The unprecedented economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, together with school closures and inadequate government assistance, is pushing children into exploitative and dangerous child labour, Human Rights Watch said in a report in advance of the World Day against Child Labour on June 12, 2021. Government assistance in response to the pandemic has been far too little to protect children from dangerous and exploitative work. As millions of families struggle financially due to the pandemic, cash allowances are more important than ever to protect children’s rights.
New report focusing on Ghana, Nepal and Uganda
The report, “‘I Must Work to Eat’: Covid-19, Poverty, and Child labor in Ghana, Nepal, and Uganda” was co-published with Initiative for Social and Economic Rights (ISER) in Uganda, and Friends of the Nation in Ghana. Researchers examined the rise in child labour and poverty during the Covid-19 pandemic, and the pandemic’s impact on children’s rights. Children described working long, grueling hours for little pay after their parents lost jobs or income due to the Covid-19 pandemic and associated lockdowns. Many described hazardous working conditions, and some reported violence, harassment, and pay theft.
The researchers interviewed 81 working children, some as young as 8, in Ghana, Nepal, and Uganda. The children worked at brick kilns, carpet factories, gold mines, stone quarries, fisheries, and in agriculture. Some work as mechanics, rickshaw drivers, or in construction, while others sell items on the street.
Families income struck by the pandemic
The vast majority of children interviewed said that the pandemic and associated lockdowns had negatively affected their family income. Their parents lost jobs when businesses shut down, lost access to markets due to transportation restrictions, or lost customers due to economic slowdowns. Many children entered the workforce for the first time to help support their families. Some said they decided to work because their families didn’t have enough food. Some kept working even after the situation eased.
A significant driver of child labor is a parent’s illness, disability, or death. As the global death toll from Covid-19 has topped 3.3 million, hundreds of thousands of children worldwide have lost parents and may be forced to become their family’s primary wage earner.
Hazardous work
Some children described work that was clearly hazardous. In Uganda and Ghana, children described carrying heavy bags of ore at gold mining sites, crushing the ore with hammers, breathing in dust and fumes from processing machines, and handling toxic mercury to extract gold from the ore. At stone quarries, children reported injuries from flying stones, including sharp particles that got into their eyes. Children showed researchers their cuts from the machete-like tools they used to clear fields or the sharp edges of sugarcane stalks. Others described carrying heavy loads.
Long work days and little pay
In each of the three countries, more than one-third of the children interviewed worked at least ten hours a day, some seven days a week. Several children in Nepal said they worked 14 hours a day or more in carpet factories.
Most were paid very little, if at all. More than a quarter said that their employer sometimes withheld wages or paid less than was promised.
School closures
School closures have contributed to an increase in child labor worldwide. Most children interviewed had limited or no access to distance learning. Some lost access to free school meals. Some have dropped out of school permanently, while others continued to work even after their schools reopened.
A positive development has turned
Before the pandemic, countries had made remarkable progress in reducing child labour. According to the International Labour Organization, the number of children in child labour decreased by approximately 94 million between 2000 and 2016, a drop of 38 percent. In many countries that successfully reduced child labour, governments provided cash allowances to help families and reduce pressure on children to work. However, 1.3 billion children – most in Africa and Asia – are not covered by cash allowance programs.
The researchers focused on Ghana, Nepal, and Uganda because they have made significant progress in reducing poverty and child labour, and as “pathfinder” countries, have committed to accelerate efforts to eradicate child labour by 2025 in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. However, each has lagged behind regional peers in using cash allowances to address the Covid-19 crisis.
Cash allowances to families necessary
In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the vast majority of countries have provided emergency relief, including cash assistance for families. In many cases, however, the assistance has fallen far short of the need. Most cash assistance programs have been short-term, or consisted of a single payment.
For many families with children, government assistance in response to the pandemic has been far too little to protect their children from dangerous and exploitative work. As millions of families struggle financially due to the pandemic, cash allowances are more important than ever to protect children’s rights.
Source: Human Rights Watch
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