Friday, 13 June 2008

In 2009, ILO Will Assist Child Scavengers with Health Problems

Posted on 12 June 2008.
The Mirror, Vol. 12, No. 564

“Phnom Penh: A technical advisor to the International Labor Organization [ILO], Mr. M.P. Joseph, said that from 2009 to 2020, ILO will implement a project assisting child scavengers with heath problems who are in the worst forms of child labor.

“Some years ago, ILO focused on children who were in the worst forms of child labor by assisting them to attend school, so that they can be free from this serious labor. In this project, ILO cooperates with the Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training.

“The Secretary of State of the Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training, Ms. Prak Chantha, said that in Cambodia, 1.5 million children are child laborers, among whom 250,000 children are in the worst forms of child labor. She added that in the first step from 2001 to 2004, more than 4,000 children were taken out from the worst forms of child labor. In the second step from 2004 t0 2008, 18,000, children were taken out from the worst forms of child labor, which was more than the goal set by ILO to assist 16,000 children.

“Mr. M.P. Joseph said that in the third step from 2009 to 2012, ILO will assist in helping child scavengers with their health problems, because previously, ILO has assisted children who are in the worst forms of child labor by helping them to attend school, but ILO had not implemented any heath project for those children yet. Children who are in the worst forms of child labor are those who work at brick kilns, those who are house servants, those children working at salt fields [see an old, 13 May 2005, related report here], at rubber plantations, and those who are child scavengers.

“The elimination of child labor is complicated and it relates to the children’s education. However, in many countries, including in Cambodia, children who are not cared for regularly have no access to go to school. Many poor families do not have the possibility to pay for school fees and for other learning materials at schools. Those families depend on children to help find income for the whole family; and such work is more important for them than the children’s education.

“If those families can send their sons or daughters to school, they choose their sons, while daughters mostly lose the opportunity to go to school.

“Mr. M.P. Joseph said that the removal of children from all forms of child labor is very important in developing the country, because children are very important resources, and if children cannot attend school, the country will not develop.”

Kampuchea Thmey, Vol.7, #1665, 12.6.2008

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