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Assignment On Child labor

By Vikram Naidu Roll. No- 27 {General Studies}

INTRODUCTION
"CHILD IS THE FATHER OF MAN" the famous lines by William Wordworth. It symbolizes the need of children in building a healthy nation and society. Childhood is the first stage after infancy. It is the formative period in men's life. For their minds are very soft, receptive and plastic at this tender age.

Childrens mind is like potter's clay. It has to be shaped in a right manner. A child normally has to enjoy its childhood days with its parents, teachers, friends, etc. It is the age where fine and long lasting impressions gather in child's mind.Childhood is the best time to develop spiritual, intellectual, emotional support. But this rule of nature has been crippled by the perilous child labourEvery child has his right to enjoy his childhood. But inspite of this a few children are forcefully put to work throughout the world about 250million children are child labourer. Due to poverty poor parents put their children to work in order to supplement the family's economic status.

DEFINING CHILD LABOR


Not all work done by children should be classified as child labour that is to be targeted for elimination. Childrens or adolescents participation in work that does not affect their health and personal development or interfere with their schooling, is generally regarded as being something positive. This includes activities such as helping their parents around the home, assisting in a family business or earning pocket money outside school hours and during school holidays. These kinds of activities contribute to childrens development and to the welfare of their families; they provide them with skills and experience, and help to prepare them to be productive members of society during their adult life. The term child labour is often defined as work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity, and that is harmful to physical and mental development. It refers to work that:

is mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous and harmful to children; and interferes with their schooling by: depriving them of the opportunity to attend school; obliging them to leave school prematurely; or

requiring them to attempt to combine school attendance with excessively long and heavy work.

In its most extreme forms, child labour involves children being enslaved, separated from their families, exposed to serious hazards and illnesses and/or left to fend for themselves on thestreets of large cities often at a very early age. Whether or not particular forms of work can be called child labour depends on the childs age, the type and hours of work performed, the conditions under which it is performed and the objectives pursued by individual countries. The answer varies from country to country, as well as among sectors within countries.

NATURE OF CHILD WORK


A majority of the working children are found in rural area. In urban areas, they are found in canteens/restaurants, or are found engaged in picking rags and hawking goods on foot-path. But some children are working in highly hazardous conditions. For examples fireworks and match box units in Sivakasi in Ramanathapuram district in Tamil Nadu employ 45,000 children. A large number of children are working in stone polishing units in Jaipur, brassware industry in Moradabad, lock making units in Aligarh, Slate- industry in Markapur (Andhra Pradesh), Mandsaur (Madhya Pradesh) and the carpet-making in Jammu and Kashmir

THE WORST FORMS OF CHILD LABOUR


Whilst child labour takes many different forms, a priority is to eliminate without delay the worst forms of child labour as defined by Article 3 of ILO Convention No. 182: All forms of slavery or practices similar to slavery, such as the sale and trafficking of children, debt bondage and serfdom and forced or compulsory labour, including forced or compulsory recruitment of children for use in armed conflict; The use, procuring or offering of a child for prostitution, for the production of pornography or for pornographic performances; The use, procuring or offering of a child for illicit activities, in particular for the production andtrafficking of drugs as defined in the relevant international treaties; Work which, by its nature or the circumstances in which it is carried out, is likely to harm the health, safety or morals of children. Labor that jeopardizes the physical, mental or moral well-being of a child, either because of nature or because of the conditions in which it is carried out, is known ashazardous work.
Child labour distribution by branch of economic activity, 5-17 years old

CAUSES OF CHILD LABOR


Child labor persists even though laws and standards to eliminate it exist. Current causes of global child labor are similar to its causes in the U.S. 100 years ago, including poverty, limited access to education, repression of workers rights, and limited prohibitions on child labor. Poverty and unemployment levels are high.

Poor children and their families may rely upon child labor in order to improve their chances of attaining basic necessities. More than one-fourth of the world's people live in extreme poverty, according to 2005 U.N. statistics. The intensified poverty in parts of Africa, Asia, and Latin America causes many children there to become child laborers. Access to compulsory, free education is limited.

In 2006, approximately 75 million children were not in school, limiting future opportunities for the children and their communities. A 2009 report by the United Nations estimated that achieving universal education for the world's children would cost $10-30 billion -- about 0.7% 2.0% of the annual cost of global military spending Existing laws or codes of conduct are often violated.

Even when laws or codes of conduct exist, they are often violated. For example, the manufacture and export of products often involves multiple layers of production and outsourcing, which can make it difficult to monitor who is performing labor at each step of the process. Extensive subcontracting can intentionally or unintentionally hide the use of child labor.

Carpet Weaver

Nepal, 199 Laws and enforcement are often inadequate.

Child labor laws around the world are often not enforced or include exemptions that allow for child labor to persist in certain sectors, such as agriculture or domestic work. Even in countries where strong child labor laws exist, labor departments and labor inspection offices are often under-funded and under-staffed, or courts may fail to enforce the laws. Similarly, many state governments allocate few resources to enforcing child labor laws.

ENDING CHILD LABOR


Unions and grassroots groups are increasingly recognizing direct connections between worker rights and the fight against child labor. Recognizing child labor as a violation of children's and workers' rights, trade unions are joining with families and community organizations to combat child labor, to move children out of work and into school, and to support core labor standards.Historically and in todays global economy:

strong unions are an important protection against child labor when parents are able to improve conditions through effective unions, children are much less likely to have to work active struggles against child labor tend to strengthen unions and workers rights in general

Many workers and unions in the U.S. and other countries are supporting efforts to end child labor by forging alliances with unions in other countries. These alliances work to achieve enforceable global labor standards, such as ILO Convention 182, and hold transnational companies accountable for labor practices. Supporting workers struggles to organize unions and reject child labor In 2001 factory monitors confirmed illegal union-busting and other violationsincluding employment of 13-15 year-old childrenat a Mexican factory sewing clothing with university logos for Nike and other U.S. companies. Thousands of American students, workers, and consumers wrote letters to corporate CEOs protesting worker treatment. The international solidarity campaign helped factory workers overcome violence, intimidation, and mass firings when they tried to organize, and after months of struggle, workers won an independent union. In 2002, as news of child labor abuses and attacks on workers in Ecuadors banana plantations spread around the world, workers, consumers, and students contacted Los Alamos plantation owner Alvaro Noboa to demand that he recognize the workers union and cease using illegal child labor. Presidents of the AFL-CIO, the International Union of Food and Allied Workers (IUF), the Teamsters, and many other labor leaders also issued letters in support of Los Alamos workers struggle.

Campaigning for institutions to adopt and enforce codes of conduct

When the 2000 Olympics were held in Sydney, Australia, Australian labor federations created and signed an agreement with the Olympic organizing committee requiring all sponsors and licensees to adhere to minimum labor standards, including international conventions on child labor Pressure from human rights groups, consumers, and international trade unions led the group overseeing the World Cup (FIFAFederation International de Football Association) to adopt a

Code in 1998 stating it would cease using soccer balls made with child labor. This year, when reports indicated that children were still working in the soccer ball industry and that adult workers were not being paid a living wage, activists launched a new publicity and letter-writing campaign, mobilizing soccer fans, consumers, and politicians to demand FIFA improve factory monitoring and live up to the promises in its Code. Implementing and supporting fair trade or labeling initiatives

Through programs developed by non-profit organizations, export goods like coffee or cocoa can now be certified as Fair Trade products if producers adhere to basic labor standards including ILO conventions on child laborand pay farmers fair prices so families can meet basic living needs without having children work for wages. Groups like TransFair USA and others help to publicize Fair Trade initiatives and educate consumers about Fair Trade products. When the use of child labor in the rug-making industries of Pakistan and India gained international publicity in the 1990s, consumer groupsbuilding on the history of effective union label initiativesworked with manufacturers to begin phasing out the use of child labor and licensing companies to use no child labor labels if production facilities were regularly inspected by independent monitors. The resulting RUGMARK label program, now known as "GOODWEAVE", uses licensing fees to fund monitoring programs and education and rehabilitation for children removed from carpet jobs. Consumer groups and unions play a role in educating the public about the label program and ensuring it maintains strict standards for licensed companies.

Using collective bargaining strategies

The International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers Unions (ICEM) signed in 2000 and recently renewed a global agreement with the multinational Freudenberg corporation, which owns chemical and rubber manufacturing plants all over the world. Freudenberg is headquartered in Germany/Japan, but the agreement covers all Freudenberg workers in the U.S. and 40 other countries. Among other recognitions of workers rights, the agreement commits Freudenberg to a ban on child labour according to the definitions included in ILO Convention 138.

Promoting global labor standards in trade agreements The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions continues to propose adding a social clause covering seven core labor standards, including prohibitions on child labor, to WTO rules governing international trade; this proposal has so far been rejected by WTO leaders.

Garment Workers at a Union Solidarity Center Meeting Cambodia Trade agreements between the U.S. and Cambodia have successfully included incentives for garment manufacturers to improve factory working conditions. Agreements require factory owners to respect core labor standards, including eliminating child labor and respecting workers rights to organize unions and collectively bargain Filing suit against corporations for labor rights abuses abroad

The International Labor Rights Fund and other groups have begun pursuing legal action against companies for alleged labor abuses in other countries. In 1996, for example, ILRF filed a suit against Unocal for using slave labor to build pipelines in Burma; and with the support of U.S. labor unions, ILRF recently filed a suit against Coca-Cola for using paramilitary forces to suppress organizing and assassinate union leaders in Colombia (these suits are still pending). If effective, this strategy could be used in the future to hold transnational corporations accountable for child labor abus

SOME PICTURES OF CHILD LABOR:-

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Websites: www.google.com www.wikipedia.com www.savethechildren.in
www.ilo.org www.childlineindia.org.in

Articles:
"CHILD LABOUR IN INDIA" By pankaj singh ILO: Eliminate child labour - Inside Story - Al Jazeera

I also took some information about child labor from different books.

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