C is for Children and Child Labour. Over 158 million children aged 5-14 years are engaged in child labour in developing countries. (Source UNICEF). According to the United Nations, 126 million of them are occupied in the worst forms of labor affecting their health or education, e.g. in mines, with chemicals and pesticides in agriculture, or with dangerous machinery. Of these, 50 million work in Sub-Saharan Africa alone. There is an important distinction to be made between a child being forced into labour and a child's willing participation in work. Helping with the housework or in the family business, or earning pocket money during school holidays are all positive steps in a child's development. These forms of work provide children with valuable skills and experience. The work done by a child is not considered labor if it doesn't harm their health, interrupt their education or hinder their personal development.
Most of us are consumers of some products tainted by child labor. It could be the cotton in your table linen or clothes, chocolate with origins in the Ivory Coast, jewelry, hand-knotted carpets from India, your iPod, footballs from Pakistan, that cup of coffee in your local cafe....
If we do not care whether or not the products we purchase are made by child labor, governments will continue to avert their eyes from the plight of these children. So how are we to avoid the trap of benefiting from the labor of children? One answer to this problem is to buy fair trade products this Christmas.
Organizations accredited by the World Fair Trade Organisation who buy Fair Trade products from producer groups either directly or through intermediaries ensure that no forced labor is used in production and the producer complies with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, and national / local law on the employment of children.
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Kevin, thank you for reminding us that child labor exists and is very much alive in many parts of the world, including sub-Saharan Africa.
ReplyDeleteWhat's amazing about our country, though, is that we DO have the power to make a direct impact on the lives of these children on the other side of the world through our purchases.
It's sounds very consumerism but it's a fact. If we continue to buy fair trade, that means more adults can get quality work, they won't have to leave their families to find work in large cities, and they won't have to sell their children in order to feed their families.
It's a stark reality, but it's a real reality for many children and families all over the world.
The more people learn about what is going on in the world, the more they can make educated decisions on where to put their hard-earned dollars.
Thank you for the work you and The Mission Marketplace do for children all over the world. It's an another to call you a partner in our work and I hope Chelsea residents (and surrounding cities) realize what a gem your store is to the community and to children all over the world.
-Megy Karydes, Founder
World Shoppe
Great blog! I also recently started doing some more research into this area. It is unbelievable how much child labor is still being used today. I added a section to my web page on the topic as well. I look forward to following you and sharing your information with my readers.
ReplyDeleteCynthia Glensagrd
Global Handmade Hope
Thank you for writing this. It really is nearly unbelievable if we didn't know it was true. So sad.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for the work you're doing, Kevin. I don't know how you have time to do it all.