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Zambia: Tackling Child Labour in Zambia
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The Times of Zambia (Ndola)
3 June 2008
Posted to the web 3 June 2008
Betniko Kayaya
Ndola
ON June 12, 2008, Zambia joins the global community in commemorating World Day Against Child Labour (WDACL), under the theme 'Education - The Right Response To Child labour.'
World Day Against Child Labour was launched on June, 12,2002 and has since become a major advocacy platform to mobilise people around the world against child labour.
The Employment of Young people and Children's Order of 2006 of the Employment of Young Persons and Children Act, defines Child Labour as 'work carried out by children under conditions which stifle and are detrimental and dangerous to the child and affects their proper physical, emotional and intellectual development, in violation of international and national legislation.
"There is a clear distinction between 'Child Labour' and 'Child Work which is defined as work carried out by children for the purpose of socialisation and training for normal development under supervision by parents within the family setting or any other authorised guardian," says International Labour Organisation, ILO, (Zambia office) Senior Programme Officer Maria Malila.
In Zambia, child labour takes the form of selling on the street or hawking, domestic service and farming and lately, stone crushing has become one of the worst forms of child labour.
The global report under the Follow-up to the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principle and Rights at Work of 2006, reveals that there were 317 million economically active children aged between five and 17 in 2004, out of whom 218 million could be regarded as child labourers. Of this number, 126 million were involved in hazardous work.
In the last decade, Zambia, like many other countries in Sub-Sahara Africa, has seen an increase in cases of child labour due in part to HIV/AIDS which fortunately is on a downward trend at 14.3 per cent, according to the latest Zambia Demographic Survey.
The Child Labour Survey of 2005 showed that 895,246 children between the ages of five and 17 were engaged in work that is either hazardous or involves long hours.
Among these children, observes the ILO, 336, 546 or 38 per cent were orphans, some having lost one or both parents to HIV/AIDS showing that not only is there a link between child labour and HIV/AIDS, but that it is also a product of poverty as evidently seen by the number of children living and working on the street.
The survey further revealed that majority of child labourers, about 92 per cent, are in rural areas, largely engaged in farming, fishing and forestry.
And one survey result that should be cause for concern is the fact that 71.5 per cent of the country's child labourers are below the age of 15, observes the ILO.
An exploitative form of child labour, child domestic work, has long existed and persists in our society. Child domestic work such as child minders, maids, cooks, cleaners, gardeners and other household chores generally seem to be accepted as a necessity and yet they are not any less than child labour.
A rapid assessment of 173 children in Lusaka and Chongwe districts, revealed a worrying scenario regarding child labour. Of the 173 children interviewed, 149 (86 per cent), were engaged in domestic work with more girls (56 per cent) being engaged in domestic work than their male counterparts.
The survey further revealed that 73 per cent of children engaged in domestic work were female while 27 per cent were male. 61 per cent of all children engaged in domestic work were in the age group 10 to 14 while a significant portion of children (140 children, about 94 per cent), worked without pay. Only five children were paid in cash and four received food as payment for their labour.
The majority of children working in households (131 out of 149) in the sample had never been to school.
In another survey, 176 children aged between five and 17 were captured. Results showed that more than 90 per cent of the children worked for four or more hours.
The income earned by the children varied from as little as K10,000 to over K200,000. Results further showed that more than half of the children worked under hazardous conditions such as exposure to dust, fumes or gas during work.
The children in the study identified provision of social services as what they would like Government or non-governmental organisations to help them with.
At community level, health and financial assistance were stated by the majority of the children as the immediate help they needed.
They also felt that studying hard at school and working would help uplift their lives.
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Twinned to child labour is the problem of child trafficking. The ILO observes that human trafficking has gained increased awareness in Zambia over the last few years although there is still little hard evidence on the nature and extent of the problem.
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