfare Fund has been constituted in 25 States/UTs. It has not yet been constituted in Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Arunachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Kerala, Lakshadweep, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Sikkim.

The fund is kept at the disposal of the State Governments only to provide for various welfare measures for the child labour and their families.

This was stated by the Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Shri Chandra Sekhar Sahu in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.

For several decades, international organisations, governments and civil societies have combined efforts to fight child labour.

Zambia has also joined the campaign to get rid of child labour with several programmes in place by both the Government and the civil society.

Now, the biggest question which remains unanswered is whether the fight against child labour will be won and how far have we gone as a nation and the globe in this direction?

This is so, because child labour has been with us for decades and little has been achieved apart from awareness which either lands on deaf ears or does not reach the targeted group because of economical, social and political reasons.

Various programmes and activities have been launched in this vein but it has always come to the eye of a common man that no major impact has been felt in the fight, especially in Zambia.

It has been observed that most of the programmes and strategies have not impacted much on the grassroots as they have been misplaced and ended up just gathering dust.

International Labour Organisation (ILO) estimates that there are 246 million child labourers worldwide. Approximately 180 million of these are in worst forms of child labour.

Approximately six million children are involved in forced and bonded labour while 300, 000 are involved in armed conflicts.

Approximately two million children are involved in prostitution and pornography.

According to the Zambia 1999 Child Labour Survey, it is estimated that there are 600,000 children that are economically active.

The majority of these children are found in agriculture related occupations. Other occupations according to the survey include: stone breaking, children working in households either as servants or maids, street working children and children involved in prostitution.

Recently, The International Labour Organisation - International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (ILO-IPEC) through the African Network for the Prevention and Protection against Child Abuse and Neglect (ANPPCAN) launched a programme which aims at strengthening the capacity of teachers, lecturers and child care givers to implement child participation activities to fight child labour.

The programme dubbed SCREAM which stands for Supporting Children's Rights through Education, Arts and the Media was first launched in Lusaka in December, while the second phase on the Copperbelt was done this month.

During the Training of Trainers (TOTs) workshop on ILO-IPEC SCREAM pack at Ndola's Henry Makulu Hostels held on February 14 -16, SCREAM Specialist and ILO/IPEC consultant, James Lambert in introducing the Pack said it was an educational tool to raise awareness of child labour among young people and provide them with knowledge to take action.

COIMBATORE: What would you do if you want to create awareness of a social evil? Take out a cycle rally?

Or launch a padayatra? Whatever may be your resolve, it’s not going to match with that of Nagaraj (pictured), an Electrical and Electronics Engineering student of Dr N Mahalingam Engineering College, Pollachi.

A resident of Somanur, Nagaraj had to go to Tirupur very often where he witnessed the evils of child labour.

Aggrieved by it, he decided to do something to strip the evil off from the society. But how?

He started thinking, and at last an idea struck him. Write. Write about it and create awareness among the people.

He discussed it with the college management and got permission to carry on his drive on the campus. As scheduled, he would write on paper for 120 hours - five days - continuously. The writing began on Monday and it will go on till Friday.

Many have conducted awareness programmes on child labour, but this is something different. We wish he succeeded in his attempt, said a lecturer.

A Research Fellow of the Institute of African Studies of the University of Ghana, Dr. Osman Alhassan has exposed the Ministry of Women and Children's Affairs (MOWAC) for lying that there are no child labourers on Ghana's cocoa farms.

According to Dr. Osman, about 30%, (or one-third) of the labour force on cocoa farms are child labourers who are mostly migrant children recruited from other parts of the country, but mostly from the northern savanna area. Dr. Osman, disclosed that the recruitment process is done mostly by agents who are themselves caretakers of cocoa farms in the south and of northern descent.

Dr. Osman's revelations were the outcome of an extensive social research into the use of children as a cheap source of labour on cocoa farms in the country, with particular focus on the Sefwi-Wiaso District in the Western Region.

Taking her turn at the weekly-meet-the-press last Tuesday February 14, Hajia Alima Mahama, the Minister of Women and Children's Affairs denied that child labourers were being used on cocoa farms in the country.

Hajia Alima who was a civil society activist before entering politics described as mere rumours, claims by child rights campaigners that child labourers were being used on the country's cocoa farms. Her denial comes amid increased concerns that some international markets were about to boycott Ghana's cocoa because of the use of children on cocoa farms.

The 40 Hour Famine begins on Friday March 17 and finishes on Sunday March 19 .

Ghana risks being sanctioned economically by her development partners if sustainable actions were not taken to completely eliminate the worst forms of child labour.

Deputy Director Social Welfare, John N. O. Ankrah, said a developing country like Ghana concern’s had become crucial not only because of the adverse effects of child labour on the fundamental rights of the child but also the threat of economic sanctions and its attendant collapse of national economies.

Speaking at a sensitization workshop in Accra Mr Ankrah said there have been growing concerns among governments all over the world and international organisations for the complete elimination of child labour and its worst forms in societies.

The Social Welfare boss said the International Labour Organisation (ILO) was supporting school of social work to produce child labour sensitive social workers to contribute to the process of assessing the factors associated with the menace to empower individuals, groups, families and communities to mitigate the effects of child labour.

He said the social work department of the University of Ghana had developed an independent course structure “Social work with child labour " which was currently being taught in the first semester of second year immediately after students' practical orientation.

A medial practitioner at the 37 Military hospital Dr Erica Dickson said children were not fully developed mentally, physically, socially and psychologically to be pushed into the high risk occupational hazards.

She said the health impact was about the total well being of the child, and a child in such an occupation might feel the negative impact later in life.

Children, who are into stone quarrying, mining and fishing face the risk of loosing their sense of hearing due to the noise, have problems with their eye sights because some particles might enter their eyes and those into the ice water selling could be knocked down by vehicles.

http://www.newsinghana.com/general.php?story=1306

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in a statement called on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to cease the recruitment of children for military purposes and immediately release all children within its ranks. LTTE in the past has called on civilians to "sacrifice" one child or adolescent from each family for their war against the state,The child monitoring body called on all parties to reiterate their commitment to the ceasefire agreement and to ensure that the protection of children affected by the conflict is at the center of upcoming talks in Geneva, which is seen as a last opportunity to ease the escalating violence that killed around 200 people in two months and raised the specter of renewed war."Recruitment of even one child is unacceptable according to the Convention of the Rights of the Child," UNICEF representative in Sri Lanka Jo Anna van Gerpen said in a statement on Tuesday. The UN agency said it recorded 5,368 cases of child recruitment by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) since early 2002, when a ceasefire between the rebels and government forces went into effect.Besides collateral damage by the LTTE and the government conflict, the war's impact on children's psyches is also emerging as yet another challenge for the war-trodden Sri Lankan society. The emergence of war-induced psychotic disorders affecting children is a new phenomenon requiring action, according to child psychology experts.

Last week, the LTTE announced the release of 28 child soldiers ahead of face-to-face peace talks with the Colombo government starting Feb. 22 in Geneva under the peace broker Norway. After the positive gesture, the LTTE said eight children were released directly to their parents while the others left to join a "skills development" program last month.

Maharashtra will soon become the first state in the country to make employing children a non-bailable offence.

Amendments to this effect are currently being carried out by the state’s Labour and Law and Judiciary Departments.

Deputy Chief Minister R R Patil, who also holds the Home portfolio, took this decision after a marathon meeting with the principal secretary (Home), deputy inspector generals posted in Mumbai, officials from the Labour and Law and Judiciary Departments and representatives of non-governmental organisations working in the field of child labour.

“A task force was appointed last year to look into this mammoth problem and the committee, despite teething problems, managed to rescue 993 children in one year,’’ said Patil, adding that he would rescue all child labourers in the city by August 15.

http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=169868

BIDAR: A two- member team from the Italian government visited Bidar district on Saturday and held a meeting with the district officers. The team reviewed the progress of the baseline survey taken up as part of the pilot project of Karnataka Child Labour Project.

The Project, started with the collaboration of the Italian Government, will be implemented in Bidar district.

The representatives of Italian Ministry for Foreign Affairs Paole Viero and Cicilia Bribhol, who is also the President of National Federation of Trade Unions in Italy, while reviewing the progress achieved under Karnataka Child Labour project in Bidar opined that participation of Non-Governmental Organisations and other implementing agencies along with the Governmental machinery was essential.

Paole Viero said the objectives of the project was to ensure better childhood for child labourers and announced that the Project had been taken up on humanitarian grounds to build a better future of the children.

Political Instability, chronic poverty and lack of protection are just some of the challenges facing children in Haiti, whose lives are a daily struggle.

The elections may offer some hope for change as a necessary step to put in place policies that protect the rights of children. But elections alone will do little in addressing Haiti’s social and development challenges if more support from the international community is not provided.

Recurrent crises, weak state institutions and limited access to food and social services have left 3 out of 4 of the 3.8 million children under the age of 18 vulnerable, deprived of basic services and victims of violence, exploitation and abuse.   Child mortality rates in Haiti are the worst in the Americas and in rural and urban areas alike, cost and distance to facilities are barriers to receiving much-needed healthcare.

Violence prevents humanitarian organizations from delivering basic services, especially in some metropolitan areas.  In Port-au-Prince, children roam the street as part of armed gangs.

In addition, Haiti's HIV prevalence rate remains the highest in the region, with 45,000 AIDS-related deaths each year. At least 200,000 children have been orphaned by AIDS.

The advisory committee on child labour has recommended to the government ot cancel the licenses of firms and establishments that employ child labour. The committee that met in January has submitted its report to the government. The committee has found that while the percentage of child labour stood at 9 percent in the country, in Andhra Pradesh it was at 21.5 percent. The committee has asked the government to set up Child Labour Information centers in all district headquarters.

OVER 1,200 children in Lira municipality internally displaced people’s camps are involved in child labour to supplement their families' survival, according to the district Labour Office report.

The District Senior Labour Officer, Mr Terence Awar Alengo, said this while addressing a team of Rural Development Media Communication (RUDMEC) journalists during a tour of Lira town on Thursday.

RUDMEC Programme coordinator, Mr Kizito Hamidu, told Daily Monitor that the tour was meant to expose the suffering of children in the camps to relevant stakeholders.

Alengo said the child workers are involved in stone quarrying on Ngetta hill, prostitution, domestic work, cattle keeping and fishing.

"Child labour worsened in 2002 when over 4,800 people where displaced in Lango region by the Lords Resistance Army (LRA) attacks," he said.

He attributed the rising trend in child labour to the hardships families face in the camps.
Currently, Uganda has about 1.6 million people living in IDPs.

Lira district Police Commander Taire Idwege said the police are aware of people exploiting children but it is 'a tricky issue to handle'.

Slow intervention

"We have issued warnings to those involved in exploiting children,” Idwege said.

“ However, in a society that is traumatised, intervention measures must be taken slowly and carefully. We have designed a number of programmes on our local FM radio stations to lure the children from petty trade and join schools."

Last month, Uganda Red Cross Society launched its 2006 humanitarian assistance appeal for $ 3.6 million ((Shs 6.64 billion) to take relief operations in IDP camps in northern and north eastern Uganda.

The government is a signatory to the International Labour Convention, which outlaws employment of children.

Ayaz, 14, is not quite sure where to throw the large black rubbish bag he is lugging down a small street in a suburb of the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore. This is the first time Ayaz has been in Lahore, and certainly the first time he has worked as a domestic in a kitchen. "I have never chopped onions before, or washed pots and pans. Until the 8 October earthquake, I simply attended school in Muzaffrabad, and was preparing for my matriculation examination," Ayaz told IRIN. But, like so many others, Ayaz's life has changed dramatically since the quake. His elder brother and a sister died in the disaster, along with at least 80,000 others. His father, who had worked in the same kitchen where Ayaz now labours for up to 10 hours a day, says he must stay in Muzaffarabad to care for his wife and two young daughters, now living in a relief camp. Ayaz's mother suffers acute depression, and her husband is afraid of leaving her. Instead, Ayaz has been sent down to work in Lahore, taking on his father's job so the family can earn some money. Ayaz says it was a "big favour" on the part of his employers to give him the job, given his lack of experience or training, though he adds, "I really want to learn and do well."

In any case, Ayaz's school has not yet opened and he is uncertain when classes will resume. Ayaz is not alone. Families from earthquake areas who have reached Lahore and other major cities in Pakistan, have, over the past three months, been desperately seeking work. In cases where the family's main breadwinner has died or been injured, it is the children who must earn money. Sometimes, even when their father is alive, families no longer feel able to send children to school and have instead put them to work. The fact that hundreds of schools have yet to reopen, or are operating on an ad hoc basis in tents, fuels the trend. "My mother felt it was not safe for me to stay on at the camp in Shinkiari, as she herself had to go out to bring back food and so on. I was sent to Lahore and now work in a house here," says Zareena, 12, who tends two young children as they play in a park. Her father works as a driver for the same family from Peshawar, capital of North West Frontier Province (NWFP). Zareena also cites other examples of children from quake-affected areas being taken on as domestic help by wealthier families, often in the belief that by employing them they will be assisting the victims of the disaster. Most of the children work inside homes, or at small workshops, restaurants and shops. According to the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), and other agencies working in quake-hit areas, there has been a marked increase in children at work since the disaster.

"This [increase in child labour] is a concern for us and we are trying to assess the situation," Zafrin Chowdhury, a spokeswoman for UNICEF in Pakistan, said. UNICEF has opened up over 200 tent-schools in quake-hit areas and distributed thousands of kits, including copy books and stationery, but remains worried about more and more children joining the labour force. There have also been reports that orphaned children, taken in by relatives, have been put to work, with the families not able to support them. "It's a cruel situation. Children were taken in immediately after the disaster by members of their extended families, or other villagers. But now these families worry about feeding them, or are simply greedy for more money. Children as young as eight have been put to work," Fahim Khan, an NGO worker who has spent over three months in the Balakot area, told IRIN. Over the past two months in Lahore, there has been a visible increase in the number of young children from quake-hit areas working in roadside cafes or small hotels. "There are many such children seeking work, and many are willing to work for low wages," Badr, an owner of a tiny tea stall on Lahore's busy Abbot Road, said.

Child labour remains common across Pakistan. According to official figures, 3.3 million children under the age of 14 are a part of the workforce in the country. Unofficial estimates put the figure at closer to 8 million. The Islamabad-based NGO, Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (SPARC), has stated in its reports that over 23 million children across the country remain out of school, of which a large number form part of the workforce. The fact that many of these children work in the informal sector - as domestic workers or as waiters - also means they remain hard to control under labour laws – which in theory bar child labour. So far, aside from the ban placed on adoptions, there is no official policy covering children affected by the quake. Strategies to counter the difficulties families face as a consequence of deaths, injury or instant impoverishment have not been put in place – and the result is that many families, fending largely for themselves, have been forced to send children out to work – either in the quake-affected areas themselves, or in larger cities where they may earn a slightly higher wage.

About 2,200 children are employed in transportation sector in the Kathmandu Valley, with 826 of them working in microbuses, 780 in three-whellers and 589 in buses and mini-buses as a helper.A search carried out by Child Workers in Nepal (CWIN) Concern Centre said close to 44 per cent of the total 5019 public transports use children as helpers 28 per cent of whom are below 14 years and 27 per cent illiterate.Presenting a filed report at an information dissemination and workshop on ?Child Labour in Transportation Sector in Nepal?, researcher Govinda Subedi said that most of the children are working for 9 to 16 hours. He said that transportation is one of the worst child-working sectors.

The study that was carried out in the Valley only said the child workers are not given any contract letter.The study said that they found children in 1,500 vehicles were not protected and had no health insurance that accounted for high rate of physical injuries and health hazard. About 44 per cent of them have received various kinds of injuries, 16 per cent cuts and 11 per cent bone fractures while 21 per cent have headache and cough. About three quarters of them have been facing some sort of exploitation and abuse, mostly physical and psychological, it added.The report said the children do not get enough to eat in time and have to heavily depend on the drivers or the owners. Most of such children are boys and 80 per cent of them are living far from home while none of them attend school. Four per cent of them are orphans and 20 per cent have single parent.

The report found that 50 per cent of them were forced to work as there was no one to support them while 66 per cent earn for their families. Apart from their regular jobs at the vehicles, 33 per cent of them are forced to do household works for the owners and divers. They are paid Rs. 930 per month excluding food.The report said that 50 per cent of such children use tobacco and 20 per cent of them drink alcoholic beverage. About 53 per cent children sleep in the vehicles, 22 per cent in their houses, 19 per cent in the rented houses, three per cent in hotel and a little over one per cent sleeps in street and temples.CWIN president Gauri Pradhan said that the issues had been discussed for the last 10 years. Stating that the government aims to eliminate the child labour by 2009, he said they were working in collaboration towards that end.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued notice to all the States and the Union Territories on a public interest petition seeking enforcement of the right to education of every child in the age group 6-14 by abolishing child labour in all forms.``Furnish figures''A Bench, comprising Justice K.G. Balakrishnan and Justice G.P. Mathur, also asked the Registrar-General of Census to furnish figures for child labour in the country.Bench concernedIn December last, the court issued notice to the Centre. When the matter came up for hearing on Wednesday, the Bench expressed concern over continuance of child labour. After the constitutional amendment providing for compulsory education up to 14 years, there could not be child labourers. "They have to be in school. It is the duty of the States to provide them schools."

Finding that the States had not been issued notice, the Bench ordered notice, returnable in four weeks.

A United States Department of Labour US$2 million grant is being used to fund Educare Guyana, an initial three-and-a-half-year remedial education programme to combat the worst forms of child labour (WFCL) in Guyana. Partners of the Americas in conjunction with the National Steering Committee on Child Labour will execute the programme. It stems from several studies conducted by the University of Guyana in 2003 and the Bureau of Statistics over the past three years at both the national and regional levels, the steering committee's chairperson, First Lady Varshnie Jagdeo said at the launching of Educare Guyana at the Ocean View Hotel at Liliendaal yesterday.

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) defines the worst forms of child labour as children exploited through slavery and exposed to trafficking in persons; activities including armed conflict, children engaged in illicit and illegal activity, such as commercial sex, which includes pornography and prostitution; children exposed to extremely hazardous work, including exposure to dangerous machi-nery, chemicals, exploitive working conditions such as sweat shops in garment factories; and work that results in significant loss of school attendance time (up to 33% of lost contact time - eight days in any 20-day period). Minister of Labour, Human Services and Social Security, Dr Dale Bisnauth, who launched the Educare programme said that nationally there are legal frameworks to deal with interventions on all forms of child labour.

He noted the amendment to legislation that sets the minimum age for work at 15 years, which also makes it possible to penalise parents for involving their child or children in child labour. Bisnauth also noted that at present the Ministry of Labour was training its inspectors to detect infringements of the labour laws; and currently the Labour Ministry and the Ministry of Education were monitoring truancy. He noted, too, that another intervention of the government was the establishment of the National Steering Com-mittee on Child Labour to recommend policies and programmes that would eliminate child labour in all its forms. Mrs Jagdeo said that based on the findings of one rapid study conducted at Parika, it was found that a significant portion of the school population was engaged in various forms of WFCL in the area.

A skills training programme has been introduced, involving some 70 children between the ages of 11 to 14 years with the objective of providing them with a variety of skills that would enable them to become numerate and literate, build their self-esteem and lay the foundation for them to continue higher education. The Varqa Found-ation is managing the skills training project, which teaches motor mechanics, cookery, carpentry and basic numeracy and literacy skills. Parika is seen as an industrial centre and a gateway to the interior and to other parts of Guyana and as such was chosen for the rapid survey. She said the studies revealed what many Guya-nese did not know about child labour or took it for granted. This includes begging on the streets, selling at markets, working as porters or stevedores at the wharves, cleaning tables in beer gardens and restaurants, and working in farms to supplement the family income but at the same time putting their well-being at risk. She added that chores done at home should not be confused with child labour, as child labour also tended to force children prematurely to contribute economically to the home.

The funds being provided by the US Department of Labour, she said, would assist in the development of the skills training project at Parika for children and their parents who need to earn to ensure their children's welfare. One of the objectives would be to also work with parents to set up micro enterprises. US Ambassador to Guy-ana, Roland Bullen said Educare Guyana, which represents a partnership and cooperation between the Guy-ana and US governments and non-governmental organizations, would raise awareness of child labour, engage policymakers about their important role in fashioning Guyana's response, and advance school attendance as an alternative to work. He said child labour, even when not in its worst forms, might expose children to hazardous conditions and impede their effective development. As a global problem that demands a worldwide response, he said that the ILO has estimated that more than 211 million children between the ages of five and 14 years work. Most troubling, he said, was that the ILO has estimated that 171 million children work in hazardous conditions and an additional 8.4 million are involved in the worst forms of child labour.

The initial planning for the programme has sparked a positive dialogue among the many key stakeholders inclu-ding government, schools, families, and civil society in the country. And he said that as the dialogue evolves, he trusted that parents, teachers, children, policymakers and concerned members of civil society, would stand together to ensure that Guyanese children are protected from hazardous forms of work and are educationally well-positioned to reach their full potential and contribute positively to the Guyanese society. In brief remarks, Prog-ramme Director Ed Denham called for a national debate on child labour: what is and is not acceptable, how cultural norms and child labour may be viewed, what breeds child labour, whether poverty is part of the problem and how the problems involving child labour can be alleviated. Denham, who previously worked on the Guyana Education Access Programme (GEAP) in Linden, said the next level would be to engage the policymakers at every level to reach agreement as to how the problems could be tackled. He noted the need for national and regional NGOs and Regional Democratic Councils among others to develop programmes to combat child labour.

The programme, he said would concentrate on two distinct groups - those currently engaged in exploitative or worst forms of child labour and those who are at risk of becoming child labourers. Denham said the project is also hoping to work with four regions on a school attendance programme and the first step is to create a database of the children who have dropped out of primary school in the last two to three years with the objective of re-enrolling them in the formal education system. While there are laws in Guyana, which is a signatory to the ILO conventions dealing with the worst forms of child labour and the minimum age of waged workers, he said that it was important not to criminalise children and poor families. He said if this were done there was a fear of the victims not participating in the programme. He noted that while attendance in schools in some parts of Guyana might be good there were other areas such as in the hinterland where children and parents are challenged.