U.S. Helping To End Abusive Child Labor In Africa

United States Helping To End Abusive Child Labor in Africa

$16 million in aid slated for Democratic Republic of Congo, Togo, Uganda: Three African countries -- Democratic Republic of the Congo, Togo and Uganda -- will receive $16 million from the United States for projects to eliminate the worst forms of child labor.

The grants, announced October 1 by Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao, will be used to provide children in need with access to quality basic education and vocational training opportunities and to collect reliable data on child labor in these countries.

The $16 million is part of a larger $54 million in worldwide grants from the U.S. Department of Labor made in the fiscal year that ended September 31. "These $54 million in grants continue our efforts to eliminate abusive child labor practices around the world," Chao said in a press release.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda will each benefit from $5.5 million grants focusing on war-affected children in conflict zones.

The grant in Democratic Republic of the Congo will be administered by the international nonprofit group Save the Children Foundation, in association with the U.S.-based American Center for International Labor Solidarity. The grant in Uganda will be administered by the International Rescue Committee (IRC), in partnership with the nonprofit Association of Volunteers in International Service-USA (AVSI-USA). Togo will receive a $5 million grant, administered through the U.N. International Labour Organization (ILO).

Many children throughout the world continue to be involved in dangerous and demeaning work that robs them of their childhood and often their future, according to the Department of Labor's 2006 report, The Worst Forms of Child Labor.

The worst forms of child labor are defined as work that is likely to harm children's health, safety or morals, such as the use of children in armed conflict, domestic labor, trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation, and dangerous work in the agricultural and informal commercial and service sectors of the economy.

According to ILO's Global Report on Child Labour 2006, even though abusive child labor has generally declined worldwide, there has been only a slight decline in the practice in Africa. Worldwide, 74 million working children aged 5 to 14 still perform hazardous work. Democratic Republic of the Congo is among several countries that are addressing the issue of child labor in broader policy initiatives and plans, according to the Department of Labor report.

"Projects funded by the Department of Labor's Bureau of International Labor Affairs have helped more than 1 million children around the world to either leave exploitive work situations or avoid facing a similar fate," said Deputy Under Secretary of Labor for International Labor Affairs Charlotte Ponticelli. "These children have been given a chance to rebuild their lives."

The full text (PDF, 706 pages) of the Department of Labor's report on international child labor and a press release about the grants are on the department's Web site.

Additional information about the ILO's efforts to combat child labor is available on that organization's Web site.

ENDS

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