Pre-service Emerging Issues 2nd Year

Unit 66: Child LabourHuman RightsObjectives: By the end of this unit you will:• Define child labour/exploitation• Identify the forms of child labourIntroduction: Child labour and the subsequent exploitation is a rights violation that isperpetrated by families, community and business. It is pervasive and often invisible innature and is often done by the very people expected to provide care and protection tochildren.The Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (2005) in Sierra Leone found that 48% of childrenbetween 5 - 14 years are involved in child labour activities. According to the MICS childprotection experts were surprised at the estimate of 48% - expecting it to be higher.Equally surprising was the idea that only 2% of children work more than 28 hours perweek on household chores. 1 (This is 4 hours per day)Activity 1: What do we mean by child labour?A number of international and national instruments outline these harmful labour practicesand make provision for the child to be protected from labour and exploitation:Article 32 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child,Article 15 of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child,Part 8 of the Child Rights Act 2007 Sierra LeoneConclusion: In this unit we have looked athow common child labour is in Sierra Leone.Much of the problem of child labour is a matterof degree – it is not a matter of working on theone hand and no work at all on the other hand:it is a matter of when is enough (forsocialisation) too much for the good of thechild?This child is carrying a headload of sandfrom the river. Is this child labour?Photo by Ronja Hoelzer1 MICS, 2005 p5714