Fresh from hosting a successful National Child Labour Day, the Department of Labour will be sharing and learning from fellow developing countries on best practice of how to tackle the scourge of child labour during the International Conference on Child Labour in Agriculture in Washington this weekend (July 28 to July 30).
The department will participate in the conference organised by Global March against Child Labour which is supported by the US’s Labour department and labour and employment ministers from Brazil and India.
The Deputy Director-General for labour policy and industrial relations, Mr Les Kettledas will deliver the keynote address at the conference on behalf of Minister Mildred Oliphant who could not make the event due to other pressing commitments.
Last week South Africa commemorated its second National Day against child labour in a small rural town Tzaneen in the Limpopo provinces located in the midst of what we call the “food basket of South Africa”.
It was no coincidence that this specific location was chosen as it was meant to highlight child labour in the agricultural sector. The theme of this event was “let me be a child” which provided a poignant reminder to society that there is much to be done in fighting this scourge.
Speaking at the Tzaneen conference last week, Minister Oliphant said: “Since the first adoption of the Child Labour Programme of Action (CLPA) in 2003 significant progress has been made. There has been significant expansion of measures to relieve household poverty which is the main driver of child labour. Legislation to address child labour has been strengthened substantially.”
But she bemoaned the fact that far too many children are affected by child labour – estimated at 821 000. A “These children need our concerted action and protection and we dare not fail them especially seeing the fact that some of these children who should be at school are out there performing duties they should not be performing,” she said.
Kailash Satyarthi, Chairperson of Global March Against Child Labour has called on all key stakeholders to partner in tackling this largely neglected problem of child labour in agriculture.
“We strongly believe that none of the Millennium Development Goals, particularly, universal primary education, gender parity and poverty reduction and many other goalposts can ever be achieved without eliminating child labour, especially in the agricultural and rural settings. Nor can we ensure decent employment for youth and adults.
“It's true that this category of child labourers is invisible and hard-to-reach due to the traditional mindset towards agriculture work, remote locations, limited access to education, inadequate rural development and inappropriate legal and social protection measures.”
According to the organisation, agriculture is the sector in which, it is estimated by the International Labour Organisation that around 60 per cent of child labourers around the world work and the problem is not limited to developing countries but occurs in industrialised countries as well.
For more information, contact:
Musa Zondi
Cell: 082 901 8081
South Africa contributes to international effort to stemming child labour
