A major problem in our present global environment is child labour.
Child labour as defined by many world recognised books and the ILO is the employment of children as wage earners either against their own will or are compelled to do so due to certain unfavourable circumstances. It can also be said to be the engagement of people below eighteen (18) years into employment sectors.
So individuals below this universally recognised age are referred to as children. Children are normally exploited and often work under hazardous conditions which retards their mental and physical development. Since ancient times, children have worked to help support their families, especially on farms. The practice of children been hired in factories and mills is an example. Children normally for lower wages than adults. They often performed jobs that really required adult strength. It became a serious social problem during the Industrial Revolution in Great Britain which later spread to other European countries and USA as they also became idustrialised; all these happened in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.
During this period, many businesses all over the world began to hire children. They normally worked for lower wages because their employers knew they were not capable of causing labour troubles, as the adults did. These children's working places were mines, mills, factories with poor working conditions and plantation farms or subsistence farming lands. The textile industry in the USA and England for instance, depended heavily on children. Statistics revealed that about forty (40)% of all factory workers in the textile industry particularly in New England were between the ages of seven (7) and sixteen (16). Most of the African, Latin American and Asian countries did not experience much of the industrial revolution, so most of the child labourers or workers were seen cultivating farmlands in exchange for meals. [Source: World Book-Encyclopaedia]
Japan and China however, caught the industrial revolution 'fever'. Their main business fields were the silk and cotton industry. Children were employed in silk and cotton factories to spin wheels to make yarns which were used in the manufacturing of cotton and silk threads. These Japanese and Chinese factories however realised a decline in the employment of child labour due to quick technological progress. This meant that children were no longer needed but in place of them were technical expertise. [Source: World Book Encyclopaedia]
In an attempt to halt this practice in the 1700s, early child labour laws were passed in Britain and the U.S.A. It however managed to decline in child labour to quite an extent. Such laws have set standards and conditions for employing the present day child. These Canadians, Germans and French had also passed some child labour laws. There was a vigorous implementation of these laws in the above-mentioned countries. This was possible through the assistance of a number of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs). Unfortunately, legislative reforms had little effect on the lives of child farm workers. This was as a result of Shifting Cultivation; that is travelling and tilling new lands. They got little schooling , because of this practice. They suffered from long hours working in the scorching sun and they returned him to encounter poor sanitation and housing and possible exposure to social vices like alcoholism, drug addiction and robbery.
The present economic situations of most African countries has to a large extent resulted in widespread poverty in many African homes. These aggravating conditions has compelled children to work for their daily bread. Poverty is the major cause of child labour in Africa. A report by UNICEF about children and work indicated that: A growing number of children living on the streets of African capitals are suffering social dislocation ,homelessness, exploitation and abuse in all forms. At least 100 million children worldwide live at least part of their time on streets and work in the urban informal sector. In Nigeria for instance, some twelve (12) million children work.
In Kenya, an estimated 250 thousand children live in towns in severe poverty. Some children are seen combing dumps for scraps; these children are often by middlemen who buy their gleanings for a pittance. Child labour flourishes because so many benefit from it, dirctly or indirectly: employers exploiting child workers to depress adult wages; families needing additional or supplementary income; governments promoting economic growth and export; and consumers buying the products of child labour. Moreover as many as 250million children in the world work for their own and their families survival. They labour in oppressive and often dangerous factory jobs, in domestic services and on city streets. With these conditions, most of the girls are prone to sexual harassment and might even turn to prostitution. In Arusha Tanzania, quite a percentage of children between the ages of eight (8) and thirteen (13) are known to be working in gemstone mines. This was indicated in a BBC radio news item. These Tanzanian children are normally paid wages below the government approved minimum wage .In a bid to stop child labouring these mines, the government of Tanzania has asked NGOs that could take this issue up and also take care of these children by relocating them and also enrolling the children in Vocational Training Schools. [Source: BBC Radio news item]
In my country Ghana, child exploitation and abuse is not a rare occurrence. The major causes of these problem in Ghana are as follows; broken homes, unemployed parents, poverty, death of parents, etc. Homes are normally said to be broken when married couples divorce. Children who are victims of broken homes are normally compelled to find jobs to cater for themselves since their parents cannot do so. Children are also forced to work by their unemployed parents. This is in attempt by the parents to feed the family. Some children also work through no fault of their parents but peer pressure. Common business fields like selling of wares (retailing), shoe repairing and the domestic service are the major employers of child labour.
Shoe shines as they are popularly called, are common sights in Ghanaian communities. These shoe shines are most often boys and are normally between the ages of10 and 17 years with a few of them been young adults (that is between 18 and 25 years). These young boys are mostly migrants from the rural areas to the metropolitan cities to seek greener pastures. The fees charged by these boys for services provided, can hardly provide them with three square meals; especially on 'bad' days. Some customers even pay below the charged fee.
Child petty traders are not a rare sight at all in Ghana. Petty trading is another common business field where children can be found. They are often seen carrying their items in pans and trays; for example; biscuits, kolanuts, roasted groundnuts, dry cells, tomatoes and a whole lot of assorted products. They often move from house to house. This practice flourishes because people are saved the burden of going to the market when they buy from these children. Bulk purchasers or warehouse owners also rejoice when these children retail their goods for them; with only a pittance been paid to them as commission.
Hawking is another way through which child petty traders sell their goods. They are often in traffic jams displaying their items to rich folks in moving vehicles. Again consumers who might have forgotten certain when shopping buy from these hawkers. Some passengers take advantage of these moving vehicles and don't pay for collected items. The children are sometimes knocked by other moving vehicles when they pursue dubious customers (passengers). These are all exploitations in several forms. From the Central Business District of Accra down to the suburbs like Madina, Okponglo, Adenta, Legon, Achimota and Ashaiman are all 'hunting grounds' for these hawkers. Pedestrian walkways, overhead bridges and corners of the city streets are places where children can be seen hawking. This does not only pertain in Accra but in all metropolitan cities like Kumasi, Sunyani, Cape Coast, Ho, Tamale and Sekondi-Takoradi.
The domestic service in the form of househelps in Ghana is another employer of child labour. Children normally between the ages of eight (8) and sixteen (16) are sent into certain homes to serve as househelps. The househelps do all sort of jobs or chores given to them by their masters and mistresses; And what exasperates concerned people most is that, these children do not get the right treatment from their employers. They are often molested and are sometimes raped by their masters. With this treatment been meted out to them they run away and become street children, which is another social problem.
The stone quarries in some Ghanaian and West African communities are not left out. This is an employment sector which poses much health dangers particularly the eyesight of the child and even the adults to a large extent. Children here work for long hours breaking huge stones with simple rudimentary tools like hammer and chisel. The employers don't even provide them with safety wear like goggles. Majority of the children here took this job up in order to survive. They normally support their parents and siblings with their low incomes. Some quarries at Weija, Kwabenya, Anyaa and Kpone barrier, all in Greater Accra; employ children and pay them low amounts. Some children are also sent to these quarries who already work there. In seeking a solution to this problem, some NGOs relocated these children by enrolling them into various vocational institutions. The older ones are into tailoring and other trades.
The commercial buses popularly called 'trotro' also employ children as drivers mate. Collection of fares, advertising (vocal) the bus's destination and cleaning the vehicle ,every working day; are some of the functions of the mate. The young mates are normally paid lower than the adult mates. They are sometimes not paid when the transport market is low.
The alarming proportion at which child labour is rising in recent times has called for action from the United Nations. The UN through its socio-economic welfare agencies has enacted certain laws and standards for the employment of the child. Through the Human Rights Declaration the UN has called for the abolishment of child labour.
The International Labour has also taken up the fight. This has clearly been stated in its aims and objectives. Aiming at the abolition of child labour, the ILO stipulates that the minimum age for employment should not be less than the age of completing compulsory. In Ghana, Liberia Gambia and Nigeria: the compulsory level of education is the Junior Secondary School which should be completed by the age of fifteen (15) years.
The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) also stipulates that children should have access to at least maximum levels of education, nutrition and healthcare over a long term; before they are employed. This is to achieve the progressive elimination of child labour. Also in 1990,the ILO launched a major global offensive by establishing the International Programme for The Elimination of Child Labour (IPECL). The programme offers technical advisory services to children who have suffered the worst abuses like child labour and forced labour. Sexual abuse and intimidation are others. [Source: Basic facts About the UN] Moreover, UNICEF has come up with assistance to children covering child labour; in the form of organising special projects. These programmes help provide education, counseling and care and above all relocating these children.
In Ghana, NGOs and individuals have also joined the struggle against child labour. Children's rights clubs have also been formed in some second-cycle institutions. There has also been adequate media coverage on this social problem; on the television and newspapers. These are all steps in the right direction.
Long Live children's Rights!!!!
Long Live The
Struggle Against Child Labour!!!!!!
NAME: QUAME-AMAGLO JUSTICE
AGE: 15 YEARS
SCHOOL: WEST AFRICA SECONDARY SCHOOL
COURSE: GENERAL ARTS
SUPERVISING TEACHER: WILLIAM HAIZEL-COBBINA