On June 12, as every year, the World Day against Child Labor is celebrated to raise public awareness of a phenomenon that remains too often submerged, the so-called "modern slavery", children forced to work rather than go to school or play.
Don't store avocado like this: it's dangerousIt is celebrated on next 12 June, like every year, the World Accounting Day for Child Labor. Promoted by the UN, the goal of the day always remains the same: to raise public awareness of a phenomenon that remains submerged too often, the so-called "modern slavery", children forced to work rather than go to school or play.
There are more than 100 million children "working" in the world today. Of these, most have jobs in dangerous industries, where not only is the physical risk, for obvious reasons, immediate, but they are also more exposed to conditions of severe exploitation.
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The Fao and Ilo project
Not only dangerous industries: minors are also exploited in other areas such asagriculture. This is why the FAO and the International Labor Organization (ILO) have turned to agricultural entrepreneurs to raise awareness of the importance of child labor problems, launching a e-learning course addressed to those responsible for agricultural policies, developers of agricultural programs and researchers to take measures to combat child labor in their projects for the development of the sector.
“To reach the goal of zero hunger we must also reach that of zero child labor - says FAO director general José Graziano da Silva in the video below. Child labor is certainly a complex issue and cannot be tackled alone. We need strong partners where everyone brings experience and resources to the table ”.
Terres des Hommes and Syrian children
Among the Syrian refugee children there has been a dramatic increase in exploitation at work. This is the denunciation of Terre des Hommes, the organization present in Syria and neighboring countries, which has verified on the ground the increase in cases of children forced to work, as reported in the report "We Struggle to Survive"(We sacrifice to live) presented on the occasion of the World Day against Child Labor 2016.
READ also: THE SCANDAL OF SYRIAN CHILDREN EXPLOITED IN CLOTHING FACTORIES: THE COMPANIES INVOLVED
- The new Terre des Hommes study on the exploitation of Syrian children involved all the organizations of the Terre des Hommes Federation active in the Middle East and local associations that provide assistance to refugee children and their families in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Turkey, Greece. 97 children and young workers, aged 8 to 18 (86 Syrians and 11 Iraqis), directly participated in the survey, who gave their testimony in 10 "focus groups" held between March and April 2016. Over 50% confessed of working more than 7 hours a day, 33% work 7 days a week. And, even more dramatic, some of them were only 7-5 years old when they started working.
“The desperate living conditions of Syrians after five years of conflict are pushing more and more minors to accept any job, even the heaviest or most dangerous ones,” said Raffaele Salinari, President of Terre des Hommes.
In the fields, construction sites, restaurants and shops, factories and farms, but also begging on the street or forced to sell flowers or any other type of merchandise. Do not turn away ... and the entrepreneurial sphere in the first place should not ignore it ... Hands off the children!
Germana Carillo
