From: hrcoord@igc.org (Human Rights Coordinator)
Newsgroups: soc.rights.human
Subject: LABOUR: ILO finds child labour bigg
Date: 23 Jul 92 14:09:00 GMT
Nf-ID: #N:cdp:1476700253:000:5114
Nf-From: cdp.UUCP!hrcoord    Jul 23 07:09:00 1992


From: Human Rights Coordinator <hrcoord>
Subject: LABOUR: ILO finds child labour bigg

/* Written 12:10 am  Jul 23, 1992 by newsdesk in
cdp:ips.englibrary */ Copyright Inter Press Service 1992, all
rights reserved.  Permission to re- print within 7 days of
original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Title: LABOUR: ILO finds child labour biggest source of child
abuse


washington, jul 21 (ips) -- as many as 25 per cent of all children
between the ages of 10 and 14 are working in many third world
regions, according to the 1992 world labour report released here
tuesday by the international labour organisation (ilo).

''child labour is the single most important source of child

abuse and child exploitation in the world,'' says ilo director
- general, michel hansenne.

the report says that while most children are employed in
agriculture, many others work in factories, as domestic servants,
in family-run businesses, as street hawkers, and in prostitution.

it says youngsters working as domestic servants -- especially
those who live in the homes of their employers -- may be the most
vulnerable and exploited children of all, experiencing isolation
and a profound stunting of their psychological growth.

the ilo says child labourers are often exposed to high risks, and
many develop life-long injuries and deformities.

it points to child carpet-weavers in india who work long hours
under conditions which ruin their eyesight and lead to deformed
backs and limbs, and to young pencil-makers who breathe in
hazardous slate-dust which condemns them to early disability and
death from tuberculosis and other lung disease.

further, many children, the report states, are infected with the
aids-related human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) through sexual
abuse by their employers, or through forced prostitution.

while it is hard to say just how many children are working,
hansenne estimates the figure is ''in the hundreds of millions''

the numbers are greatest in asia, where some 67 million children
are estimated to be working, accounting for up to 11 per cent of
the total labour force in some nations, says the report.

in africa, 20 per cent of all the children are forced to work in
some nations. in nigeria, for instance, an estimated 12 million
children work children in some countries work. (more/ips)

labour: ilo finds child labour biggest source of child abuse(2-e)

labour: ilo (2)

the ilo predicts that by early next century, more children will be
employed in the urban informal sector than in agriculture, a trend
already well advanced in latin america.

child exploitation is a major problem in africa and latin america
as well, says the report, which is quick to point out that child
labour is also a problem in the developed world, especially in
italy and spain.

an estimated 100,000 children work in spain, most of them on
family farms, claims the report.

the ilo distinguishes child labour from the normal, healthy,
''round-the-house'' style of work. ''child labour defines a
condition of children being exploited, or overworked, or deprived
of their rights to health and education, or just deprived of their
childhood''.

many governments are seeking ilo advice on how to curb child
labour. these include brazil, peru, egypt, india, pakistan, kenya,
the philippines and thailand. yet a conspiracy of silence still
prevails among the children, parents, employers and even
governments in many developing nations, the report notes.

poverty is the most significant cause of child labour, but the
report suggests the problem persists for a variety of reasons.

with adequate education being scarce or too expensive, many
children are left with nothing to do, and the only way they can
help their families is through labour, according to the report.

employers see children as a source of cheap labour, yet the paltry
wages the children receive create a large jump in family income,
according to the ilo.

the report says governments often turn a blind eye to child labour
because of the foreign exchange earned by some industries that
employ children.

''in the long run, child labour generates poverty,'' since up to
one-fifth of some populations are disabled or uneducated as a
result of labouring as children, says gunn. ''this puts a major
brake on development.''

several million children work in southern asia in child- bonded
labour, and the most common situation is one in which parents
accept a loan, then, unable to repay, agree to let the children
work off the debt. in practice, the debt never decreases, only
rises, as a result of usurious interests rates and outright fraud,
says the report.

the ilo says all governments, if they cannot eliminate child
labour completely, should at least remove all children from
abusive labour and institute compulsory primary school education.

while the ilo is working with governments to create child- labour
legislation, the study recognises that it will take a long time
for many poor nations to eradicate the problem.  ''we are saying,
'set yourselves a target and work towards it','' gunn told ips.
(end/ips/lt/jl/yjc/92)