Bid to end child labour in Africa

Millions of children employed in subsistence and commercial farming are at risk of death, injury and sickness, a conference heard on Monday.

George Ruigu, deputy director with the International Labour Organisation in Ethiopia, said that some 120 million children are at risk worldwide.

“The risk of accidents exists and is increased by fatigue, poorly designed tools, difficult terrain, exposure to elements and poor general health,” Ruigu warned.

“Our duty and obligation are to protect those children by preventing and reducing fatal and non fatal accidents and ill health at work.”

Ruigu was speaking at a four day regional conference aimed at combating the dangers faced by children in the farming sector.

In Ethiopia, some nine million children aged between five and 17 are working – nine tenths of them in the agriculture sector.

About three million, according to the government’s statistics agency, are aged between five and nine. A third of children aged under 14 in sub-Sahara Africa are working.

Sam Nyambari, head of the African Regional Labour Administration Centre (ARLAC) which fights child labour, said there must be more political will to combat child labour.

He said poverty and poor education were exacerbating the problem and there was little law enforcement, despite the fact that many countries had signed up to global agreements to end child labour.

The conference aims to draw up ways to improve inspection methods of commercial farms to prevent child labour.