The Action Programme of the Elimination of Child Labour (APEC), as the initiative is called, is being co-ordinated by a national Programme Advisory Committee on Child Labour (PAC), headed by the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare.

After consultative processes between the PAC and other stakeholders in 2004, it was established that children are being forced to do crimes such as housebreaking, stock theft and selling drugs, while cases of child prostitution on the streets, at bars and truckports were also reported.

Other forms of extreme child labour in Namibia are children being used in bonded labour, for example when households are threatened with eviction unless children work, and in hazardous tasks such as the production of charcoal.

The aims of APEC, Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Welfare, Petrus Iilonga said on Wednesday, were to establish the extent of exploitative work that children under 18 years do and to address these; to analyse existing policies and programmes and to identify policy gaps; and to formulate an Action Programme that addresses these gaps.

A congress will be held in 2006, Iilonga said, where agreed action steps can be adopted.

"The worst forms of child labour can be eliminated in Namibia,," said Dawie Bosch, the Chief Technical Advisor for the Programme Towards the Elimination of the worst forms of Child Labour (TECL) in Namibia, one of the assisting programmes to APEC.

He attributed this possibility to the country's low population.

"Action should be taken against child labour that harms children's development or education," he said, adding that it should be ensured that the affected child is better off after action has been taken.

TECL is an International Labour Organisation (ILO) programme providing technical assistance and funding to APEC.

The other programme providing assistance to the programme is Reclisa (Reducing Exploitative Child Labour in Southern Africa).

Reclisa currently runs programmes in the Caprivi aimed at reducing the number of children caught in the worst forms of child labour while helping them get an education.

The reason for the project starting in the Caprivi is due to the region's high HIV prevalence as well as well as the reality of cross-border child trafficking, said Casimir Chipere, Project Coordinator for Reclisa's social partner in Namibia, Africare.

The first step of the four-year programme, Bosch said, is to increase public awareness on the extent, nature and causes of extreme child labour, as well as on the rights of children.

Both TECL and Reclisa are funded by the United States Department of Labour.

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