Working children demand flexible education and fair wages for their parents
terre des hommes children's work report 2022 for the Ilo World Conference Child labor
Osnabrück/Geneva, May 12, 2022-for millions of children, Covid-19 meant hunger, poverty and the end of educational opportunities. The global effects of pandemic on children and their families can be felt in many areas of life. This is evidenced by the children's work report 2022, which the International Children's Aid Work Terre des Hommes publishes on the occasion of the World Africa (ILO) world conference on Sunday. The report examines how the living conditions of children have changed through Covid-19 and which measures are necessary for a fair social reconstruction from the perspective of those affected.
Case studies in India and Peru raised by Terre des Hommes show that many children worked as a result of pandemic to ensure the survival of their families. This confirms the global trend that child labor increases for the first time in 20 years due to pandemic. Among regard to the future, people who went to school before pandemic and also worked as a street seller predominated fears and worries: their parents have lost their jobs and have not lost any perspective that the children have missed a lot of learning material in the past two years and lost their connection to the class, so that they only have the work on the street. In India, girls and boys report that they have to compensate for their parents' income failures by exaggerating the mica-mineral mica in mines under the most dangerous working conditions. Mica is in many products, among other things it is used due to the pearl murder shimmer and the good conductivity in the cosmetics and electronics industry. Often they have to descend at up to 20 meters deep, unsecured shafts and risk their lives when dismantling. In both countries, the children complain about the inadequate food supply since Covid-19, and in India the risk of early ratio also increases for girls, since the families cannot ensure their care.
In workshops, the affected children and adults have now developed recommendations for sustainable and just restoration of good living conditions after pandemic, together with teachers and government officials. They call for flexible educational offers and digital equipment so that you can still learn early in the morning, in the afternoon or evening after work. The Peruvian school staff and the government officials presented, for example, an education system that provides the necessary technical resources in order to ensure the access of the children for learning even in future times of crisis. In addition, they want an education system that takes into account the social skills required for the development of children. In India, children and adults wanted the government to provide girls and boys from socially weak households scholarships, school uniforms, stationery and bicycles and that students who attend school outside their village are promoted free of charge. For university formation, a teacher in India also proposed interest -free loans and improving virtual access to education, especially in remote areas. In addition, the children and their families demand decent working conditions for adults. Just wages are necessary to secure the basic care of the family, including the training of the children.
"The report shows how much children suffer from the consequences of pandemic," said Beat Wehrle, board spokesman for Terre des Hommes. »The well -being of the children is massively threatened by the consequences of pandemic. We see an alarming increase in exploitative child labor in our project regions. At the world conference starting on Sunday, the community of states must decide measures that enable the poorest to live with the consequences of Covid-19 and to gain a foothold again economically and socially. Above all, this includes protection against violence and access to education, which enables children to train and not to be exploited as a day laborer. «