Botswana brainstorms to end child labour

Mpho Mokwape | Tuesday June 16, 2015 11:52

Acting Labour and Home Affairs permanent secretary, Claude Mojafi last week said Botswana was duty bound to end child labour. He was speaking during the commemoration of Child Labour Day. While lower than in other parts of the continent, child labour in Botswana is primarily a concern in the agricultural sector, in both subsistence and commercial farming activities.

“The day against child labour builds onto a multifaceted and comprehensive strategy for the elimination of child labour and signifies global action against child labour,” he said.

He explained that Child Labour Day serves as a crucial awareness campaign as well as public education initiative about what constitutes child labour, its existence in the country, its nature and how it can be collectively eradicated.

Mojafi said the focus of this year’s Child Labour Day theme, “No Child Labour –

Yes to Quality Education” was on the importance of quality education as a tool in eliminating child labour.

“It is important to focus on education as a tool to tackling child labour. It is heart warming that this year the international community will also be reviewing reasons for failure to reach development targets on education and will be setting new goals and strategies which will see us move forward in terms of focusing on education as a tool,” he said.

Every year on June 12, World Day Against Child Labour is observed to raise awareness of the plight of child labourers worldwide. Child labour is reportedly rampant in many developing countries where thousands of girls and boys around the world are affected.