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Thursday, February 24, 2005 - Web posted at 8:18:18 GMT 'Worst forms' of labour LONDON - One child in 12 is forced into the "worst forms" of labour, including slavery, the sex trade and hazardous and illicit activities, the British branch of the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) said in a report released on Monday. |
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UNICEF UK said that 350 million children aged five to 17 worked, and that 180 million of them were "involved in the worst forms of child labour - hazardous work, slavery, forced labour, in armed forces, commercial sexual exploitation and illicit activities". Fully 97 per cent of those worst cases of child labour take place in developing countries, it said, stressing that the fight against poverty was the best means to improve the plight of children. "One way to put an end to the exploitation of children... is by taking action to make poverty history and ensuring a commitment to more and better international aid," said UNICEF UK executive director David Bull. The report said that in the 43 countries where annual incomes are US$500 dollars or less per person, between 30 and 60 per cent of children are used in child labour, while in countries where average income rises to US$500 - US$1 000, the percentage of child labourers drops to between 10 and 30 per cent. "They form a vicious circle, poverty giving rise to labour and labour perpetuating poverty," the report said. UNICEF UK lauded the pledge of developed countries, made more than 30 years ago, of allocating 0,7 per cent of gross domestic product to development aid but regretted that only five countries today fulfil that promise - Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Sweden. The lack of access to education for girls, the scourge of HIV-AIDS and a failure of communities to protect their youth also perpetuate the "worst forms" of child labour. - Nampa-AFP |
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