summary of child labour

UNICEF defines child labour as work that exceeds a minimum number of hours, depending on the age of a child and on the type of work. Such work is considered harmful to the child and should there be eliminated[1]. The major cause of child labour is poverty. Poor parents send their children to work to meet their economic expediency. Other factors are schools are often inaccessible or prohibitively expensive, with inadequate teaching and class room resources[2].The children have to get adequate education before their minimum age of employment, the government should support cash transfer program, school meals, and also elimination of poverty[3]. International labour organisation has sponsored the two key instruments of international law. Firstly, the 1973 minimum age convention 138 establishes the obligation for countries to work towards a minimum age of 15 for legal employment. Secondly the 1999 convention 182 for elimination of the worst forms of child labour suggests the governments to identify the incidence of such child labour, backed by national plans for its elimination. The Government have to ensure all children to get adequate education before their minimum age of employment, the government should support cash transfer program, school meals, and also elimination of poverty[4] is the only solution to abolish child labour. In fact, the more harmful the work and the more vulnerable the children involved. On analysing the above mentioned statistics and current situation, the key international regulations are not effectively enforced. Children are facing a lot of hardship in hazardous work. The key international regulations are only in the form of books, to obtain better result the Government have to enforce those regulations in a proper way.

---

[1]‘ Unicef:definition’ <http://www.unicef.org/protection/incex_childlabour.html>  accessed date 30-10-10

[2] ‘Oneworld.net: causes of child labour’  <http://uk.oneworld.net/guides/childlabour?guclid=CNnh2NeSgquCFU1H4wodImlbNQ>  accessed on   1-11-10

[3]‘ International Labour Organisation the state of child labour today’ <http://www.ilo.org/global/about_the_ilo/media_and_public_information/ feature _stories/lang--e>accessed1-11-10

[4]‘ International Labour Organisation the state of child labour today’ <http://www.ilo.org/global/about_the_ilo/media_and_public_information/ feature _stories/lang--e>accessed3-11-10