Egypt's working on improving its child labour record, but more needs to be done. Reem Leila leafs through a recent US report on the issue An estimated 8.3 per cent of Egyptian children between ages 10 and 14 years worked in hazardous jobs during 2006, according to research by the US Department of Labour. Some two million rural children and children from poor households are believed to work in leather tanneries, pottery kilns, glassworks, blacksmith, metal and copper workshops, battery and carpentry shops, auto repair workshops, and textile and plastics factories, thus jeopardising their health. They join 206 million children around the world who are engaged in work that may jeopardise their well-being, added the report which was recently released. In fact, 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. Article 124 of Labour Law 91/1959 stipulates that no child under 12 years of age may be employed under any circumstances, and sets the minimum age at 15 years for some hazardous industries. Labour Law 137/1981 states that children between the ages of 12 and 15 are allowed to work six hours a day, but not after 7pm. Decrees number 12 and 13 issued by the Ministry of Manpower and Migration (MOMM) in 1982 specify various hazardous jobs and industries where the employment of children under the age of 15 in a few cases, and 17 in other cases, is prohibited. MOMM spokesman Sameh Mohamed noted that the ministry's 2000 labour inspectors across the country have cited 72,000 violations, stemming from 500,000 site visits which were conducted in 2006 and 2007. Hence, MOMM and other concerned authorities are currently considering revisions to the labour code. Draft legislation would raise the minimum age for work to 14 years, and establish a number of conditions and guarantees for working children between the ages of 14 and 17. "The ministry and the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood [NCCM] are implementing the second decade of the Protection and Welfare of Children action plan," stated Mohamed. "This includes reintegrating working children into schools, their families and community." According to the official spokesman, MOMM continues to collaborate with the NCCM, Egyptian Trade Union Federation (ETUF), International Labour Organisation (ILO), UNICEF, and the ministries of social affairs, agriculture, education, health and interior to formulate a national strategy to combat child labour, and implement action programmes to eliminate the worst forms of child labour. The US Department of Labour report noted that the abolition of child labour had become a global cause, and it explored the various and ever-changing manifestations of the phenomenon, its scale and ramifications in the world. The report also charted the growth of a global movement against child labour and reviewed the courses of action which the US Department of Labour has taken. These include work through the department's tripartite constituents, governments and employees' and workers' organisations, and through other actors on the international, national and local levels. According to the report, the US will donate $51 million to Egypt and 11 other countries to put an end to children exploitation in the labour market. "Child labour constitutes a major challenge everywhere, whether in the developed or the developing world," stated Moushira Khattab, secretary general of the NCCM. Poverty offers neither a straightforward nor a complete explanation for the problem. According to the report, inadequate social protection and poor educational systems play a large part in the perpetuation of child labour. Khattab highlighted the crucial role the council is playing to abolish child labour, along with other concerned authorities, including working on reducing poverty through investing in social protection, social services and education. Also, by supporting programmes which target the elimination of child labour. She maintains that Egypt's national child agenda already conforms with international child rights and the principles outlined in the report, adding that the government was also prioritising education as an effective means to combat child labour. "It is unlikely that we will succeed in eliminating child labour without first establishing sufficient levels of education," asserted Khattab. "Children should be educated and women empowered in order to help convince girls to stay in school." The NCCM launched an initiative two years ago aimed at educating girls which, Khattab said, would be effective in combating child labour. The council has also launched a survey, in collaboration with the Central Authority for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS), aimed at monitoring child labour, defining their age groups and the nature of their workplaces. "We have come a long way in the study and it has so far revealed many important facts," stated Khattab. "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." NCCM's secretary-general added that the council was currently focussing on providing working children with social security safeguards and reducing school dropout rates, through providing their families with an alternative source of income. "Increasing awareness of the problem is also high on our agenda," said Khattab. "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. Results indicate that 81.5 per cent of working children are still enrolled in school, and 54 per cent of these work only during summer vacation. Other figures reveal that a working child's revenue makes up 29 per cent of his family income, and 73 per cent of working children are employed in agriculture. "Continuous coordination between the council and all concerned authorities is taking place in order to decrease the rates of child labour in the coming few years, and to be totally eradicated within the coming decade," hoped Khattab.
