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 Statement of the CWA Taskforce on Bonded Child Labor on June 12, 2007
Children are bonded all over the world and one of the major problems confronting the issue is its invisibility. Too often efforts have been limited by lack of information about the existence and extent of the bonded child labor. Bonded child laborers are generally comes from poorest of the poor and hardest to reach and expose to high level of vulnerability. These children work in small workshops with difficult access, remote quarries, and agricultural lands or as domestic workers where entrance is often prohibited due to the fact that the workplace is a home and considered as private property. According to the International Labor Organization, it is estimated that there are 218 million as child laborers globally. Approximately 8.4 million are trapped in slavery, trafficking, debt bondage, prostitution, pornography and other illicit and illegal activities.
The CWA Taskforce on Bonded Child Labor which is a broad social alliance of civil society organizations in Asia based on the concept of creating synergies and complementarities; strongly urge the donor community to extend support to these children on priority basis in form of technical and other cooperation. Unfortunately most of the national actors where the problem of bonded labor prevails have neither the technical capacity nor the political will to effectively address a problem of such a magnitude. "The recent experience suggests that national governments are responding more where there is an international and donor pressure. It does not speak of an ideal situation but this employ of international pressure is effective in pushing national governments", says Qindeel Shujaat, the Taskforce Convenor of Bonded Child Labor and the Executive Director of SPARC. "Governments must understand that they would not be able to achieve their strategic plans of universal primary education unless children in bondage are targeted who are in large numbers", said Ms. Fazila Gulrez, National Manager SPARC.
In Asia, there are three types of bonded labor exist commonly known. The first is when a child inherits a debt carried by his or her parents. Another form of bonded labor occurs when a child is used as collateral for a loan. For example, a parent facing an unusually large or urgent expense would use this method to obtain necessary money. Finally, a child worker can enter into bondage to their employer by requesting an advance on future wages they expect to earn. In such a clandestine environment it is impossible to get precise figures on the extent of the phenomenon of child debt bondage. However, from existing documentation, one can confidently draw the following conclusions with certitude:
• The extent of the child debt bondage system is immense and the victims can number in the millions.
• It exists in a large number of countries.
• Its victims are almost exclusively from poor rural populations and minority social groups, notably indigenous peoples.
• It is often exercised in connection with other criminal acts such as kidnapping, the trafficking and selling of children or child prostitution.
• It is illegal everywhere but it is often sustained by an insufficient political will to fight it.
A number of international conventions explicitly condemn slavery, including child bondage. Most national legislations prohibit slavery. However, certain legislations whilst prohibiting slavery or forced labor are not adapted to this specific form of slavery. In fact only two countries have equipped themselves with laws expressly aimed at bonded labor; these are India in 1976 and Pakistan in 1992. It is at the national level that the suppression of slavery can be achieved through measures which are within the jurisdiction of each government, but changes in social practices at times profoundly anchored in culture. Such changes cannot be brought about without the committed engagement of local populations. In order to be effective, all policies and projects must be specific to bonded labor and not simply an intensification of measures taken in respect to child labor as a whole. Practical action should address three main target groups: the society in general, the slave masters and the children in bondage.
The Taskforce acknowledges that the total elimination of child labor will take time. Priorities should therefore be set with a view to concentrate on the worst forms of child labor first. There can, of course, be no universal definition but in general this should include the use or engagement of children in slave-like and bonded conditions; in prostitution, pornography and the drugs trade; and in any type of work which is hazardous or education should be the centerpiece of any preventive strategy. The most effective way of reducing and eventually eliminating child labor will be through the provision of adequate access to primary and secondary education The problem of child labor should be taken into account to a greater extent in educational planning, and vice. |
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