Monday, Apr 19, 2004

The 50-odd children who gathered at Gandhi Bhavan in Kochi on Sunday afternoon could consider themselves lucky. They got an opportunity to interact freely with the main contestants in the Ernakulam Lok Sabha constituency. Children in other parts of the country do not usually have such an experience during election campaigns.

Both Sebastian Paul and Edward A. Edezhath, candidates of the LDF and the UDF respectively, were busy electioneering though the city was yet to feel the campaign heat.

Yet they stole about an hour from their schedule to spend some time with a group of people who had no vote. The reason: vote or no vote, children cannot be ignored. It was generally agreed that children could to a good extent influence the elders.

Thanks to the initiative of the Child Rights Resource Centre of Rajagiri College of Social Sciences, the children from different parts of the State representing various non-political student organisations had an enjoyable time with the two candidates. It seemed they had a lot to ask the candidates, but there was not enough time for all.

When the psychologist-moderator, C.J. John, addressed them, "priyappetta koottukaare...." they responded, "enthooo..." It was a sign that they were ready for the show. Though all of them did not look perfectly at ease with the situation, their questions never lacked substance.

The opening salvo by Melvin from Alappuzha was about the problem of child labour. Dr. Paul appeared conversant with the issue. "Every one of us has the responsibility to educate children and parents against child labour," he said. No matter child or adult, everyone has the right to live with dignity, he said. He offered to do his best to help implement the laws against child labour.

The next question, equally loaded and important, was to Dr. Edezhath. Female foeticide, he said, pains him. It is brutal and unlawful. But he made no promise to do something special to root out the practice of female foeticide. "Women are the essence of life...," he went on. With only a few questions, the children proved a point. Whether a teacher or a lawyer, you cannot face today's student without preparation.

Can you do something to increase the grant for the destitute children? The question by Binsi was tricky. But Dr. Paul showed maturity and deftness in tackling it. Although 40 per cent of our population is represented by children, we cannot have proportionate budgetary allocation, he told them.

"Visit any childcare home and experience the feeling of our pride getting melted in humility," Dr. Paul said, rather emotionally. Dr. Edezhath said that if elected, destitute would be his priority.

The question by San Joseph on the existing disparity in the State's education system was food for thought for both candidates.

Dr. Paul said that society should have a definite control over education, particularly private education. It should not be the monopoly of the rich, he said. But Dr. Edezhath stressed on quality improvement in education. We cannot reject private and self-financing institutions, he said, but there should be a quality control in education.

There were some more questions. Dr. Paul said he would press the Children's Code Bill in Parliament. "I like the 12-year-old Jesus. You keep on asking questions. And definitely your demands will be fulfilled," he said to a cheering audience.

Dr. Edezhath promised quality education, bringing in a legislation defining child rights, and all help to voluntary organisations working for the cause of children.

Interestingly, both candidates had doctoral prefixes to their names. While Dr. Paul had a doctorate in law, Dr. Edezhath's was in English literature. How many children noticed it?

By Abdul Latheef Naha

Source: http://www.hindu.com/lf/2004/04/19/stories/2004041900690200.htm

by Nadira Gunatilleke

Monday, 19 April 2004

The National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) calls for non-involvement of children in the conflict in the North East. Children and youth have faced the brunt of the trauma in this long-standing war. It is time that the public, irrespective of communal groups calls to an end these gross violations of human/child rights, an NCPA spokesman said.

He said that the Convention on the Rights of the Children (CRC) and the ILO Convention 182 condemn the deploying of child soldiers. The CRC had mentioned the prevention of children from being conscripted in 1989.

The exploitation of child labour is yet another form of abuse, and was very recently introduced as one of the worst forms of child labour under ILO Convention 182.

Disallowing access to neutral information and dialogue with the outside world is itself a fundamental violation of the rights of the child (Article 17 of the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child-CRC).

Conscription may cause children to commit suicide, an act of self-destruction that cannot be fully comprehended. Traditionally in Sri Lanka, rebel conscripts irrespective of age, wear cyanide capsules at all times, which they are trained to bite on during `suicide missions' or if they are captured. Hundreds of thousands of children are known to be used in warfare all over the world including Sri Lanka.

According to the NCPA's Child Abuse Review 2001, when an adult persuades a child to commit suicide an act the child cannot comprehend for personal, social, economic or political reasons that the child cannot understand that persuasion constitutes a form of child abuse that may be called `suicide by proxy'.

Conscripting children is abuse. When considering the different aspects of emotional abuse, a conscripted child will engage in violent, destructive and anti-social behaviour such as killing and destruction of property.

Conscription terrorises a child with verbal assaults, bullying and blackmail and death threats all in the name of discipline. It isolates a child from the normal social experience and ignores his emotional and development needs by removing him from family life and schooling.

It is important not to justify child recruitment and ensure that the blame lies squarely on the recruiters, while the atrocities caused by Government forces - whether it be in Sri Lanka, Palestine or Burma - should be addressed by the Governments themselves and if not by International War Tribunals.

Source: http://www.dailynews.lk/2004/04/19/new16.html

New Vision (Kampala)

April 7, 2004
Posted to the web April 7, 2004

Christopher Kiwawulo
Kampala

A REPORT funded by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) has recommended the extension of universal education to O'Level to minimise the rate of school dropout and child labour.

The research was conducted by the Makerere University Social Sciences Department and the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development.

Speaking at the launch of the report at Bativa Hotel in Wandegeya recently, Eddy Walakira, the principal investigator, said more boys than girls worked as child labourers.

The study, carried out on over 400 street and household children in Bushenyi, Kampala, Kasese and Tororo, said 97.5% of the children aged 5-17 years worked as child labourers in urban areas.

It said 88% of them were school drop-outs and 61% were orphans.

Walakira, who is also a Makerere University lecturer, said 45% of the child labourers said they worked to earn a living.

He said many children, especially girls, risked contracting HIV/AIDS as they also worked as prostitutes.

Source: http://allafrica.com/stories/200404070437.html

Ghanaian Chronicle (Accra)

ANALYSIS

April 7, 2004
Posted to the web April 7, 2004

Druscilla Lartey & Charles Metho

When nine-year-old Philip Otoo was asked by his parents to travel with his sister to Akosombo with the promise of going to school and bettering his life, little did he know that he was going work as a slave.

Now 20-years-old and living with his parents at Kokrobite,y a suburb of Accra, Philip recalls the bitter experiences he had to go through at the hands of his sister's husband who forced him to work as a child fisherman. " I was very young then and I didn't know what was happening" he said.

Thousands of other children are abducted, sold, or coerced into exploitative work in Ghana. The International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) hopes to introduce a new draft of a Human Trafficking Bill into Parliament within the year.

Eric Appiah Okrah, National Coordinator On Child Trafficking at IPEC, said that the types of child labour that the bill will address include: fishing, working in chop bars, street traders (selling chips, ice water, and ice cream), domestic work, prostitution, begging, working in mines, and working in the cocoa industry. "The children come from impoverished areas to where there is economic activity. The routes are mostly from the rural to the urban areas. Most of them come from the northern, central, and Greater Accra region" Okrah said.

Philip's parents agreed to send him to live with his sister Mary Otoo and her husband in Akosombo with the promise that he would be attending school.

Instead, Philip said he was forced for eight years, first as a houseboy and then as a fisherman. He was joined by two of his brothers, and they worked together with four other children.

His sister's husband became angry and physically abused him and the other children when they came home without any catch, Philip said. They were also refused any meals for the rest of the day.

"Because of this treatment, we sometimes slept on the shores until the following day. There were certain times when we didn't come home for days," Philip said.

When the fishing nets were torn, Philip said that his employer never mended them but forced them to go fishing with the torn nets. "It is very difficult to go fishing with a torn net because when it gets stuck under the sea, you have to dive deeper into the water to remove it".

The work was very dangerous, and Philip said he witnessed other children die as result of diving deep into the sea to remove stuck nets. There are more than 1000 children working as slave laborers on fishing boats across the country, according to a memo issued by IPEC. Okrah said that people who use child labour prefer very young children.

"The younger, the better. When the children are young, they are very vulnerable and willing to take anything. The employer is able to manipulate the child. The older they get, the more they start asserting themselves, and it becomes more difficult to exploit them," he explained.

Philip worked for eight years on the sea without going to school and was offered only two meals a day by his employer. He was neglected when he became ill and was never paid. His parents came to visit him when they heard that other people's children being used as child fishermen had died.

He said when his parents saw that he was not going to school and was being forced to work under inhumane conditions, they decided to bring he and his other two brothers back home. "My employer refused our release. He told our parents he hadn't gathered enough money for our release and that they should come back in three months time".

When his parents came back again the second time, they were given the same excuse.

Philip's parents persisted and eventually brought them back to Accra.

Eric Appiah Okrah noted that there have been several attempts to stop child labour. The International Labour Organization (ILO) passed a convention on the Abolition of Child labour in Industry and then called for a bill on against human trafficking, he said. "Although the draft came last year, it has been something that IPEC has been calling for since 1999," Okrah said.

In 1999 there was a meeting held in Ghana by ECOWAS countries, which lead to ECOWAS adopting a child trafficking protocol, Okrah said. "The ILO convention 182 identifies child trafficking as the worst form of child labour and its mandate was to combat it".

With funding from the United States Department of Labour, the ILO established projects in nine countries in West and Central Africa to combat the trafficking of Children for labour exploitation, Okrah said.

In Ghana the first programme was launched in March 2002. "Since then our focus has been on trafficking and public awareness, to build the capacity of government and NGOs to deal with the issue through workshops and action programs," Okrah said.

There is currently no specific law against child trafficking. Ghana has yet to ratify the UN protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially women and children. "One area we found lacking was legislation, so we decided to organize a workshop on that. Government also saw the need for passing a law. It is something we've been calling for a long time." Okrah said.

In addition to child slavery in the fishing industry, there are many other areas where children are exploited.

"If you take the mining industry, some of the holes are very deep, so they lower the child down in a bucket," Okrah said. In addition to physically dangerous work, the children are subjected to mistreatment, abuse, malnourishment, and neglect, Okrah said.

"In domestic work, maid servants work with little food, little medical care, and are made to sleep on the floor. Sometimes the boys in the house, or the master himself rape them. In prostitution, aside from the medical consequences, some of the girls become addicted to drugs. We have begging, and they use young children because this brings a lot of sympathy," he said.

At a National Stakeholders Workshop to discuss the draft of the Human Trafficking Bill, held on April 1st and 2nd in Accra, Mrs. Elizabeth Hagen, head of the child labour Unit at the Labor Department said, "We are hoping that this workshop, and the inter-agency objective discussion, will result in a final draft that will go to Parliament and be drafted into law." Mr. Eric Okrah was also in attendance. "We are trying to build the capacity of the government. You cannot prosecute a person with a law that doesn't exist." According to Okrah, the bill will foremost make human trafficking a criminal offense. In addition, it will establish an interagency body or task force to coordinate activities dealing with trafficking.

Finally, the bill calls for a rehabilitation and reintegration fund to be established to provide compensation for parents if a child dies, Okrah said.

What remains to be done before the bill is passed? "Currently there is no opposition. What we are not very clear about is who is going to be responsible.

There are certain functions that need to be performed, and we want to get all the parties to work together and draw lines of responsibility," Okrah said.

"The question is, how do you bring them under one umbrella without duplication and bribery?"

Kojo Amoakwa, Chief Director of the Ministry of Manpower Development and Employment, believes that the Department of Social Welfare, under the Ministry of Manpower Development and Employment, is ideally suited for the job. "At the workshop it was decided that the ownership of the bill should go to the Department of Social Welfare," Amoakwa said.

"The stakeholder's workshop rightly saw that the Ministry of Women and Children doesn't have the necessary departments under it. The department of Social Welfare is in all 110 districts, so there is one in every district to take care of children," he said.

According to the IPEC Human Trafficking Bill Memorandum, "Temporary care is given to the Department of Social Welfare, which as a decentralized department, is represented in each of the 110 districts nationwide." The memorandum goes on to state "the Department of Social Welfare and the National Vocational Training Institute are to provide victims with employable skills."

Finally, the management of the Trafficking Rehabilitation Fund is under the Ministry of Women and Children's Affairs, "towards health needs, skills training, family tracing and other matters connected with the rehabilitation of victims," the memorandum states.

But according to Mr. Amoakwa, the matter of coordination between ministries has yet to be finalized. "The Ministry of women and children is vehemently opposed to our owning the bill." He asserted. The chronicle asked again, when will the bureaucracy be untangled and the bill be passed? "That is a good question, we are hoping that it will come before Parliament this year," Amoakwa said.

Philip Otoo began his primary education at the age of 17 years. He attended a local school for a year before he was enrolled into Kokrobite District Assembly School as a class three pupil. He is now in form one.

Recounting his first experience in school, Philip said, "It was very difficult adjusting with the kids in my class because I was the oldest amongst them. When I didn't understand something and I asked them, they laughed at me".

This experience did not deter Philip from pursuing an education. He has been encouraged by his teachers "not to give up".

Philip's class six teacher, Juliet Nkansah, affirms that "she is hopeful Philip can make it although he looks old amongst the younger kids and would not readily mingle with them".

Philip wants to become a doctor in the future. "I am very good at working mathematics," he said. Philip's mother Naomi said she deeply regrets her actions and will do what it takes to help her sons become successful.

Source: http://allafrica.com/stories/200404070687.html

Coming back to cricket, while the Indian team slugs it out in Lahore, an equally enthusiastic team of young 'uns is gearing up to take on their Pakistani counterparts on their soil. I had mentioned earlier in this column that children from some slums in Pakistan will be coming to India to play a cricket match with street kids from here but were held up due to visa problems. So now filmstar Nandita Das along with NGO's in India and Pakistan such as Action Aid and Leapfrog, has decided to remedy the problem and will take Indian school kids and street children to play the matches in Pakistan. It is called Cricket for Peace, wherein 20 underprivileged children from various parts of India will play a series of matches in Pakistan in Lahore, Islamabad and Larkana. They are being accompanied by a media team - made up of children again - children from various schools in Delhi - Ramjas School, Delhi Public School, Mathura Road and Kerala School. The slum children are from Bachpan Bachao Andolan, Ashray Adhikar Abhiyan, Anhad, Chetna and Jamghat and belong to various states in India - Gujarat, Bihar, Rajasthan and Delhi. The children's media unit - six child journalists - will record the trials and tribulations and pen the saga of this unique match.

Since they are going to play they better do it with full training - believes Nandita Das. So the street kids have had India's cricket stars such as Ravi Shastri and Maninder Singh giving tips on the right technique to bat and bowl. One visit to the workshop, one encounter with the street kids and you return humbled. One question asked of the street kids and the school kids was: "What is your favourtie food." The street kids said: "Dal roti, dal chawal." The school kids: "Maggi." They could not fathom how dal chawal was the "favourite" food. Was not that meant to be the staple diet?

Yet these street kids have not lost the zeal to rise above the circumstances. Mohan is 19 years old and works as a munsif at Tis Hazari court to earn a livelihood. He was sold for Rs 400 at the age of eight because his parents needed money and then was forced to work in a carpet industry for a bare minimum before he was rescued by an NGO  - Bachpan Bachao Andolan. Today he is also a social worker helping to give a better life to others like him. His dream if he becomes the PM - unified education for all across the nation.

Then there is 16-year-old Shaukat Ali who is today an informer for the South Asia Coalition for Child Servitude (SACCS). He helps them in their raids by giving information about domestic child labour.

His dream: To become a CBI officer.

Earlier life: A masala worker at a factory at the age of eight.His brother was burnt with a stove because he dared to drink the milk meant for the son of the IAS officer for whom he worked.

The incident set Shaukat questioning his situation and identity as a child labourer. The hypocritical attitude of the society towards child labourers disgusted him. One day he attended a session of the Bachpan Bachao Andolan and it was a turning point in his life.

What strikes most is the enthusiasm for life, to effect a change in their lives and hence, in society; what strikes most is that hope still burns bright in them. But not for all. Many are cynical. Nothing will change,they say. There is no hope, they feel. For such children, interactions between them and their privileged counterparts will go a long way in changing the attitude of society towards the underprivileged. Such workshops will sensitise the privileged to the needs of the have nots in society.

Today at the Cricket for Peace workshop they laugh, sing and dance together - share water from the same bottle as they walk with arms thrown around each others shoulders. Pooja from Ramjas school narrates the story of one of the slum kids and cannot hold back the tears that fill her big eyes. Yesterday, they were hesitant to touch them. "Yeh log gande hain," they said.

Today, there is a change. A change one hopes will stay with them through their growing years, a sensitivity one hopes they will not lose as they get caught up in the mad race of life.

Source: http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/5983_662147,004300140007.htm

TIMES NEWS NETWORK [ MONDAY, APRIL 05, 2004 11:29:20 PM ]

NEW DELHI: Education forms the core of human development. Hence, it should be a major investment destination and should top the agenda of political parties, said Sir Edward George, chairman of the oversight committee of the Commonwealth Education Fund.

Addressing a joint meet of the Confederation of Indian Industry and CEF, Sir Edward said, “Corporate houses that envision long-term success have to take an interest in involvement with their communities; and take account of some of the things that may not immediately deliver short-term commercial advantage, but will contribute not only to their prosperity, but also the prosperity of their communities in the long-term.”

According to the CEF India Strategy Paper, “After five decades of development planning and four decades after the deadline stipulated by the Constitution, and despite several strategies adopted, programmes and schemes launched, the goal of universal elementary education still remains elusive. About 59m children in the age group of 6-14 are not in schools, out of which, 35m are girls.”

Sir Edward called upon corporate India to come forward and support CEF. Launched by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, in the presence of Queen Elizabeth II, CEF aims at raising money to ensure that education remains at the top of the political and social agenda of developing countries throughout the 11 Commonwealth nations.

The fund has a target of £30m. £10m has already been provided by the British government and if another £10m is raised by the private sector, the treasury plans to match this with a further £10m. CEF in India is an outcome of formal, informal and ongoing processes of consultations between three agencies — ActionAid, Oxfam and Save The Children and external stakeholders. It focuses on using knowledge of what works from innovative experiences, to lobbying for improved practice and programmes, which ensure good quality education for marginalised groups.

Babu Mathew, country director, Action Aid India, said there is a need to appreciate the reality of child labour and its link with education. Economic compulsions force children to enter the labour market, he said. Professor Mathew called for evolving a system to promote compulsory education that keeps these realities in mind. “By the coming together of civil-society movements and the corporate sector, we have a unique opportunity to democratise education,” he added.

Source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/601954.cms

TIMES NEWS NETWORK [ SUNDAY, APRIL 04, 2004 12:37:57 AM ]

NEW DELHI: So what if they're not Sachin or Sourav; they're still going to play cricket in Pakistan.

India's Team B is waiting to go, but can't go just yet. A group of 26 street children from all over India will 'tour' Pakistan from April 2-15 to play a series of matches. But thanks to passport and visa hassles, the trip has been postponed for a while.

The major problem: most of the children are homeless children, so they don't have valid verifiable addresses for passports. This has led to a delay in getting passports and, consequently, visas.

"Some of the children have been staying in ashrams and studying, but many have been picked up from the streets," says Saumya Sen, who with wife Nandita Das, is one of the organisers.

It's a unique team: Shaukat Ali, 16, was a child labourer working in a masala factory. Now, he studies in Class X in a Senior Secondary School and is an 'informer' for NGOs and goes on regular raids to homes where child labour is employed. "I want to become a CBI officer when I grow up."

Mohan, 19, now works as a munsif at the Tis Hazari Courts to earn his livelihood. When he was 8, he was sold by his parents for Rs 400 and forced to work in a carpet for two years before he was rescued by an NGO.

Harim, Rajan, Aajam and Rahul — all in their teens — are all charged up about the tour: from a hard life in the streets they have been staying in the Ashram home of NGO Jamghat. "We're not going to just play. We're going for pyaar, shaanti."

Meanwhile, it's not been all play and no work: the children have been brushing up on their shots and catches everyday at practice sessions at Delhi Public School, Mathura Road. Former cricketers Maninder Singh and Chetan Sharma have been there to dole out advice.

In store for them: three days each in Lahore, Karachi, Islamabad and Mohen-jo-daro where they'll play street cricket; visits to historical places, cultural evenings. Six child reporters will accompany the team to cover the event.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/599168.cms

The Independent (Banjul)

ANALYSIS
April 2, 2004
Posted to the web April 2, 2004

Ejatou Jallow
Banjul

The Gambian child today like many other children on the African continent is faced with so many difficulties such that it is very difficult to determine the extent of their predicament. Gambian children are faced with problems such as child labour, child trafficking, child exploitation, child sexual abuse to name a few.

The abuse of children have a very bad impact on Gambian society and if steps are not taken, it may lead to a place where children grow up to become uneducated adults irresponsible elders and bandits.

The grim scenario of child exploitation can be seen in the alarming rate of child labourers, child beggars and early marriages of the girl child.

Exploited children are usually those in vulnerable and disadvantageous family and financial situations.

The Almudus, for instance, are children who are sent by their biological parents to Koranic schools for them to acquire basic knowledge of the Holy Quran. The intention of those children's parents to leave them with the Quranic scholars with the hope that they will be trained properly in social, moral and religious principles fundamental to the proper growth of the children so that when they graduate from these learning institutions, they will be able to cope with the society without any difficulties.

However more often than not, the hope of these parents is not realized.

The innocent children are being exploited instead of taught the good values in the Quran. They are taught demoralizing ways of life such as begging in public places and condescending habits.

It is easy to see children roaming about in streets of big, busy towns in The Gambia begging for alms to satisfy their scholars. These are children who are basically under the age of fifteen. They will be asked to leave their respective places known as "Darras" to beg for their teachers on the streets or market places the whole day. By the time they return in the evening, they are tired and weak to do any reading of the verses of the Quran they are sent by their parents to study.

Without proper education and no guaranteed future for them, these children later grow up to become shoe repairers commonly known as "Shoe Doctors". Many others end up in car parks as apprentices and later become taxi drivers.

Those that get married early like especially teenage girls are exploited sexually and through domestic labour which they are not mentally or physically prepared for.

The bodies of the girls for instance are not prepared to take their husbands and babies.

On the other hand, the "lucky ones" i.e. those who have the chance to live with their parents are faced with the problem of not being able to express their views and problems owing to cultural and traditional taboos frowned upon by the society. Parents do not usually take children's views and expressions seriously in typical Gambian society.

In a typical Gambian homes, children are not allowed to express their views even on serious problems affecting them freely. It is a rare sight to see parents discussing certain issues with their children.

Parents do not encourage their children to express their views anyhow, as they would like.

Children are not consulted on issues that directly affects them, they are not involved or engaged in the discussion making of issues pertaining to their own welfare.

It is also very rear to see parents sitting together discussing with their children plans for their future. Instead these vital things are discussed in their absence and their future is always decided for them instead of with them.On the issue of child trafficking in The Gambia, the country has recently experienced a highly organized and efficient child trafficking network in the country. As reported in the local newspapers, the network is based in Ghana Town. Investigation into suspicious dealings at Ghana Town by officials of the Social Welfare UN agencies and a joint operation by personnel of the security forces found that about 11 children slept in a single tiny almost airtight room and all those children were found in very terrible conditions while the people behind the action could not be found.

For the problem faced by Gambian children to be solved amicably, there must be an effective participation from parents, NGOs and the government.

There must be strategies put in place to see that child labour, trafficking and exploitation if not completely stopped should be reduced to a minimum.

Some of the measures to be put in place to see those abuses mentioned above are stopped include:

a) Involving children in the promotion of meaningful participation of children in ensuring their growth and development.

b) Parents should be prepared to listen to the views of their children, they should not discriminate against them as they are young and ignorant of many ideas.

c) Parents should ensure and encourage their children's participating in decisions concerning their futures. The Almudu mentally should be stopped. Parents should make sure that their children get good Quranic education under their own supervision.

All those engaged in child trafficking, child labour and marabouts who exploit poor Quranic students entrusted in their care to be educated should be apprehended and brought to justice at all cost. Any issue involving children should not be taken lightly as they are our future leaders.As for a better Gambia fit for children, education, health and other facilities needed by children should be provided by the state while those issues that are not beneficial to the proper development of children should be discouraged.

Source: http://allafrica.com/stories/200404020780.html