Child labour: Need for global action

IN  2013  Nigeria  made a moderate advancement in efforts to eliminate the worst forms of child labour. The
government adopted its first national policy on child labour and national plan of action for the elimination of the worst forms of child labour and the Ministry of Labour and Productivity increased the number of employed inspectors and inspections conducted. In addition, the National Poverty Eradication Program (NAPEP) launched a conditional cash transfer programme, that  will provide funds to households under the condition that their children  remain in school. However, children in Nigeria.  Continue to engage in forced labour in various sectors.  Some children engage in armed conflict with non-governmental forces in the  North east. Inconsistencies remain in laws regarding child labour and the minimum age for work is below international standards.
   In Northern Nigeria, many families send children from rural to urban areas to live and receive  koranic education from Islamic teachers. These children known as  almajiri, may receive lessons, but teachers often force them to beg on the street and surrender money they collect, although evidence remain limited, information indicates that almjiris in Nigeria may be deliberately scarred or injured to arouse sympathy and thus encourage donations.
   The terrorist group Boko Haram recruited and used child soldiers. Boys as young as eleven years were reportedly paid to fight, plant bombs, spy and act as suicide bombers. Girls have been abducted by  Boko Haram for slave labour or sexual exploitation. Some of these girls were abducted while working on farms in remote villages or hawking wares on the  street. Some children presumed to be between age 15-17, have  reportedly been observed manning check points for anti-Boko Haram citizens.
  Child labour refers to the employment of children in any work, that deprives children of their childhood, interferes with their ability to attend regular schools, and  is mentally, socially or physically dangerous and harmful.
  This practice is considered exploitative by many international organizations. Legislators across the world prohibit child labour. These laws do not consider all work by children as child labour, exception include work by child arists, supervising, training  and certain categories of work.
  In Nigeria, according to the 2003 Constitution article 59 of The Labour Act  the child rights states that  the age in which a child is liable to start working or fending for him/herself is 18 years, which is generally known as adult age internationally and light work age is 12 years. However, child labour is not just a Nigerian problem, but a world problem. Before 1940 numerous children age 5-14 years worked in Europe, the United States and various colonies of European powers. These children  worked in agriculture, home-based assembly operations, factories, mining and in night shifts lasting 12 hours with the rise of household income.
  It is common knowledge that two or three child workers, work alongside their parents in unpaid family work situations. Some children work as guides for tourists, sometimes combined with bringing in business for ships and restaurants. 70%  of child labour predominantly occur in the rural areas, while 26% occur in the informal urban sector..
  Contrary to popular beliefs, most child labourers are  employed by their parents rather than in manufacturing or formal economy. Children who work for pay or  in kind compensations are usually found in  rural settings, than urban centres. Less than 3 percent of child labour age 5-14 years across the world work outside their household or away from their parents.
  The vote of child labour in Asia accounts for 22%, 32% in Africa. 17% in Latin Amercia, 1% in US, Canada, Europe and other wealthy nations. The proportion of child labourers varies greatly among countries and even regions inside those countries.
  Africa has the highest  percentage of children aged 5-17 employed as child labour, and total of over 65million. Asia, with its  larger population, has  the largest number of children employed as  child labourers at about 114 million. Latin America and Caribbean region has lower overall population density, but with 14 million child labourers high incidence rate too.
  However, accurate present day child labour information is difficult to obtain because of disagreement between data sources as to what constitutes child labour. In some countries government policy contributes to this difficulty. China has enacted regulations to prevent child labour, still the practice of child labour is reported to be a persistent problem within  China.
 In 2014 , the US department of labour issued a list of  goods produced by child labourers, where China was attributed 12 goods, majority of which were produced by both underage children and indentured labourers. The report listed electronics, garments, toys and coal  among other goods.
   According to  International Labour Organisation (ILO) some of the causes relating to child labour as poverty, which is the greatest single cause behind child labour for improverished household. Income from a child's work is usually crucial for his or her own survival or for that  of the household. Income from working children, even if small, may be between 25 to 40% of the households income.
  Some scholars such as  Harsch on African Child Labour, and  Edmonds and Pineville on Global Child  Labour have reached the same conclusion.
  Lack of meaningful alternatives, such as  affordable schools and quality education, according to ILO is another major factor driving children to harmful labour. Children work because they have nothing better to do.
  Many communities, particularly rural areas, where  between 60-70% of child labour is prevalent, do not posses adequate school facilities. Even when schools are  sometimes available, they are too far away, difficult to reach, unaffordable or the quality of education is so poor that parents wonder if going to school is really worth it. 
  It is common knowledge that most parents in the rural area in Africa especially Nigeria, do not have the where-withal to sponsor their children to good schools, so it is imperative, the government provide good and affordable schools for its populace or rather makes provision for free  education in the country.
   Again, in  Europe and African history when child labour was common, as well as in contemporary child labour of modern world, certain cultural beliefs have rationalized child labour and thereby encouraged it. Some are of the view that   work is good for the character-building and skill development of children. In many culture, particularly where informal economy and small household businesses  thrives,  the  cultural tradition is that children follow in their parent's footstep, child labour  then is a means to learn and practice that trade from very early age. Similarly, in many cultures the education of girls is less valued or girls are simply not expected to need formal schooling, and these girls are pushed into child labour such as providing domestic services.
  Moreso, Biggeri and Mehrot have  studied the macroeconomic factors that encourage child labour. They suggest that child labour is a serious problem in Asia and Africa continent, but not a new problem. Macroeconomic causes encouraged wide spread child labour across the world, over most of human history.
   Moreso, Biggeri and Mehrot have  studied the macroeconomic factors that encourage child labour. They suggest that child labour is a serious problem in Asia and Africa continent, but not a new problem. Macroeconomic causes encouraged wide spread child labour across the world, over most of  human  history.
  They suggest that the  cause of child labour include both the  demand and the supply aspect. while poverty  and unavailability of good schools explain the child labour supply aspect, they suggest that the growth of low paying informal economy is amongst the causes of the demands aspect.
   Other scholars too suggest that inflexible labour market, informal economy, inability of industries to scale up and lack of  modern manufacturing technologies are major macroeconomic factors affecting demand and  acceptability of child labour.
   In  eliminating child labour, concerns have often been raised over the buying publics' moral complicity in purchasing products assembled or manufactured in developing countries or hawkers with child labour. However, other have raised concerns that boycotting products manufactured through child labour may force these children to turn to more dangerous or strenuous professions, such as prostitution or agriculture.
  For instance, a UNICEF study found that after the child labour deterrence Act was introduced in the US, an estimated 50,000 children were dismissed from their garment industry jobs in Bangladesh, leaving many to resort to jobs such as stone-crushing, street husting and prostitution  jobs that are more hazardous and exploitative than  garment  production.
  The study suggest that boycotts are  “ blunt instruments with long term consequences, that can actually harm, rather than help the children involved.
  According to Mitton Friedman, before the industrial revolution , virtually all children worked in agriculture. During the industrial revolution many of these children moved from farm work to factory work. Overtime, as real wages rise, parents became able to afford to send their children to school instead of work, and as a result, child labour declined, both before and after legislation.
  In Nigeria, it is important  for the government  to make provision for free and compulsory education nationwide, so as to enable parents who are incapacitated in sending their children and wards to school to  do so. Inspectors should be on the street during school hours, so as to ensure that a good number of  them are in school during the school hours, instead of  hawking on the street, at school hours.