Hard News on Committee Session #2

Child Labour in Africa: Hazardous Working Conditions in the Agriculture Sector

by Farras Rizqy Hafizh

Hazardous working conditions for children has become the main talking point of the International Labour Organization (ILO) conference held on February 27th. African member states of the ILO voiced their concerns regarding working conditions of children in various sectors, with agriculture becoming the focus for many delegates.

Africa has the largest number of child labourers in the world: it is estimated that one in five of all African children are employed in child labour. Data from the ILO shows that 31.5 out of total 72.1 million working children in Africa face hazardous conditions at work.

Agriculture has emerged as the largest sector of child labour in Africa. Children are at times forced to work in hazardous conditions such as handling dangerous pesticides and harvesting machines without protective equipment.

During their speech in the ILO council chamber, the delegate of South Sudan stated that sixty percent of children in South Sudan are in child labour, most of them in the agriculture sector. “We are not in favour of new standardization,” stated South Sudan, out of fears that it could impede economic progress.

Other African countries are facing a similar situation. During their speech, Uganda stated that two out of nine million Ugandan children are in child labour. In many African countries, parents cannot work high-paying jobs because of low literacy levels, thus causing children to join the workforce to help support the family.

Rwanda has proposed social assistance programs to help families. It is hoped that with social assistance, children would no longer have to work to support their families financially. According to the Rwandan delegate, children must be enrolled in schools in order for parents to receive social assistance, thus helping to eradicate child labour.