Tag Archive for: Street Vending

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UNICEF: In Niger, children are forced to drop out of school to support their families

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By Laura Huyghe [UNICEF]

NIAMEY, Niger, 20 April 2012 – Only a few months ago, 12-year-old Oumar Soumana was happily living with his family in Damana, in south-western Niger. But when the village’s food stocks were depleted – a result of the massive food crisis occurring throughout the Sahel region of Africa – he was forced to leave home and travel to the capital in search of work.

On a recent, sweltering day, Oumar walked down the dusty streets of Niamey carrying a cooler on his shoulder. Inside were ‘appolo’, small plastic bags filled with iced fruit juices, which he sells for a few CFA francs each.

“It is a painful job for me,” he said. “I spend the whole day walking. I do not really rest because I have to sell and bring the money back, otherwise my salary will be reduced, so I prefer to do the maximum.”

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Rampant Child Labor in Cambodia

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by Bridget Di Certo and Chhay Channyda [from The Phnom Penh Post, Wednesday, 02 November 2011 12:04]
Labour legislation in Cambodia is so weak and so often ignored that half the Kingdom’s children between the ages of seven and 14 participate in the workforce, the world’s largest federation of unions has told the World Trade Organisation General Council in Geneva.

Children, women and ethnic and indigenous minorities suffer the most under the Kingdom’s “corrupt” enforcement of labour law, according to the International Trade Union Confederation, which has 150 million members.

Yesterday it presented its report detailing how Cambodia falls short of international labour standards, along with a list of recommendations to the WTO, which is conducting a trade policy review of Cambodia concluding tomorrow.
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Friendship week urges vendors to give up child labour

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Reprinted from The Times of India

Kalyani Sardesai, TNN, Nov 11, 2010, 04.48am IST
PUNE: Volunteers from the city’s Bal Sena, the childrens’ army backed by Dnyanadevi-Childline, and gammat shalas, the informal schools, are all set to celebrate Childline Maitri ( friendship week) with a sensitisation programme aimed at reaching out to food vendors and urge them not to employ child labour and to call Childline in case they spot a child in trouble.

Childline is a 24 x 7 toll free helpline for children in distress. An initiative of the Ministry for Woman and Child Development, Childline (1098) has a pan-India presence, and is partnered by local NGOs in various cities. All India Childline Maitri week is being celebrated in different cities between November 8 and 14 to coincide with the impending Childrens’ Day.

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