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Issue No. 200 | 24 October 2003 |
The Hard Yards
Interview: No Ifs, No Butts Unions: National Focus Industrial: Fools Gold Bad Boss: Bones of Contention History: The Gong Show Politics: The Hawke Legacy International: Sick Nation Economics: Closed Minds Review: Mixing Pop and Politics Poetry: One Size Fits All
Workers Rally For �Joel�s Law� It�s Official: Courts Weak on Safety Cole Insider Highlights "Agenda" "Racism" as Pacific Islanders Rorted Academics Appeal to International Umpire Poll Points to Hospital Overload Aussie Icon Set To Head Overseas AWU Rejects Bid to Fleece Shearers People�s Bank to Hear From People Unions Put Students in Picture Memo ALP Members: Think About Unions
Postcard The Soapbox Media The Locker Room Culture Politics Postcard
Advance Australia Where? God Save Us All US Seeking Aussie Info Call The Doctor Bring Back Gough Bring Back Social Democracy Look East, Look West
Labor Council of NSW |
Letters to the Editor Child Labour
Child labour is a global phenomenon and exists in both developed and developing countries. Therefore the effective abolition of childhood is one of the most urgent challenges of our time. The child labour in all its manifestations like bonded and house working is extremely repugnant as per ILO estimation there are more than 200 million child labourers worldwide. These child labourers are highly visible such as street children working in the urban informal economy. Others such as child domestic workers are effectively invisible from public view. Child labour is clearly detrimental to individual children preventing then from enjoying their child hood, hampering their development and sometimes causing lifelong physical or psychological damage; it is also detrimental to families, to communities and to society as a whole. It undermines national development by keeping children out of school, preventing them gaining the education and skills that would enable them ad adults to contribute to economic growth and prosperity It is universally agreed that denying children's their child hood and sending them to work is not only inhuman but also hampers the development of human resources of the country by retarding the physical and mental development of the large section of its future generations. So the children should be seen in the school instead of work place. To make the Elimination of all forms of child labour a reality the Government has taken several steps to increase the primary school enrolment. Tuition and books have been provided free, even though enrolment rate has increased drop out rate is no less insignificant. There is no doubt that the child labour situation is at a precarious level and worse resulting dire consequences. These children are thus particularly vulnerable, including to physical, emotional and sexual abuse. Despite working in formal sector establishment that produce for experts the majority of child labourers in manufacturing toys in supply chains producing for the domestic market for example in the production of fire works and matches. Childhood is not an isolated phenomenon. It is an extreme of multitude of socio-ecnomic factors and has roots in poverty, growing un-employment, uneven distribution of wealth and resources. Well comprehensive and well intregrated approach to eliminate this curse badly seek active cooperation from the families, communities, trade unions, NGO's, and employers bodies. All segments of society including media to cause awareness can play an important role in this regard the parents and teachers will have also to join hands to work for sustainable and systematic elimination of boded and child labour. Habib Malik
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