‘Not all work by children is child labour’

Gracious Ndalama, monitoring and evaluation officer for the International Labour Organisation (ILO), explains to reporter BONIFACE PHIRI about the efforts his organisation is undertaking to minimise child labour.

Q1 What is ILO doing to curb child labour?

A1 Child labour is a development issue and we are working together with leaders and communities at all levels to make sure that whenever we are looking at child labour issues we address it collectively. As ILO, we are sensitising local leaders and their subjects to find ways of ending child labour. By child labour we look at children being engaged in different economic activities. We are engaging village development committees and area development committees so that children are not involved in child labour.

Q2 How serious is the problem of child labour in the country?

A2 According to 2014 estimates, 63 percent of children are engaged in child labour and in 2002 it showed that nationally, 37 percent of children were child labourers. A new child labour survey is currently being carried out by the National Statistics Office with support from ILO.

Q3 What structures have you established on the grassroots to ensure that messages you are putting across are effective?

A3 As ILO, we are working with different structures on the ground. At national level, we have a national steering committee on child labour which is chaired by the Ministry of Labour and there is also a national technical working group on child labour. Down at district level, we have district child labour committees while at village level we have community child labour committees. These are structured in a way that different stakeholders are represented such as extension workers, the youth, women, retired officers and many more.

Q4 Where do you draw the line between child labour, rights and child work?

A4 Indeed, there is a misconception that whatever children do is child labour, but there is a thin line between child labour and child work and people really need to understand. But it is clear that child labour talks about all activities that infringe on children’s rights and deters them from attending school. On the other hand, child work concerns activities that are acceptable by the law which don’t affect their education, physical and emotional development. This is work that is light in nature and not burdensome. n