It's interesting that when you google the topic of 'international labour standards' a lot of the pages and articles you find are focused on countries who have some of the worst labour standards etc. I found an article which talks about the 10 worst countries for child labour in the whole world. It is disturbing to read and see that this is still prominent around the majority of the world.
The List included:
10. Ethiopia
09. Pakistan
08. Burundi
07. Afghanistan
06. Zimbabwe
05. Democratic Republic of Congo
04. Sudan
03. Somalia
02. North Korean
01. Myanmar
Have a read for yourself :)
Now these are the top 10 countries for child labour in the world which mostly include children who are put to work in factories and fields from a very young age. But the article goes on to also explain how some of the top countries on this list such as Sudan, Somalia and Myanmar mainly employ children in to the military and militia for the countries use which is even worse having children exposed to such things so young.
Furthering my reading to the ILO (Check it out) website I found:
- 246 million children worldwide aged 5-17 (which is 1 child in every 6) are involved in child labour.
- 8.4 million children are caught in worst forms of child labour including slavery, trafficking, debt bondage and other forms of forced labour.
The fact that child labour happens often in countries who are politically and economically unstable makes it really hard to find a solution for. But I think out of any sort of international employment standard, child labour has to be the most abused type of labour and needs an ongoing solution to try and fix it as quickly as possible. Lastly, I just wanted to say that not all child labour just happens in majorly unstable countries, the United States actually has a law which exempts 'farm workers' from having a minimum age requirement like most other jobs have. It is reported that many Latino children can be found forced to be working long hours out in hot fields all day.
Hi Jonathan,
ReplyDeleteThoroughly enjoyed reading this blog article mate! Through the use of the child labour map, statistics and the list of the 10 worst countries for child labour in the world you managed to make a somewhat dull topic in international labour standards very interesting.
I find the point you made regarding the manipulation of child labour in the United States particularly disturbing as this nation is supposedly a respected and developed world leader. The fact that children are exploited in this 'progressive' country does not bide well as an example for those less developed nations to follow.
Nesi, Nogler and Pertile 2008 book entitled 'Child labour in a globalized world: a legal analysis of ILO action' presents numerous methods employed by the International Labour Organization in an attempt to combat child labour exploitation. This book also presents a case study example of the fight of the ILO against child labour in African and specifically the nation of Mali and it was found that many politicians in Mali did not see a problem with this child abuse. I found this book particularly relevant to the topic of your blog as it focuses on 6 of the top 10 worst countries for child labour and the ILO's attempts to solve this problem.
Cheers mate :)
Hi Jonathan,
ReplyDelete(I don’t know why this comment didn’t go through and wasn’t posted earlier but luckily I had a copy of it).
I found your article quite interesting and as you said it is an issue that is still currently prominent.
I grew up in Peru (listed as red in the map you posted). Peru is now a ‘developing country’ but 5 years ago it was considered a third-world country with over 25% of the population living in a total poverty condition.
I don’t think many people in Australia realize this, but for families in ‘third world countries’, having as many children as possible is actually a target because they are forced to work helping their parents from the age of 5 or 6 years old in very harsh conditions such as in the farms, informal mining, etc. It is normal in Peru for example to see families with 6-12 kids.
I agree partially with the idea that child labor should be regulated but families depend on their kids to survive by getting the work done. There are no schools where the kids could go instead because the government hasn’t built roads, schools and doesn’t invest in education. Many of these kids never learn how to read or write which closes many possibilities.
It is important to see that establishing better labor standards for child labor is simply not realistic for countries such as Peru because there is an extreme lack of schools infrastructure, education investment, business opportunities for families living in rural areas.
Kind regards,
Alex