In addition to work interfering with
schooling and harming personal development in other ways, many of these
children work in hazardous occupations or activities that threaten their
health and sometimes their lives. They do work that they should not do
according to international conventions and/or national legislation, and this
situation endangers not only the children themselves but also efforts at
poverty alleviation and sustainable development in a larger sense for their
families and communities.
However, tackling child labour is no easy task. The occurrence of child
labour is entwined in poverty and social injustices and cannot be addressed
in isolation. Moreover, some types of work are not harmful but can even
be beneficial for children. While it may be relatively easy to identify and
agree to eliminate the worst forms of child labour, the distinction
between acceptable work and harmful labour is not always clear and
assessments can be muddled by local and traditional practices and beliefs.
There is a need to exercise due care in analysing existing situations, in
applying existing conventions, legislation and guidelines, and in raising the
awareness and understanding of child labour issues in order to ensure that
they are directly addressed as well as integrated into broader policies and
programmes. Improvements have proved possible and the overall number
of child labourers in the world has declined since 2000.
Information on child labour in fisheries and aquaculture is limited,
and data on agriculture child labour are not generally disaggregated by
subsector. Nevertheless, case studies and specific surveys indicate that the
numbers are important. Child labour is particularly common in the smallscale
informal sector, and children work in a large variety of activities, as
part of family enterprises, as unpaid family workers or employed by others.
They are found, for example, working on board fishing vessels, preparing
nets and baits, feeding and harvesting fish in aquaculture ponds, and
sorting, processing and selling fish.
A number of factors influence whether a task should be considered
acceptable work, child labour or worst form of child labour. With the
support of initiatives such as the global International Partnership for
Cooperation on Child Labour in Agriculture, launched by key international
agricultural organizations in 2007,2 the knowledge base and guidance on
how to classify and tackle child labour in agriculture have improved in the
last decade. However, there is still an urgent need to learn more about
child labour also in fisheries and aquaculture and to address the specific
situations.
In April 2010, FAO, in cooperation with the International Labour
Organization (ILO), organized a workshop to generate inputs and
guidance to the contents and process of developing guidance materials
on policy and practice in tackling child labour in fisheries and aquaculture.
In order to promote awareness on and effective implementation of the relevant UN and ILO conventions on child labour and the rights of the child,
the workshop participants:
- reviewed the nature, incidence and causes of child labour in fisheries, fish processing and aquaculture;
- examined the different forms and types of child labour in large-scale, small-scale and artisanal fishing operations, shellfish gathering, aquaculture, seafood processing, and work onboard fishing vessels and fishing platforms;
- examined the health and safety hazards of fishing and aquaculture, including the use of hazardous technologies and relevant alternatives;
- shared examples of good practice in the progressive elimination of child labour drawn from various sectors and regions.
The workshop participants agreed on a series of recommendations
relating to legal and enforcement measures, policy interventions and
practical actions, including risk assessments, to address child labour issues
in fisheries and aquaculture. FAO and ILO were called upon for priority
actions to assist governments in withdrawing trafficked children and to
effectively prohibit slavery and forced labour. The workshop participants
also prioritized awareness raising among all stakeholders and the
preparation of guidance materials. In addition, they stressed the need
to consider gender issues in all actions and to address adequately issues
relating to discrimination and exclusion of fishing communities, castes,
tribal and indigenous peoples, and ethnic minorities in fisheries and
aquaculture.
FAO and ILO are collaborating in helping to assess and address child
labour issues in countries such as Cambodia and Malawi. They have also
produced a preliminary version of a good practice guide for addressing
child labour in fisheries and aquaculture.
August 2012
