Transcript
19:30 GMT
June 16, 2008
World Day Against Child Labor
This week the United Nations commemorated World Day
Against Child Labor on June 12. Children and adults worldwide demonstrated against hazardous work environments, low wages, and limited educational opportunities for minors.
The UN International Labor Organization estimates that approximately 165 million children between the ages of 5 and 14 are involved in child labor globally, often in hazardous and exploitative conditions.
[SB: “My work is very difficult. I am a cobbler. I especially don’t like the hammering part. My fingers get crushed under the hammer. They bully us. They pay us less, less than other workers. Our working hours are more. A normal worker works 8 hours a day but we must work for 12.”]
The Convention on the Rights of a child was adopted specifically to combat human rights violations against children. Article 32 specifically provides for “a minimum age for admission to employment… appropriate regulation of the hours and conditions of employment,” and “provide[s] for appropriate penalties or other sanctions to ensure effective enforcement.” Almost every member country has signed the convention – including the Islamic Republic of Iran.
“The government of Iran is a signatory to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and human rights and it vowed to enforce them. But we have not seen these vows in the laws, and there are many laws that violate human rights.”
[SB: “There are many children who work, many. I say that the government must defend their rights, they have to help us. We have suffered many hardships. Our boss has hit us, not given us our money, paid us a fraction of our pay – this is not at all right. Because I am small he forces me, if I was a grow-up he would not say such things to me.”]
Activists in Iran believe that there is still much to do.
[SB: Unfortunately, we are not accustomed to creating institutions or organizations for attaining goals. This shortcoming has affected child labor more adversely. Rarely do adults concern themselves with the rights and interests of children. There is an adage that rights are to be claimed. But in the case of children, their rights should be given to them without asking.]
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