World Day against Child Labor held in Ye Township

June 16, 2016

On June 15, 2016, World Day against Child Labor was held in Kan Nee and Andin villages, in southern Mon State. The event started at 9am in Kan Nee village and 02:30pm in Andin village. A total of 75 students, village chairmen, village youth groups and parents of students participated in the event.

The event was organized by Jeepyah Civil Society Development Organization (JCSDO), who cooperated with the ILO and other local organizations. Mi Ah Mon Bloi from the women’s empowerment program, also an organizing member, voiced to HURFOM “The purpose of organizing this event is to raise awareness, especially to parents, about child rights and how it affects child education.”

She continued, “The reason these villages were chosen to hold this event was, according to the ILO, is that these villages have the largest amount of child labor, where children are working in plantation gardens and farms, depending on the season. In Andin village, many children are also working in the fishing industry.”

The ILO revealed that many children between the ages of 14 to 17 have dropped out of school to work, in order to help their parents who cannot afford basic necessities. There are 6 villages in this area that the ILO focused on. The ILO mainly supports these villages with child labor, education and supporting the parent. WEP is also involved in this program, mainly focusing on monitoring and evaluating the project.

For child labor policy, there is a law regarding child labor rights but the law only discusses children who are being sold and children working in factories, however, in Mon State this is not the case. There are no children working in factories, but instead they work on farms or plantation gardens. This law does not cover these children that are working on farms or plantation gardens.

The same event was also held last year in other villages. It is important to consistently and repeatedly organize this event in order to raise awareness about this issue. World Day against Child Labor was first launched in 2002 by the ILO and is held, worldwide, on June 12 every year, with the aim to raise awareness on child labor.

Written by HURFOM · Filed Under News