A shocking number of underage workers are active in sub-Saharan Africa. We look at the nuanced, but no less shocking, aspect of working children in West African economies.
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00:00Nations and international organizations once made a bold promise to end child labor by 2025.
00:08And there are some positive indications across most countries.
00:12But while there are some downward trends, one region stands out.
00:17Africa has the highest prevalence of child labor globally.
00:22And a disproportionate number of them are girls.
00:26This is not just a statistic. It is a warning.
00:31This is the flip side.
00:33There are about 160 million child laborers on Earth.
00:37And a shocking 72 million of them are in sub-Saharan Africa alone.
00:42There are many reasons for this.
00:44But it's certainly not because the majority thinks child labor is inherently good.
00:48It is decaying the community system.
00:51The good moral system of the community that our parents have portrayed for us before now.
00:58Child labor can lead to trauma.
01:00So then, why are 72 million underage people, the combined population of Southern Africa, working?
01:08Of which a significant number performs hazardous work.
01:11In Ghana's artisanal minds, for example, child laborers can easily be exploited and work in conditions that contravene laws meant for adults.
01:21Child labor is a huge problem, except that we haven't, as people, made conscious efforts to deal with it.
01:30I don't think any parent, for example, would want the child as young as eight years to be at a querying site, to be hit and hurt through the process, right?
01:41But because tradition allows it, that the children should help in the maintenance of the families.
01:47They take their children to querying sites.
01:49They take their children to artisanal, small-scale mining sites.
01:53This, in turn, feeds a vicious cycle.
01:55Usually, these people, we would call employers, do not think they are exploiting these young children in the first place.
02:04Because most of these young people usually do the work with their parents.
02:09Usually, young people do not get some physical cash as payment.
02:14They get some of the ore or the rocks to grind and whatever they make out of it becomes theirs.
02:21But also, because they are usually able to get something they would classify as enough, they don't find it as exploitative at all.
02:30And that is why the relationship keeps going.
02:33In Nigeria, for instance, an estimated 39% of children are engaged in some form of child labor,
02:41which most officials define as work depriving a child of education or recreation.
02:46It does not apply to work, which allows children to go to school.
02:51So, we are talking about work that is actually hazardous to the child.
02:55Monitoring and education have helped reduce child labor in Nigerian households, mining and agriculture.
03:02A very good awareness creation, engaging more with the communities,
03:07brought to Spain a better understanding, they actually have a better understanding of what child labor is
03:15and the effect of child labor in the lives of their children.
03:18So, that went a long way to help promote ownership at a community level.
03:24There's no denying that crippling poverty and desperation have driven children into work voluntarily or by force,
03:31but also few opportunities afforded by the state.
03:35Parents sometimes do not understand the importance of education.
03:38That is another challenge.
03:40But the access to education is also another challenge.
03:43So, if children are out of school, there is a limitation to protecting them
03:48and securing them not from being exploited.
03:52Laws against child labor and awareness campaigns can only take the fight so far.
03:57But to eradicate child labor in sub-Saharan Africa,
04:02a community-encompassing and zero-tolerance approach from businesses benefiting from child labor is essential.
04:09Child labor has really not been helpful to any child at all.
04:14So, I would strongly recommend that children be given priority in their early age
04:19by educating them no matter the present economic situation.
04:23That's the flip side.
04:27micro-saharan Africa
04:31That's the flip side.
04:33That's the flip side.
04:352
04:35A at the top.
04:38It's a change in your opinion
04:41Good step.
04:42Go through the flip side.
04:45Do the flip side.
04:47positives.
04:47Good Latery doubt.
04:50Good respect.
04:53Et be sure.