Fighting child labour

Mrs Suzanne Mubarak has launched "A future without child labour," the first report on child labour in the world. Gihan Shahine reports
Mrs Suzanne Mubarak's extensive efforts in the field of children's welfare made her a prime candidate when the International Labour Organisation (ILO) was seeking a prominent figure to spearhead its launch of the first Global Report on Child Labour on Sunday. ILO officials explained to Al-Ahram Weekly that Mrs Mubarak "was selected for her significant contribution in the field of childhood and care for children's well-being." The report, the third since the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work was issued, was launched simultaneously on 6 May in 13 other areas throughout the world.
A number of prominent figures participated in the conference chaired by Mrs Mubarak on Sunday. Among them were Minister of Labour and Immigration Ahmed El-Ammawi, Chairman of the ILO Cairo's office Ibrahim Awad, Chairman of the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood (NCCM) Moushira Khattab and ILO expert Samir Radwan. A number of provincial governors and labour experts also attended.
The report outlines how striving for the abolition of child labour had become a global cause at the turn of the new millennium. It explores the varied and ever-changing manifestations of child labour throughout the world as well as its scale and ramifications. The report also charts the growth of a global movement against child labour and reviews the different courses of action that the ILO has taken, both through its tripartite constituents -- governments and employees' and workers' organisations -- and through other actors at the international, national and local levels.
Mrs Mubarak pointed out the significance of the conference's timing. "The report is launched on the eve of the UN General Assembly's special session on children where achievements are reviewed," Mrs Mubarak said. "The report's positive reference to Egypt puts across Egypt's effective role in the field and the whole region's commitment to the welfare of Arab children."
The conference, Mrs Mubarak added, was a chance to announce Egypt's ratification of ILO Convention 182 which introduces sweeping reforms that target the worst forms of child labour -- slavery, forced or unpaid labour, human trafficking, child pornography, prostitution and other forms of hazardous and exploitative work.*
Egypt is largely free of the worst forms of child labour that the convention describes. Yet the convention also encompasses work that is considered harmful to the health, safety and morals of children, or exposes them to physical, psychological or sexual abuse.
"The convention will be a cornerstone in the national programme to eliminate child labour," Mrs Mubarak said.
Child labour is a global phenomenon. According to the ILO report, some 206 million of the world's children are engaged in work that may jeopardise their well-being. Almost 73 per cent of working children are now believed to be exposed to the worst forms of hazardous child labour, and nearly two-thirds of them are under 15 years old.
"Those figures, however, may not provide a full picture of the extent of the phenomenon," Mrs Mubarak noted. Child labour is closely associated with the kind of unregulated informal economy that is largely beyond the reach of formal institutions such as labour inspection services, the ILO report notes.
"Child labour constitutes a major challenge everywhere, whether in the developed or the developing world," Mrs Mubarak said. Poverty offers neither a straightforward nor a complete explanation for the problem. According to the ILO report, inadequate social protection and poor- quality educational systems play a large part in the perpetuation of child labour.
The report makes clear the crucial role and responsibilities that governments have in seeking to abolish child labour. Governments, the report pointed out, can make a difference in reducing poverty through investing in social protection, social services and education and by supporting programmes that target the elimination of child labour.
Mrs Mubarak maintained that Egypt's national child agenda already conformed with international child rights and the principles outlined in the ILO report. The government, she added, was also putting education high on its agenda as an effective means by which to combat child labour.
"It is unlikely that we will succeed in eliminating child labour without first establishing sufficient levels of education," Mrs Mubarak said. "Children should be educated and women empowered to help convince girls to stay in school." The NCCM launched an initiative this year aimed at educating girls which, Mrs Mubarak said, would be effective in combating child labour. The initiative was launched in association with NGOs and UN agencies.
"We are very proud that the ILO report mentioned the Egyptian initiative's methodology in its recommendations and described it as one of the most effective measures to have been taken in eliminating child labour," Mrs Mubarak said.
"Education, however, may not be enough to eliminate child labour," Mrs Mubarak pointed out. Poverty, she said, should be reduced so that low-income families did not force their children to work.
In a similar vein, the NCCM launched, early this year a comprehensive initiative aimed at protecting working children. Moushira Khattab, head of the NCCM, explained in a press conference held on 2 May that the council's technical consulting committee had put working children high on its agenda and launched a study on the causes of child labour and possible solutions. The council has also launched a survey, in collaboration with the Central Authority for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS), aimed at monitoring child labour and defining what working children's age groups are and the nature of their workplaces.
"We have gone a long way in the study and it has, so far, revealed many important facts," Khattab said. "We have also expanded our work to the four governorates where incidents of child labour rated the highest, mainly through training volunteers and local councils on how to deal with child labour."
The NCCM, Khattab added, was also currently focusing on providing working children with social security safeguards and reducing school drop-out rates through providing their families with an alternative source of income.
"Increasing awareness of the problem is also high up on our agenda," Khattab added. "Child labour is directly linked to parental illiteracy and a lack of public awareness of the importance of education in reducing poverty."
The NCCM survey has shown that these efforts are finally paying off. According to the survey, 81.5 per cent of working children in Egypt are still enrolled in schools, and 54 per cent of these work only in the summer vacation. A working child's revenue makes up 29 per cent of his family income. 73 per cent of working children are employed in agriculture.
"The study also revealed that, between 1988 and 2001, families have shown an increasing keenness that their children should remain in school, even while working; and more than 50 per cent of children who have dropped out of school expressed willingness to go back," maintained Buthayna El-Deeb, head of CAPMAS Population Studies and Research Centre. "Poverty proved to be a major cause of child labour in Egypt."
The Arab world has recently given special attention to child labour. Mrs Mubarak, however, noted that the ILO report "did not mention the Arab region as such." Still, the report made two references to Egypt's efforts to combat child labour.
"So far, 12 Arab countries have ratified ILO Convention 183 which concerns the minimum employment age. 16 Arab countries have ratified Convention 182," Mrs Mubarak added.
"Although our ultimate goal is to eliminate child labour altogether, our efforts in the coming period will focus on eliminating the worst forms of child labour," she concluded.
Recommend this page
© Copyright Al-Ahram Weekly. All rights reserved
Send a letter to the Editor