Economics

Jak vymýtit obchod s dětskou prací

Nov 16, 2017 Kailash Satyarthi

NOVÉ DILLÍ – Když se v říjnu 1997 sešli v Oslu globální lídři, aby určili strategii eliminace dětské práce, přivezli jsme si obrovské ambice a hluboký závazek ke změně. Zlepšováním spolupráce a plánování jsme usilovali o ochranu dětí před vykořisťováním a rozvoj „nové strategie k odstranění dětské práce na národní, regionální a mezinárodní úrovni“.

Dnes, 20 let poté, je načase se ptát: jak se nám to daří?

Žalostně. Od onoho prvního setkání svět nesnížil počet dětí zapojených do pracovních sil ani na polovinu. Během posledních pěti let se mezinárodnímu společenství podařilo snížit počet zaměstnaných dětí jen o 16 milionů, což je nejpomalejší tempo snižování za desítky let. Ze 152 milionů dětí, které dnes pracují, zhruba 73 miliony vykonávají pracovní činnosti považované za rizikové. Přitom i „bezpečná“ dětská práce postihuje fyzickou a fyziologickou pohodu obětí dlouho do dospělosti.

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0 Comments on this paragraph, 8 Comments on this article

K. Bauer Nov 17, 2017

It doesn't help to assert that the problems are local. Of course they are. But as the author Satyarthi pointed out with the GoodWeave example, we as 'outsiders' can at least influence the production of goods for export. There are a myriad of labels like that (including for environmental issues) on the shelf in your local supermarket. How many do you know? Instead of an option it should be the norm. In europe there is a unified food labeling legislation. Why not include "testified child labour-free: YES/NO" as a labelling requirement on all products? Of course the test has to be done locally but the consumer basically pays for that as a service with a higher product price. Even if the checks in the factories don't work perfectly (nothing does) - you create a lever you can work at. And while environmental issues might be controversial for some - child labour is not.
- Steve Hurst Nov 17, 2017
  
  KB, Yes Okay. But (western) consumer repulsion to child labour has been present whenever it is identified, and child labour - as the figures identify in the article - is still going on so consumer repulsion has not eliminated it. As for what is on the label, it quite often means nothing. Eg Horsemeat (sourced in Europe) turning up as beef in the UK and only being identified by DNA - this is in a highly regulated European supply chain. Or N Korea garment exports to China being relabeled as Chinese production. Or repeated cases of supposed checked Asian factories being caught out. It is not rocket science that somebody has to go in unannounced and check if Child labour is being used - or if subcontractors have forward subcontracted again to dodge audit. Its a basic consumer expectation, just like you do not expect horsemeat if it says beef on the label and it is the manufacturers responsibility not the consumer's. Child labour was widespread in the UK at one stage and ended due to local action not because an export market thought it was a bad idea. By all means have these labelling schemes, I support them, but at the end of the day it is a local problem. There is also a correlation between the corruption index and child labour which renders labelling questionable. This problem is everywhere - it is as basic as - do I continue to eat Cashew Nuts knowing acid in the husk can burn the hands of workers shucking them or do I stop eating them knowing it probably makes the same workers unemployed. And if I ask what steps are taken in terms of process Health and Safety I will be met with a blank look or a written blandishment, guaranteed. I'm glad to see Kailash Satyarthi is having an effect. And as far as Cashew Nuts go, for the moment I keep eating them in moderation, and hope things improve at the supply end, and that is what most people do
  - K. Bauer Nov 20, 2017
    
    I agree that you can't get the problem away 100%. As I said you can only influnce the export industry. You cannot influence the internal market of a foreign country (unless you are in the EU with them).
    By the way my wife was working in the UK food industry when the horsemeat scandal happened. They had to rush and make sure their products weren't affected - they were obviously pissed by those who didn't play by the book. At least here something like this is not business as usual. There are always black sheeps in any industry and motivation to dodge regulation for profit. There is no golden way around this but constant control and severe consequences when caught. These labels pay for extra control - no more, no less.
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j. von Hettlingen Nov 17, 2017

June 12 is World Day Against Child Labour, an international day aimed at eliminating child labour, organised by the International Labour Organisation (ILO). But as Kailash Satyarthi points out, the plight of hundreds of millions of girls and boys around the world, who toil as child labourers, has not improved since 1997, when global leaders gathered in Oslo to "strategize" how to end child labour, and whose "deep commitment to change" led to this World Day Against Child Labour in 2002.
Child labour is especially rampant in many developing countries - but even in developped countries in the West, many children are forced to work. According to UNICEF, children in the US “are employed in agriculture, a high proportion of them from immigrant or ethnic-minority families.” Although 193 countries have committed to ending child labour by 2025 under the UN’s sustainable development goals, the author finds the global trend "disturbing" with child labour and trafficking on the rise.
Campaigns have been launched to declare, that educating children, rather than forcing them to work, could yield enormous economic benefits for developing nations. More and more conscience-stricken consumers clamour for an end to the practice, as there have been so many incidents of westerns companies exploiting child workers in developing countries to save production costs. Apart from slaving in farms and factories, many work in hazardous conditions in the oil and mining industries.
The author has long campaigned against child labour and rescued tens of thousands of children from hazardous work and servitude. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014 for his work to combat child labour and child trafficking in India, and he shared the award with Pakistani child education activist Malala Yousafzai for her work on female education.
However what has not been discussed is that much of the problems with child labour in the developing world can be attributed to population growth, Most women in these countires have no access to education and birth control due to religious reasons and political incompetence. Many countries are ruled by cronyist regimes, that are weak and reluctant to tackle high fertility rates. Unable to provide for their citizens, poor parents see their children as a source of income, who work, instead of going to school.
Although the UN regularly provides a comprehensive review of worldwide demographic trends, prospects for the future and guiding policies aimed at achieving the new Sustainable Development Goals, it is reluctant to raise the alarm of unsustainable population growth, which is the main reason for poverty, famine, water and energy shortages etc in many regions with harsh living conditions.
The problem is that birth control can be seen as a tabu issue in religious countries and each country's fertility rates is seen as a national, domestic affair, which does not welcome outside intervention. But when these governments fail to feed their people and urge the outside world for help, it is where aid donors face the dilemma - how to reach those, who suffer most and are in the greatest need?
Past experiences showed that aid had been wasted, because of unscrupulous leaders who exploit their citizens' plight for personal gains, rather than alleviating their grievances. Giving money directly to citizens, or via NGOs, does not help dodge the political elite's extractive power, even though they are weak and incompetent in governance. Child labour unfortunately will not be eradicated, if politicians and leaders focus merely on their own interests, or capitalise on their people's suffering to make material gains.
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Steve Hurst Nov 17, 2017

High infant mortality appears coincident with child labour so these are areas of major health stress, economic problems and additionally often have exploding populations.

'Advocates fighting to eradicate child labor had once hoped that globalization would help' is just shorthand for a belief industrialisation is the answer but industrialisation will bring with it a major reduction (tenfold) in employment in agriculture so there is no easy answer.

I cannot see how having an exploding population helps in this situation because if the population doubles then the problem can be expected to double with it.

Nor is expecting export destination consumers to regulate remotely and blind realistic. Regulation has to be local and then we enter the moot point of corruption because these areas also tend to correlate with corruption indices.

Progress has to be difficult against those sort of headwinds. This may be a global problem but the solution has to be a local event and that is the issue. Every time a consumer expresses concern they are told things will be dealt with and improved upon and are urged to continue purchase or families will suffer immediate and dire consequences
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Bernhard Kopp Nov 16, 2017

It appears erroneous that child labor, or any pre-industrial practice, could be could be abolished in India, or elsewhere, by international efforts. The industrialized world, and the international organisations, can help, but 90%-plus of the efforts have to come from within the countries where child labor is a serious issue.
- P. Kamath Nov 16, 2017
  
  It is doubtful that Child labour could be eliminated, but can be reduced by international pressure and active role by the Govts. Of tHe countries. Just marine why a very poor family does not want her minor child to earn few rupees for survival of the family! So also true, why shouldn't a better -@off family hire a child ? Most such child employers simply do not have either the mindset or-compassion! I know this happens all the time in S. Asia.
  - P. Kamath Nov 16, 2017
    
    Typo," marine" = imagine!
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