bethan alexander's List: Justice Project- Child Labour

• Child Labour" is, generally speaking, work for children that harms them or  exploits them in some way (physically, mentally, morally, or by blocking access  to education).
  
• 246 million child workers aged 5 and 17 were involved in child Labour, of which  171 million were involved in work that by its nature is hazardous to their  safety, physical or mental health, and moral development. Moreover, some 8.4  million children were engaged in so-called 'unconditional' worst forms of child  Labour, which include forced and bonded Labour, the use of children in armed  conflict, trafficking in children and commercial sexual exploitation."
  
• Where do child labourers live
  61% in Asia
• Asia, 22% of the workforce is children
• Work ranges from taking care of animals and planting and harvesting food, to  many kinds of small manufacturing (e.g. of bricks and cement), auto repair, and  making of footwear and textiles.
  
• More boys than girls work outside their homes. But more girls work in some jobs:  for instance, as domestic maids. Being a maid in someone’s house can be risky.  Maids typically are cut off from friends and family, and can easily be  physically or sexually abused by their employers.
  
  
• Less than 5% of child Labourers make products for export to other countries
• Unicef’s State of the World’s Children Report 1997.

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• dangerous jobs are in danger of injury, even death.
  
  
• How was child labour reduced in today’s developed countries?
  Four  main changes took place:
  
  1. Economic development that raised family  incomes and living standards
  2. Widespread, affordable, required and relevant  education
  3. Enforcement of anti-child Labour laws (along with compulsory  education laws)
  4. Changes in public attitudes toward children that elevated  the importance of education
• It is a myth that child Labour will only disappear when poverty disappears.
• world’s child labourers actually are to be found in the informal sector -  selling on the street,
• at work in agriculture or hidden away in houses
• Poverty is widely considered the top reason why children work at inappropriate  jobs for their ages.
• Family expectations and traditions.
  • Abuse of the child.
  • Lack of good  schools and day care.
  • Lack of other services, such as health care.
  •  Public opinion that downplays the risk of early work for children.
  • Uncaring  attitudes of employers
  • Limited choices for women.
• children are employed because they are easier to exploit," according to the  "Roots of Child Labour" in Unicef’s 1997 State of the World’s Children  Report.
  
• • Increased family incomes
  • Education — that helps children learn skills  that will help them earn a living
  • Social services — that help children and  families survive crises, such as disease, or loss of home and shelter
  •  Family control of fertility — so that families are not burdened by children

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• In some industries children are forced to do repetitive and tedious work like weaving carpets, assembling boxes, polishing shoes, cleaning and arranging a shops goods. It is seen that children are found working more in the informal sectors compared to factories and commercial registered organizations. Little children are often seen selling in the streets or working quietly on domestic chores within the high walls of homes – hidden away from the eyes of the media and labor inspectors
• 218 million children between the age of 5 and 17 working all over the world.
• he most condemned form of child labor is the use of children for military purpose and child prostitution.
• The fact that vulnerable children are being exploited and forced into work, which is not fit for their age, is a human rights concern now
• States parties recognize the right of the child to be protected from economic exploitation and 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.” To sum up, most countries of the world consider it highly inappropriate when a child below a certain age is put to work. People should be prohibited from hiring labor below a certain age. However, the minimum age at which a human can be put to work differs from country to country.

  • To show how can change, make point and show what UN think for back up info and source.

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• Gruesome fact is that today the wealth of parents decide the fortune of the children whether they will enjoy the luxurious amenities or work from the childhood to earn bread.
• hildren have been used for domestic work, mining, agriculture and other hard works
• These children are unaware about the liberty of childhood and suffer from the cruel trend generated by civilised society
• For those unlucky children living in misery, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) has declared June 12 as World Day Against Child Labour, which is observed across the world. Sadly the day is not popular as Valentine Day, Friendship Day or other celebrated day, but the concerned people across the world give importance to this day and observe with great enthusiasm. Non-government organisations, human right activists and other social welfare organisations work at their best to spread awareness among common people related to child labour

  • Ideas for campaign and making awareness of child labour

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• This practice is considered exploitative by many international organizations and is illegal in many countries
• Child labour is common in some parts of the world, and can be factory work, mining^[1], prostitution, quarrying, agriculture, helping in the parents' business, having one's own small business (for example selling food), or doing odd jobs. Some children work as guides for tourists, sometimes combined with bringing in business for shops and restaurants (where they may also work as waiters). Other children are forced to do tedious and repetitive jobs such as: assembling boxes, polishing shoes, stocking a store's products, or cleaning.
• most child labour occurs in the informal sector, "selling many things on the streets, at work in agriculture or hidden away in houses—far from the reach of official labour inspectors

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• The word, “work” means full time commercial work to sustain self or add to the family income. Child labor is a hazard to a Child’s mental, physical, social, educational, emotional and spiritual development
• It is obligatory for all countries to set a minimum age for employment according to the rules of ILO written in Convention 138(C.138)
• The stipulated age for employment should not be below the age for finishing compulsory schooling, that is not below the age of 15. Developing countries are allowed to set the minimum age at 14 years in accordance with their socio- economic circumstances.
• child working part time (3-4 hours) to learn and earn for self and parents after school, is not considered ‘child labor’.
• horrendous practice of employing children of 4 and 5 years in factories in environmental conditions, which were risky for their health and well being, often proving fatal.
• However poor countries are more accepting about child labor as a living necessity
• The year 1990 witnessed all countries of the world except United States and Somalia become a signatory to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). The strongest, most consistent language in legal terminology prohibiting illegal child labor is provided by the CRC. However it does not establish the practice of child labor as legally punishable.
• It has been seen that children who are street sellers, street entertainers, rag pickers, child prostitutes or pornography models, beggers etc - are mostly without natural guardians and exploited by underground gangsters and racketeers.
• The most appalling form of child labor is prostitution and modeling for child pornography. Some children are even sold to fiefs by their parents for money.

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• There are about 250 million children who are working between the ages of 5 to 14

• Child labor in India is a grave and extensive problem. Children under the age of  14 are forced to work in glass-blowing, fireworks, and most commonly,  carpet-making factories.
• Factories  pay children extremely low wages, for which adults refuse to work, while  forcing the youngsters to slave under perilous and unhygienic labor  conditions
• Thus, children are forced to endure the despicable  conditions of the carpet factories, as their families depend on their  wages.
• Most work  around 12 hours a day, with only small breaks for meals. Ill-nourished, the  children are very often fed only minimal staples
• Child labor is one of the main components of the carpet industry
• Taking aggressive action to eliminate this problem is difficult in a nation  where 75 percent of the population lives in rural areas, most often  stricken by poverty.
• The Indian Government has taken some steps to alleviate this monumental  problem. In 1989, India invoked a law that made the employment of children  under age 14 illegal, except in family-owned factories. However, this law  is rarely followed, and does not apply to the employment of family members.  Thus, factories often circumvent the law through claims of hiring distant  family. Also, in rural areas, there are few enforcement mechanisms, and  punishment for factories violating the mandate is minimal, if not  nonexisten
• Legal action taken against the proliferation of child labor often produces  few results. Laws against such abuses have little effect in a nation where  this abhorred practice is accepted as being necessary for poor families to  earn an income
• The Child Labor Deterrence Act of 1993, which is still under consideration,  prohibits importing to the U.S. any product made, whole or in part, by  children under 15 who are employed in industry. While this aspect of the  bill may be effective, the United States needs to take action regarding  child labor abuses, specifically targeted at India

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