Employmentweb_low

eMployMent relations and health inequalities: pathways and MechanisMs
have access to rehabilitation programs to help them locate their families, get back into school, receive vocational training
and re-enter civilian life. however, many children have no access to such programs. they may have no way to support
themselves and are at risk of re-recruitment. the ilo convention on the worst Forms of child labour prohibits the forced
or compulsory recruitment of children under the age of 18 for use in armed conflict. it has been ratified by over 150
countries.
children have been abducted in record numbers by the lord’s resistance army (lra) in uganda and subjected
to brutal treatment as soldiers, labourers and sex slaves. since June of 2002, an estimated 5,000 children have been
abducted from their homes and communities– a larger number than any previous year of the sixteen-year-old conflict
and a dramatic increase from the less than 100 children abducted in 2001. children have been targets of lra
abductions throughout the conflict between the lra and the ugandan government in the northern part of uganda.
conservative estimates place the total number of children abducted at more than 20,000. children are abducted from
their homes, schools and off the streets. they are frequently beaten and forced to carry out raids, burn houses, beat
and kill civilians and abduct other children. they must carry heavy loads over long distances and work long hours
fetching water, firewood, gathering food and performing domestic duties. Many are given weapons training and some
are forced to fight. the lra, moreover, uses brutal tactics to demand obedience from abducted children. children are
forced to beat or trample to death other abducted children who attempt to escape, and are repeatedly told that they
will be killed if they try to run away. children who fall behind during long marches or resist orders are also killed.
Many others have been killed in battle or have died from mistreatment, disease and hunger. girls are used as
domestic servants for commanders and their households. at age fourteen or fifteen, many are forced into sexual
slavery as “wives” of lra commanders and subjected to rape, unwanted pregnancies and the risk of sexually
transmitted diseases, including hiv/aids. angela p. was only ten when she was abducted by the lra. at age fifteen,
she was forced to become a “wife” to an lra commander. she gave birth to two children in the bush. the first, a boy,
she named Komakech, which means “i am unfortunate”. the second, a girl, she named can-oroma, meaning “i have
suffered a lot”.
children are also recruited as soldiers by the ugandan government. boys as young as twelve are lured into joining the
local defense units with promises of money. after training, they may be used to fight with the updF against the lra, in
some cases inside sudan. boys who have escaped or been rescued from the lra are also recruited by the updF while in
updF custody for debriefing. For the children who escape or are released, the future also looks grim. Most are fearful of
reabduction. they want to return to school, but many don’t feel it’s safe at home. Many have other family members still in
captivity. Most bear physical or psychological scars. gunshot wounds, skin problems from walking long distances and
sexually transmitted diseases are the major physical problems affecting returnees.
Sources
human rights watch. (2003). Stolen children: Abduction and recrutiment in Northern Uganda. retrieved september 9, 2009,
from http://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2003/03/28/stolen-children
coalition to stop the use of child soldiers. (2004). Child soldier use 2003: A briefing for the 4th UN security council open debate
on children and armed conflict. retrieved september 9, 2009, from http://reliefweb.int/rw/lib.nsf/db900sid/dpal-
5ZKd43/$file/childsoldieruse2003.pdfopenelement
Case study 56. Child labour in Peru. A market porter and his son working in a Lima wholesale market. - walter varillas
the story of gregorio and his son summarises that of many who have migrated from the countryside to the city of lima,
whether because of political violence, limited possibilities for education or a lack of labour market chances. Forced to work
in extremely dangerous conditions, he has taken his son to help in the job, knowing no other type of work besides carrying
sacks or as a construction labourer.
gregorio is 42 years old and has worked pushing a barrow for 30 years, which he combines with spells in construction
work*. he moved to the city from the mountains south of ayacucho to escape political violence, and with only a background
of agricultural work, took to pushing a barrow, as it needed no previous experience. he belongs to one of lima’s wholesale
market workers’ unions: their system is that when a worker is off sick, which is fairly frequent due to the excessive loads
they carry, he receives a minimal economic subsidy for two weeks. they lift sacks, for example potatoes, which weigh
between 140 and 160 kg, and transport up to 8 of them using wooden barrows, yielding a total weight of between 1.2 and
1.5 tonnes. his working day is from 2 a.M. to midday, meaning he cannot spend time with his family. he knows no other job.
suffering intense back pain, he estimates that he will hold out for two more years, not knowing what will happen after that;
by then he will virtually be crippled. although he can read and write, many of his fellow workers can’t (over 50% of them)
(varillas, 2006). gregorio must pay $3.50 a day to rent his barrow, so his earnings at the end of the day range from $4 to $6.
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