Kenya Can End the Moral Indignity of Child Labour

Although child abuse and exploitation is prohibited by the Kenyan constitution, some children are still engaged in manual labour. XINHUA PHOTO: SAM NDIRANGUBy Jacqueline Mogeni and Siddharth ChatterjeeNAIROBI, Kenya, Jun 12 2018 (IPS)On 12 June every year is the World Day Against Child Labour. In the world’s poorest countries, around one in four children are engaged in work that is potentially harmful to their health. Sub-Saharan Africa has the largest proportion of child labourers (29 per cent of children aged 5 to 17 years) and is considered detrimental to their health and development.Many children not yet in their teens, are sent out to work in farms, as sand harvesters, street hawkers, domestic workers, drug peddling and most piteously, as sex workers and child soldeirs.Of all child labourers in these and similar industries around the world, half are in Africa, indicating that the continent’s conscience must urgently be pricked into action.Jacqueline MogeniKenya has made some commendable moves towards eliminating child labour, primarily through the National Policy on the Elimination of Child Labour, and most recently the Computer and Cybercrime Bill with its provisions on child sexual exploitation. And worth mentioning is the Children’s Act which domesticated most international and continental conventions to enhance child rights and protection.Kenya has ratified most key international conventions concerning child labour including Minimum Age, Worst Forms of Chil...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: Africa Aid Armed Conflicts Crime & Justice Democracy Education Gender Gender Violence Headlines Health Human Rights Labour Peace Poverty & SDGs TerraViva United Nations Women's Health Source Type: news