THE ROLE OF CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATION IN THE FIGHT AGAINST CHILD LABOUR

Let’s think about the country that we live in , what does it take to make the country operate smoothly?
The government takes care of the law and order, businesses offer goods and services in exchange for money and both help to keep a society moving.
Aside the above, there are other groups like churches or the PTA,  and they play a very big part in how our country operates, they can be categorized as the “civil society”.

A civil society is comprised of groups or organizations working in the interest of the citizens but operating out of the governmental and for-profit sectors. Organizations and institutions that make up civil society include labour unions, non-profit organizations, churches, and other service agencies that provide an important service to society but generally ask for very little in return.

Civil society is sometimes referred to as the civil sector, a term that is used to differentiate it from other sectors that comprise a functioning society. For example, the United States is made up of three sectors: the public sector (the government and its branches), the private sector (businesses and corporations) and the civil sector (organizations that act in the public's interest but are not motivated by profit or government).

A civil society can be defined as a group of people backed by the law of the land who Come together for collective action around shared interests, purposes and values, generally for non-profit making. Civil society includes charities, development NGOs, community groups, women's organizations, faith-based organizations, professional associations, trade unions, social movements, coalitions and advocacy groups. However civil society is not homogeneous and the boundaries between civil society and government or civil society and commercial actors can be blurred.
There is certainly no one 'civil society' view, and civil society actors need to contend with similar issues of representativeness and legitimacy as those of other representatives and advocates.

Despite its complexity and heterogeneity, the inclusion of civil society voices is essential to give expression to the marginalised and those who often are not heard.
The fact about child labour worldwide, 218 million children between 5 and 17 years are in employment.
Among them, 152 million are victims of child labour (almost half of them), 73 million work in hazardous child labour. In absolute terms, almost half of child labour (72.1 million) is to be found in Africa. In terms of prevalence, 1 in 5 children in Africa (19.6%) are in child labour, whilst prevalence in other regions is between 3% and 7%, 2.9% in the Arab States (1 in 35 children); 4.1% in Europe and Central Asia (1 in 25); 5.3% in the Americas (1 in 19) and 7.4% in Asia and the Pacific region (1 in 14).

Almost half of all 152 million children victims of child labour are aged 5-11 years.
42 million (28%) are 12-14 years old; and 37 million (24%) are 15-17 years old.

Hazardous child labour is most prevalent among the 15-17 years old. Nevertheless, up to a fourth of all hazardous child labour (19 million) is done by children less than 12 years old.

Among 152 million children in child labour, 88 million are boys and 64 million are girls.

58% of all children in child labour and 62% of all children in hazardous work are boys. Boys appear to face a greater risk of child labour than girls, but this may also be a reflection of an under-reporting of girls’ work, particularly in domestic child labour.

Child labour is concentrated primarily in agriculture (71%), which includes fishing, forestry, livestock herding and aquaculture, and comprises both subsistence and commercial farming; 17% in Services and 12% in the Industrial sector, including mining.

Today, throughout the world, around 218 million children work, many full-time. They do not go to school and have little or no time to play. Many do not receive proper nutrition or care. They are denied the chance to be children. More than half of them are exposed to the worst forms of child labour such as work in hazardous environments, slavery, or other forms of forced labour, illicit activities including drug trafficking and prostitution, as well as involvement in armed conflict therefore;

Child labour is work carried out to the detriment and endangerment of a child, in violation of international law and national legislation. It either deprives children of schooling or requires them to assume the dual burden of schooling and work. Child labour to be eliminated is a subset of children in employment. It includes:

All “unconditional” worst forms of child labour, such as slavery or practices similar to slavery, the use of a child for prostitution or for illicit activities;

Work done by children under the minimum legal age for that type of work, as defined by national legislation in accordance with international standard.

One of the major aims set for the International Labour Organization (ILO) at its founding in 1919 was the abolition of child labour. Historically, the ILO’s principal tool in pursuing the goal of effective abolition of child labour has been the adoption and supervision of labour standards that embody the concept of a minimum age for admission to employment or work. Furthermore, from 1919 onwards, the principle that minimum age standards should be linked to schooling has been part of the ILO’s tradition in standard setting in this area. Convention No. 138 provides that the minimum age for admission to employment shall not be less than the age of completion of compulsory schooling.

The ILO’s adoption of Convention No. 182 in 1999 consolidated the global consensus on child labour elimination.

Child labour that is proscribed under international law falls into three categories:

1.The unconditional worst forms of child labour, which are internationally defined as slavery, trafficking, debt bondage and other forms of forced labour, forced recruitment of children for use in armed conflict, prostitution and pornography, and illicit activities.

2. Labour performed by a child who is under the minimum age specified for that kind of work (as defined by national legislation, in accordance with accepted international standards), and that is thus likely to impede the child’s education and full development.

 3. Labour that jeopardizes the physical, mental or moral well-being of a child due to its nature.

What role can civil society play in the fight against child labour?

1. Encouraging commercial enterprises to not use child labour.
Civil Society should constantly sensitise trade organisations to end this social evil, and locals should make vigilant to report instances of child labour at businesses.
Thousands of children are still toiling for 14-16 hours a day, in labour intensive professions such as farming, stone cutting sector, mining industry, and farms embroidery works.

2. Encouraging policy reform:
Civil Society should be a pioneer in child labour eradication and fostering child rights.
The Civil Society should fight against child labour through lobbying for reform and legislation.
They should establish a long-lasting dialogue with vulnerable communities as well as state and national level governance to address child labour, abuse, corporal punishment, trafficking, and child rights violation.

3. The Civil Society should also develop long lasting relationships with rural and urban families so they can support their vision through community volunteers.

4. Creating awareness:
Awareness on Child Labour should be carried out in every society.
Civil Society should  run elaborate campaign with an aim to make child rights important in the society collective psyche.
The message of hope and love should be preached. The organisation (Civil Society) should interact directly with the vulnerable communities, driving home the importance of children staying away from any form of labour.

5. Establishment of grassroots missions and Foundations in the communities for the Civil Society   to reach out to the grassroots children affected by child labour. Along with a lasting dialogue with vulnerable communities, the Civil Society should make outreach to state and national level governance to address child labour.

6. Preventing exploitation during disaster; the Civil Society should provide relief funds for the affected families, the relief funds should be channelled to reach thousands of households with poor hygiene, and raised funds for shelter, food and  education. The Civil Society should also undertake surveys of Child labour across different demographics, creating grounds for local policy change, as well as setting up contact and activity centres across the city to give children access to play areas and vocational training.
The Civil Society also should  regularly create safe spaces and provision education supplies to enable children to continue with their schooling after disasters, and safe from traffickers who prey on their vulnerability.

Conclusively, It’s the responsibility of the parents/guardians to take care of their children/wards. Disruption in schooling and lack of parental care creates an environment where child trafficking and subsequent enrollment into labour grows rampant, which means Civil Society intervention cannot be undermine, poor children deprived of education often find themselves trapped in substance abuse or victims of abuse and exploitation.
Save the Children ranks among an illustrious list of civil society which have shown demonstrable capacity to make a difference. While civil society has vowed to unite and end child labour, there is an even stronger need to make this a people's issue.
While officials and government can only institute policies, ignoring everyday child abuse and malnourishment must also be addressed.

Written by: EDIOMO ISUNG.