KEY INTERNATIONAL REGULATIONS GOVERNING THE PROHIBITION OF CHILD LABOUR
INTRODUCTION
Baban Hasnat in his article International Trade and Child Labour[1] defines child labour as the means of exploiting under age children, forcing them to work legally with physical, mental or sexual harm or abuse. These exploiters strive on depriving children of their basic rights and this continues to fuel the child labour market. Child labour is a serious offence which is sadly very often remedied, and effects people around the world. In recent years, developed countries have taken initiatives to eliminate child labour worldwide by linking trade and prohibiting child labour.[2]
KEY REGULATIONS
The UN (United Nations) convention on the rights of the child in Article 1[3] declared a minimum age under the law applicable to the child and Article 32[4] provides protection to the child from economic exploitation and from any kind of work which is harmful to the child and provides guidelines regarding minimum age for employment, condition of work and provides appropriate penalties or other sanctions to ensure the effective enforcement of the present article.[5]
International Labour Organisation
International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates there are about 250 million children between ages of 5 and 14 years, who are in economic activity in developing countries, 120 million of them are involved in full-time work.[6] For the protection of children and prevention of child labour ILO has laid down a few conventions, a couple of the most important are convention 138 and 182.
ILO Convention 138, 1973[7]
International Labour Organization's (ILO) Minimum Age Convention sets a basic minimum age for employment of 15 years, and 14 for countries meeting the ILO's developing country exemptions. It prohibits hazardous work for young workers under the age of 18.
ILO Convention 182, 1999[8]
This Convention calls for the Prohibition and Immediate Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour, including forced or bonded labour, and hazardous, unhealthy and unsafe work.
UNICEF
UNICEF has estimated that about 158 million children between the ages of 5-14 are engaged in child labour - one in six children in the world. Millions of children are engaged in hazardous labour in unacceptable conditions, such as working in mines, working with chemicals and pesticides in agriculture or working with dangerous machinery. They are everywhere but invisible, toiling as domestic servants in homes, labouring behind the walls of workshops, hidden from view in plantations.[9]
- In Sub-Saharan Africa around one in three children are engaged in child labour, representing 69 million children.
- In South Asia, another 44 million are engaged in child labour.[10]
Children living in the poorest households and in rural areas are most likely to be engaged in child labour. Those burdened with household chores are overwhelmingly girls. Millions of girls who work as domestic servants are especially vulnerable to exploitation and abuse. Labour often interferes with children’s education. Ensuring that all children go to school and that their education is of good quality are keys to preventing child labour.[11]
CHILD LABOUR IN PRACTICE
Child Labour is a global problem and exists not only in the under-developed countries but also in the western developed countries, in one form or another, like USA, UK amongst many others. But the worst effected countries are some of those mentioned below.
INDIA
Recently, on September 27, 2010, an article in Toronto Star Newspaper, criticised children working in the construction sites for the Commonwealth Games held in New Delhi, India. In order to complete the construction by the opening day, thousand of children were employed. Ajay, a four years old child and his eight years old brother worked on one of these sites alongside their family for over 13 hours a day, with a combined income of less than $5.50 a day, performing some of the most hazardous and unacceptable jobs.[12]
THAILAND
The survey conducted on foreign workers in Thailand on October 11, 2010, reported that there were some 600 workers working in the Thai seafood industry, out of these over 20 of them were child labourers. Most of these young workers were reported to be under the age of 15 and were working for 10 – 12 hours a day; this is a clear violation of the above conventions of which Thailand is a signatory.[13]
CONCLUSION
Child Labour is a serious problem which currently has no concrete solution and continues to worry people around the globe. Although efforts are being made to control child labour but this will not be possible if strong regulations are not enforced in practice. The above mentioned regulation although prohibit child labour but observing the examples of the countries above it seem unlikely that they are actually successful, even though all of these countries are signatories to convention child labour prohibition conventions. UNICEF, ILO and many other organisation and NGO’s have time and again reported an increase the number of child labourers around the globe.
Child Labour is a serious threat to the appropriate development of children around the globe. A permanent solution is required to ward off this evil. A solution can only be found if the problem is identified and properly addressed. There is a need to counter poverty, hunger, unemployment and illiteracy as they are the first steps towards ending child labour.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
JOURNAL ARTICLE AND REPORTS
Hasnat, Baban, ‘International Trade and Child Labour’ (1995) 29 Journal of Economic Issues 419 <http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-17246164/international-trade-and-child.html> accessed 30 Oct 2010
UNICEF, ‘Child protection from violence, exploitation and abuse’, <http://www.unicef.org/protection/index_childlabour.html>accessed 1st Nov 2010
NEWS
Rick Westhead, ‘Getting New Delhi Ready for Canada’s Commonwealth Games Team: Four-year-old Ajay’
<http://www.thestar.com/sports/commonwealthgames/article/866371--getting-new-delhi-ready-for-canada-s-commonwealth-games-team-four-year-old-ajay> accessed 22 Oct 2010.
MCOT, ‘The Survey of Foreign Labour’ <http://www.mcot.net/cfcustom/cache_page/113572.html> accessed 24 Oct 2010.
Brooke Lewis and Mom Kunthear, ‘Child labour arrests unlikely’ <http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2010102044171/National-news/child-labour-arrests-unlikely.html> accessed 24 Oct 2010
WIBSITES
Department for Children, School and Family
http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/everychildmatters/strategy/strategyandgovernance/uncrc/unitednationsconventionontherightsofthechild/ accessed 30th Oct 2010
Access My Library
http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-17246164/international-trade-and-child.html accessed 30th Oct 2010
Maquila Solidarity Network
http://en.maquilasolidarity.org/node/661 accessed 26th Oct 2010
UNICEF
http://www.unicef.org/protection/index_childlabour.html accessed 1st Nov 2010
International Labour Organisation
http://www.ilo.org/global/About_the_ILO/Media_and_public_information/Press_releases/lang--en/WCMS_007784/index.htm accessed 26th Oct 2010
[1] Hasnat, Baban, ‘International Trade and Child Labour’ (1995) 29 Journal of Economic Issues 419 http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-17246164/international-trade-and-child.html, accessed 30 Oct 2010
[2] Ibid
[3] Article 1 of the convention states that for the purposes of the present Convention, ‘a child means every human being below the age of eighteen years unless under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier’.
[4] Under Article 32 states parties recognise the right of the child to be protected from economic exploitation and from performing any work that is likely to be hazardous or to interfere with the child's education, or to be harmful to the child's health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development.
(a) Provide for a minimum age or minimum ages for admission to employment;
(b) Provide for appropriate regulation of the hours and conditions of employment;
(c) Provide for appropriate penalties or other sanctions to ensure the effective enforcement of the present article.
[5] Office of the united nation high commissioner for human rights <http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/crc.htm#art32> accessed 25 Oct 2010
[6] International Labour Organisation http://www.ilo.org/global/About_the_ILO/Media_and_public_information/Press_releases/lang--en/WCMS_007784/index.htm accessed 26 Oct 2010
[7] Maquila Solidarity Network, http://en.maquilasolidarity.org/node/661 accessed 26 Oct 2010
[8] Ibid
[9] UNICEF ,Child protection from violence, exploitation and abuse <http://www.unicef.org/protection/index_childlabour.html >accessed 1st Nov 2010
[10] Ibid
[11] Ibid
[12] Rick Westhead, ‘Getting New Delhi Ready for Canada’s Commonwealth Games Team: Four-year-old Ajay’ http://www.thestar.com/sports/commonwealthgames/article/866371--getting-new-delhi-ready-for-canada-s-commonwealth-games-team-four-year-old-ajay accessed 22 Oct 2010.
[13] MCOT, ‘The Survey of Foreign Labour’ http://www.mcot.net/cfcustom/cache_page/113572.html accessed 24 Oct 2010.
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