Entries by Reid Maki

Southern Sudan to purge child soldiers from army

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By Maggie Fick Associated Press Writer / August 30, 2010 JUBA, Sudan—The government of Southern Sudan said Monday it will purge child soldiers from the ranks of its former rebel army by year’s end, a policy change that could see thousands of young troops pushed out of the military. The Sudan People’s Liberation Army launched a new “Child Protection Department” intended to help the army fulfill an agreement it signed with the United Nations in November. The agreement commits the army to release all children in its ranks by the end of the year and to end the use of child soldiers across Southern Sudan. The U.N. Children’s Fund estimates that about 900 children serve as soldiers in the south. The southern military did not say how many child soldiers it believes it has, but the chief of staff indicated it was several thousand. Oil-rich Southern Sudan is widely expected to vote for independence from northern Sudan in a scheduled January referendum, an outcome likely to lead to the breakup of Africa’s largest country. The 2005 peace accord that ended decades of war between Sudan’s north and south committed the armies to an extensive demobilization process. But because both armies are preparing for worst-case scenarios as the southern vote nears, analysts say neither side has an interest in reducing the […]

Uncovered

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The proportion of children who live in countries that have not yet ratified ILO Convention 182 (on the worst forms of child labor) or Convention 138 (on the minimum age): 1 in 3

Sub-Saharan Africa

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While many areas of the world are experiencing some progress in reducing child labor, Sub-Saharan Africa is seeing an increase in child labor activity.

Nigeria: Millions Lack Schooling

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`Nigeria has the highest number of children out of school’ By Ayo Okulaja [article from Next.com] [Originally published September 22, 2010 01:43PM In ranking Nigeria amongst the worst place for a child to be in 2010, a report by the Global Campaign for Education (GCE) has stated that Nigeria has more children out of education than any other country in the world. The report claims that an astounding 8.2 million children are not provided with adequate education in Africa’s most populous country. Comparing the nation’s wealth with the apparent low standard of education, the report claims that “the report is made all the more appalling by the fact that Nigeria is far from poor, by African standards. On paper at least it is among the continent’s richest countries, the world’s sixth largest producer of crude oil. But decades of failure to invest in education have left the basic school system hardly functioning, especially in the country’s impoverished north.” For Primary education, the report claims many students drop out of the school in their first year of education due to `unequal provision of education’ and this it argued, is caused by the lack of political will to address and arrest the issue. “A lack of political will is a major factor in the country having the highest number of children out […]

Tell Congressional Leaders It’s Time to Protect Farmworker Children–Pass the CARE Act Now

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Help us protect migrant children by contacting your member of Congress today and urging them to pass the Children’s Act for Responsible Employment:   Summary of the Children’s Act for Responsible Employment (CARE Act) H.R. 2234 Representative Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA) introduced the Children’s Act for Responsible Employment (CARE Act) on June 16, 2011. The CARE Act addresses the inequities faced by the estimated 300,000 to 400,000 children currently employed in agriculture in the U.S. The CARE Act: Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) by bringing the age and work hours standards for children working in agriculture up to the standards set under FLSA for all other forms of child labor. There is currently a loophole that permits children working in agriculture to work longer hours, at a younger age, and in more hazardous conditions than children working in other jobs. The FLSA currently allows children as young as 12 years of age to work in agriculture, while children in non-agricultural work must be at least 14 years of age (often, they must be 16 or older), and are limited to 3 hours of work a day outside of school hours while school is in session. Farmworker youth can work an unlimited number of hours, as long as those hours are outside of school time. The CARE Act […]