Child Labour in Agriculture

Teachers' and agricultural workers' unions join forces to demand rural education for all

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 23:09:06 +0000

For millions of rural children quality education remains just a distant dream. Figures from Education For All (EFA) Global Monitoring Report 2007 show that the children most likely not in school or to drop out of school live in rural areas and come from the poorest households. Data from a number of African countries looking at 10 -19 year olds suggest that poor or rural children are ten times more likely to drop out than urban or richer children.

This backs up earlier findings of the 2006 Millenium Development Goal (MDGs) Report which stated that whilst progress is being made in improving access to primary education, there are disparities in progress, and that the poorest, often those in rural areas, were being left behind. The report stated that “High rates of poverty in rural areas limit educational opportunities because of demands for children’s labour, low levels of parental education and lack of access to good quality schooling”.

Kenya: Children cutting cane

Wed, 03 Oct 2007 15:58:56 +0000

On 24 September, Jorge Chullen, the coordinator of the IUF global sugar program has visited the South Nyanza Sugar Company accompanied by a delegation of the Kenya Union of Sugar, Plantation and Allied Workers (KUSPAW), as part of a 4-day program supported by the Social Justice Fund of the Canadian Auto Workers (SJF-CAW).

Consultative meeting on elimination of child labour in tobacco growing of Kazakhstan

Wed, 08 Aug 2007 07:38:08 +0000

Consultative meeting on elimination of child labour in tobacco growing of Kazakhstan took place in Almaty on July 19, 2007. Representatives of Agro-Industrial Workers’ Unions of Almaty region and Kyrgyz Republic, ILO/IPEC programme on the elimination of child labour and Philip Morris Kazakhstan (PMK) - the main buyer of tobacco leaves in the country – have considered their experience in implementation of programmes aimed against involving children in tobacco growing.

Pictures. WDACL in Ghana

Tue, 17 Jul 2007 15:17:31 +0000

Nicaragua. Tripartite agreement for eradication of child labour and improving rural life and education

Fri, 29 Jun 2007 07:57:45 +0000

The agricultural workers union in Nicaragua, ATC, has signed a Tripartite agreement with the government (Ministry of Labour)and the organisations of agricultural employers with the objective of combining efforts for the eradication of child labour in agriculture. The agreement was signed on June 12 as part of the World Day Against Child Labour in Agriculture.

Declaration of Intent on Cooperation on Child Labour in Agriculture

Thu, 21 Jun 2007 14:06:17 +0000

Pictures. WDACL in Kyrgyzstan

Wed, 20 Jun 2007 11:08:29 +0000

Pictures. Signing Ceremony - WDACL in Geneva

Wed, 20 Jun 2007 10:43:48 +0000

SIREL gives Latin American overview

Wed, 20 Jun 2007 10:21:23 +0000

To highlight the extent of child labout in the region, the IUF Latin America office issued a special edition of the regional information sheet, SIREL. Using information from the ILO, the bulletin gives a short analysis of agricultural child labour in Brazil, Ecuador, Peru, Paraguay and Bolivia plus information on Central America and the Caribbean.

SPAIN: CC.OO. call on Nestle to check its supply chain

Tue, 19 Jun 2007 10:59:32 +0000

CC.OO. Food and Agriculture Union representatives in the Works Council at Nestle Spain head office have called on Nestle to commit to work with the unions at national and international level to eliminate child labour along the supply chain.

ARGENTINA. UATRE joins forces to eliminate child labour in agriculture

Mon, 18 Jun 2007 13:25:35 +0000

UATRE within the National Registry of Rural Workers and Employers (RENATRE) together with the ILO, IUF, the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security have signed a Protocol of Intention for the Eradication of Child Labour in Agriculture" on June 12 in Buenos Aires.

GHANA. “Take us to School for Better Future” said one of the children’s placards

Fri, 15 Jun 2007 17:34:32 +0000

The General Agricultural Workers Union (GAWU) in collaboration with the Ministry of Power and Employment, Employers’ Association and the ILO/IPEC marked the event on 12 June by launching a national campaign against Child Labour from 8 to 12 June. Children withdrawn from work were among speakers during the event.

UGANDA. World Day March against Child Labour

Fri, 15 Jun 2007 17:30:03 +0000

Celebration of WDACL in Uganda started in Masindi District, about 200 km from Kampala with a 3 km march of school children including those withdrawn from labour, together with workers and guests.

Netherland – Bondgenoten – making rural education a reality

Thu, 14 Jun 2007 09:06:46 +0000

FNV_Bondgenoten shop stewards on the union's International Solidarity Working Group have come up with a very original idea. After meeting with representatives of the Namibian Farmworkers Union (NAFWU) they decided to start an educational project - but not one that involves just papers and pens. They are sending an actual classroom!

Guest writer. Kaaronda Evalistus, NUNW’s General Secretary

Wed, 13 Jun 2007 13:42:40 +0000

The National Union of Namibian Workers (NUNW) is pleased to be associated with an idea as noble as this one. Child labour had grown over the past years and assumed unimagined global proportions estimated in 2005 at about 250 million children between the ages of five (5) and fourteen (14) of whom 120 million are said to have been employed on a full time basis. Whichever way one looks at it, child labour has the effect of depriving children their right to proper and sound physical, moral and intellectual development as they are coerced into taking adult responsibilities prematurely.