Child labour, a fight for all

Lazarus Sauti

In Matthew 19: 14 (New International Version), Jesus said: “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

This verse clearly shows that children are the flowers of heaven; they are the most beautiful and purest creation of God; and they are the beauty of this world.

Early in the morning when Rutendo Mashona (not her real name) puts her uniform and begin to go to school for the sake of knowledge, her parents feel a specific kind of joy.

Sadly, there are other children who cannot go to schools due to different socio-cultural problems. These children only watch Rutendo and others go to schools and wish to seek knowledge.

These children dream to be lawyers, journalists, doctors, nurses and pilots like their peers but due to varying hindrances, difficulties and desperate conditions of life, they are forced to kill their aspirations.

Having been forced to kill their dreams and wishes, they are pressed with more challenges to erk a living for themselves and their respective families.

This is the reason why cities and towns across the country are full of school-going children who are either begging or selling illicit products such as sweets, tobacco cigarettes, illicit beers or other wares.

Others are busy sifting the refuse scavenging for recyclable food to put on the family tables.

The majorities of these children are working as labourers on tobacco farms, tea and sugar plantations. These children are often exposed to bad weather, dangerous chemicals and the use of heavy machinery.

Whether selling beer or tobacco cigarettes in stadiums or at entrances to beer gardens, the sad thing is that all of them had allegedly been assigned these duties and heavy responsibilities by their parents and/or guardians.

The recently published 2012 Population Census National Report acknowledged that Zimbabwe has of late recorded a sharp increase in child labour.

“Zimbabwe had a total of 1 695 647 children age 10 – 14 years. Three percent of these children, (51 157 children) were economically active,” the report noted.

According to the report, Harare Province had a total of 209 295 children and one percent (2 207 children) were economically active; Bulawayo Province had 221 898 children and 0.5 (719) percent were economically active; Manicaland Province had 274 781 children and two percent (8 892) were economically active; Midlands Province had 222 489 children and three percent (7 433) were economically active; and Masvingo Province had 214 129 children and five percent (9 045) were economically active.

More so, Mashonaland Central Province had a total of 153 956 children and four percent (6 173) were economically active; Matabeleland North Province had 110 224 children and five percent (5 113) were economically active; Matabeleland South Province had 98 387 children five percent (5 307) were economically active; Mashonaland West Province had 193 342 children and two percent (3 884) were economically active; and Mashonaland East Province had a total of 178 879 children and two percent (4 338) were economically active.     

These results of a marked increase in child labour show that Zimbabweans have forgotten the rights and pleasures of their children as child labour is a serious violation of basic rights.

According to the International Labour Organisation, the United Nations specialised agency which seeks the promotion of social justice and internationally recognised human and labour rights, the term “child labour” is often defined as work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity, and that is harmful to physical and mental development.

“It refers to work that is mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous and harmful to children; and interferes with their schooling by: depriving them of the opportunity to attend school; obliging them to leave school prematurely; or requiring them to attempt to combine school attendance with excessively long and heavy work,” said ILO.

ILO goes on to say: “In its most extreme forms, child labour involves children being enslaved, separated from their families, exposed to serious hazards and illnesses and/or left to fend for themselves on the streets of large cities – often at a very early age.

There are many policy options to readdress this. The most popular regulation against child labour is a ban against it.

Also policy reforms other than bans could be more effective in reducing child labour, and in improving the lives of children.

It is therefore the responsibility of every Zimbabwean to fight child labour.

This means the Government, citizens and critical stakeholders should support organisations such as ILO and the United Nations Children’s Fund in the bid to eradicate child labour.

ILO regulations forbid child labour and UNICEF supports the roadmap for achieving the elimination of the worst form of child labour by 2016, which calls for an integrated response to child labour.

The Government and policy decision-makers should also work with communities in changing cultural acceptance of child labour, while supporting strategies and programming to provide alternative income to families, access to nurseries, quality education and protective services.

A position paper “Stop Child Labour – School is the best place to work” said, “Programmes for elementary education in developing countries should contain or develop a strategy in order to integrate all working and other non-school going children into formal, full-time education up to the legal age for completing elementary education and at least 14”

The Government thus needs an integrated policy on the issues of elementary education and the elimination of child labour as part of its overall poverty reduction strategy.

Such integration at policy level has to be translated into a better co-ordination at different levels, including at the level of various Ministries.

To eradicate child labour the efforts of all Ministries, at least those dealing with education, labour, social welfare and finances are needed to ensure that all children of ‘school-going age’ do, in fact, go to school and that such children don’t drop out of school before they are at least 15 years.