Tabitha Mvula
21 April 2005
Lusaka — ACTING labour minister Dr Brian Chituwo has said irresponsible sexual behaviour by males is putting young girls at risk of sexual exploitation and HIV infection.
And International Labour Organisation (ILO) director Louis Ndaba-Hagamye has observed that 600,000 children are working under the worst forms of child labour in Zambia.
At the launch of the ILO International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) project on HIV/AIDS induced child labour, Dr Chituwo said negative tendencies by men needed to be dealt with and discouraged if the issue of child labour was to be eradicated.
"This irresponsible sexual behaviour by males to exploit young children is an issue that needs to be addressed. There is a need to sensitise men on these issues because the negative tendencies and practices have put young girls at risk of sexual exploitation," Dr Chituwo said.
Dr Chituwo said millions of children affected by HIV and AIDS faced a high chance of working for their survival.
"This makes such children vulnerable to sexual harassment and manipulation," he said.
Dr Chituwo bemoaned the dimensions of HIV and AIDS that had seen the worst forms of child labour in the country.
He added that cultural practices, gender-based power relations and other inequities that coerced children into providing sexual favours or engaging in survival sex needed to be discouraged.
And Ndaba-Hagamye said 600,000 children in Zambia were involved in the kinds of labour that were hazardous to their health and development.
Ndaba-Hagamye said issues such as child prostitution exposed many children to HIV and AIDS.
He said the launch of the new programme would endeavour to address the deep causes of child labour, as it had become a hindrance to economic development.
Ndaba-Hagamye said there was a need to tackle the vicious circle between child labour and HIV/AIDS through focusing on developing national strategies and withdrawing children from labour.
And Zambia Federation of Employers representative Harrington Chibanda expressed concern that amendments concerning children's rights were taking too long for Parliament to put legislation in place.
He said due to this it was difficult to bring culprits to book because there was no legislation to refer to.
Zambia Congress of Trade Unions president Leonard Hikaumba said the country should brace itself to deal with serious crimes if issues such as poverty were not addressed.
He said many children were forced into labour due to poverty.
Hikaumba said when these children did not find work, they would resort to serious crimes in the future.
Zambia is the first country in the world to pioneer this new programme, which will be headed by Dr Yuki Nose of ILO/IPEC.
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