Child Labor in Peru
To follow-up with yesterdays post, From Child Laborer to President, on Alejandro Toledo, who is now working with his organization Global Center for Development and Democracy, to combat inequality and poverty, especially among the countries child labors.
The Committee for Prevention and Eradication of Child Labor in Peru has estimated that 2.5 million children, most of them under the age of 14, are working throughout the country.
While Peru has ratified the ILO (International Labor Organization) conventions on the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (No. 182) and the Minimum Age Convention (No. 138). The two are part of the ILO’s 8 core conventions which govern fundamental standards on forced labour, discrimination, freedom of association, as well as child labour. The ratification of these conventions commits Peru to establish and define policies for which to combat child labor, the country remains in embattled in the fight to poverty for which fuels the countries massive child labor problem. In 2000 the country established the legal minimum age for child workers at only 12 years old, the youngest minimum age in all of Latin America. that same year the ILO reported that some 79414 children between 10 -14 years old and 738238 children between 15-19 years old were considered economically active (ILO, Yearbook of Labour Statistics, 2001).
One of the major issues, and long term effects, of child labor in Peru, is that it takes children out of school either temporarily or permanently. Thus children are either behind in their studies or uneducated once the reach adulthood, which then places children at an increased risk to continue the cycle of poverty and child labor with their own children. Children like siblings Ada 11, Luis 8 and Carla 6, whose family lives off collecting refuse, of which the children spend their days and nights on the streets scouring for. Their work on the streets to help their family survive has left all of the children one or two years behind at school (2 Million in Child Labor in Peru).
While the efforts of those like Toledo are on the right track, the road a head is long and winding, and much needs to be done in all areas to combat poverty. Families of children who remain in poverty or on the edge of poverty must feel they have viable options for their children and entire family, and until these needs are address, as with the issue of raising awareness to families of the long term effects of child labor, then the trend will continue at its current pace. Education and health are key factors in a child’s development and if these needs are not adequately met then the fight to end child labor will continue to remain a steep one.
For more information on the situation of child labor in Peru please see the following links:
UNICEF - Peru Statistics
Child Labor Facts and Figures from the Department of Labor (DOL)
Peru Laws Governing Exploitive Child Labor Report - DOJ
Worst Forms of Child Labour Data - Peru
Forced Labor in Peru - ILO (Spanish only)
June 12th, 2008 at 1:43 am
According to ILO estimates, there are some
250 million children between the ages of 5 and14
years who are in economic activity in developing
countries alone. For 120 million of them, work is a
full-time activity. The remainder combine work with
schooling or other non-economic activities.
While most child labour is found in the developing
regions of the world, industrialized countries are not
entirely free of it either. In Eastern and Central
Europe, for example, child labour has been
reappearing in the wake of social and economic
dislocation caused by the transition to a market
economy.
In absolute terms, Asia, being the most densely
populated region of the world, has the largest number
of child workers. 61 per cent are found in Asia, 32 per
cent in Africa and 7 per cent in Latin America
June 12th, 2008 at 4:53 pm
[…] In two complimentary blog on Alejandro Toledo’s talk, Cassandro Clifford of the FPA’s Children Blog posted on Alejandro Toledo’s personal history as a child labourer and how the issue affects many in poverty in Peru. In a second post, the issue surrounding child labour itself in Peru is detailed in a thoughtful and informative posting after the Toledo post. The posting about Toledo can be found here on the Children Blog, and the accompanying post can be found here. Thank you Cassandra for all your work. […]
June 21st, 2008 at 1:26 am
To do something, however small, to make others happier and better, is the highest ambition, the most elevating hope, which can inspire a human being….