The International Labour Organization, ILO, recently estimated that roughly over 245 million children aged between five and 17 years are involved in child labor around the world. The different forms of child labor range from domestic and agricultural work to mining, factory work, quarrying and more dangerous forms such as prostitution and pornography. Child labor, in any of its forms, is considered exploitative and is even illegal in several nations, yet it is one of the most pressing forms of human rights violations in the world.

The nature of the work, especially in the mining and factory work sectors, often presents hazards to the children that are a major concern to international organizations. The working circumstances of most children are largely unsupervised, often exposing them to both physical and sexual abuse.

Africa has the greatest number of economically active children; 41 percent of children in the continent are at work. The primary cause of child labor is parental poverty. Families who send their children into the labor force do so as a last income-earning resort.

In addition, African culture permits children to work within the family and community, but economic hardships, HIV/AIDS and other factors have distorted traditional forms of child work into exploitative practices.

"The primary reason for child labor in Africa is poverty. At the same time, there is also a cultural factor," Julianne Kippenberg, a Human Rights Watch expert on child labor, told Deutsche Welle. "The work of a child in the family is seen as a part of growing up. People often don't see it as a problem at all which makes it hard to explain that to them; not just the poor even middle class people. The issue in child labor really is the distinction between acceptable child labor and exploitative labor, especially in its dangerous forms, for children under the age of 15."

Precipitating factors

There are an estimated 80 million child workers across Africa, with a projected figure of 100 million workers by 2015. The high demand among employers particularly in informal sectors for cheap and submissive labor makes hiring children the perfect solution.

The AIDS endemic in many African countries is also a major contributing factor to child labor. By killing so many breadwinners, AIDS has driven more families deeper into poverty, placing an even greater burden on the survivors, including children. The adult workforce is fast diminishing, experts say, because of the high occurrence of HIV/AIDS. Just when children should be in school, their burdensome new role as family breadwinner forces them to drop out and take up work.

The prevalence of child labor nonetheless is to be blamed on inadequate political commitment, judicial mechanisms and legislation to deal with child labor. There is a lack of legal framework in many countries to prohibit it and implementation of the policies that do exist is often slow and insufficient.

"The legal position of children needs to be strengthened," says Kippenberg, "the laws on ground are weak or insufficient. The ILO is currently trying to get African nations to come up with time-bound action plans to combat child labor. Stronger legislative measures are also required for companies in developing nations which stipulate they must not hire child labor, and it must be strongly upheld and prosecuted."

Experts say the lack of proper child birth registration in nations with high incidences of child labor is also detrimental to the prosecution of child labor. It is difficult to enforce the laws without the relevant data.

Alternative resolutions

"It's important to provide alternatives for working children. Education must be stressed to families as a better alternative to children working," Rudi Tarneden, the spokesperson for UNICEF Germany, told Deutsche Welle. "For instance, UNICEF in Bangladesh develops non-formal education opportunities for working children. After 2-3 years of participation in these programs, former child workers reach the primary level of education. If they continue on with the program, they eventually get a certificate which enables them get proper jobs as young adults."

International non-governmental organizations implement programs that attempt to improve the working conditions of children or extract them altogether if deemed dangerous; the children then undergo rehabilitation and are offered alternatives.

UNICEF also supports counselling programs for children who are domestic workers, particularly for young girls. Domestic work is one of the least visible forms of child labor and therefore of great concern to international organizations.

"UNICEF is supporting counselling programs for girls who work in homes. No one really knows what their working conditions are like if they live with a family and they are often exposed to both physical and sexual abuse," says Tarneden.

Nevertheless efforts to reach out to child domestic workers and ensure their safety, experts say, don't always hit the mark.

"There are rehabilitation and counselling programs but they are not really enough as the capacity isn't always there," says Kippeneberg.

No end in sight

Since the conditions do not yet exist to end all types of child labor, the immediate challenge is to educate the public about the dangers to children in its most exploitative and abusive forms, and to mobilize governments and societies to combat them. Focusing on the worst forms of child labor is the priority, though it may come at the price of taking attention away from the necessary changes in development, education opportunities and social attitudes which are crucial to the eradication of child labor.

Child labor is simply one of the more pernicious aspects of a much deeper problem; poverty in developing nations. Studies have shown that as soon as the family income increases, the children are often withdrawn from the labor force by their parents.

"It is very difficult to forbid child labor," says Tarneden, "because it is necessary for poor families. The solution is to create an environment where it is no longer necessary. You can forbid child labor no more than you can forbid poverty because the two are linked."

Strategies to reduce general poverty and increase incomes of poor families are likely to have a positive effect on reducing child labor. Micro-credit programs, experts say, may be an effective way to address the issue. The World Bank could play an important role in promoting this resolution as a long-term sustainable strategy to prevent or at least reduce child labor.

Child labor and poverty are fundamentally intertwined, experts say, in order for one issue to be stopped so must the other. As there are no guarantees of how soon this will happen, there is no end in sight for child labor and it remains an unrelenting reality for developing nations.

Author: Faith Thomas
Editor: Rob Mudge