Tag Archive for: Rwanda

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Rwanda: Northern Province Records High Levels of Child Labor

By Bosco R. Asiimwe, 24 July 2012 [from AllAfrica.com]

As the government moves to eliminate the use of underage children in exploitive and hazardous activities in the country, a new survey on child labour indicates that 40.6 per cent of people, who are actively engaged in agriculture in the Northern Province, are children.
The ‘Child Labour in Agriculture’ household survey conducted by ICF international in January this year in the Northern Province, estimated 183,000 out of 214,000 people (ages 7 and older) involved in agricultural activities, were active in the previous seven days.
Though more than 74, 000 adults in the province indicated that fewer children were engaged in child labour related activities, over the 90, 000 children asked, reported engaging in these illegal activities.

About 51.2 per cent of child labourers are male. A big number of the victims [52.9 per cent] are aged between seven and 12 years while 28.2 per cent are between 13 and 15 years of age.

Most children were engaged in household chores such as cooking, washing clothes and fetching water. Girls reported doing most chores [84.9 per cent] compared to 74.9 of boys.

Overall, 13.5 per cent of children working in agriculture and attending school reported that their work interferes with their studies, at times forcing them to drop out of school.

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Rwanda: 27 Rescued from Child Labor

allafrica.com

Government Supporting Daily

Dan Ngabonziza


Nyagatare — 27 children have been rescued from various forms of child labour in Mimuri Sector, Nyagatare District.

A combined effort by Mimuri sector authorities, Rwanda Education Alternative for Children (REACH), SNV-Rwanda and FAWE-Rwanda, is spear heading initiatives to get help the child labour victims start up income generating activities through a newly formed cooperative.

Most of the children dropped out of school and took up jobs not fit for their age. Read more

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A dozen nations added to U.S. Government child, forced labor list (AP)


WASHINGTON — The Labor Department is adding a dozen countries to the list of nations that use child labor or forced labor, as officials warn the global economic crisis could cause an upswing in the exploitation of children and other workers.

From coffee grown in El Salvador to sapphires mined in Madagascar, the agency’s latest reports, to be released Wednesday, identify 128 goods from 70 countries where child labor, forced labor or both are used in violation of international standards.

“Shining light on these problems is a first step toward motivating governments, the private sector and concerned citizens to take action to end these intolerable abuses that have no place in our modern world,” said Labor Secretary Hilda Solis.

New to the list are Angola, Central African Republic, Chad, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Lesotho, Madagascar, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

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