UNICEF issues call for more investment in child protection programmes

THE United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is calling for more investment to be poured into child protection programmes that serve to aid children affected by all forms of violence, abuse and exploitation.

UNICEF Executive Director, Henrietta Fore, has noted that such programmes can also aid children made more vulnerable to different forms of child labour, on account of the COVID-19 pandemic. Her comments came as she delivered remarks during a recent webinar entitled “Taking Action to Fight Child Labour”, which served as the launch event for the 2021 International Year for the Elimination of Child Labour, hosted by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in collaboration with the Alliance 8.7 Global Partnership.

Speaking after ILO Director-General Guy Ryder and child labour survivor and activist Amar Lal, Ms. Fore said, “We believe that the COVID-19 pandemic has really cracked open and exacerbated the vulnerabilities of children for child labour. Even before the pandemic, we were dealing with the issues that Guy and Amar have been talking about – rising poverty and low wages, eroding social protections, lack of quality education and normalisation of children’s work through weak laws, and a culture of impunity in many countries around the world.

“With the devastating impacts of COVID-19, especially at the household level, more children are vulnerable to the exploitative and hazardous forms of work. For millions of children who are already engaged in child labour, the pandemic is translating into longer working hours and worsening conditions. School closures are making matters even worse. Lingering gender inequalities continue to make girls more vulnerable to exploitation in agricultural work, or they have to stay home doing housework while their brothers continue with their education, and lockdowns and mobility restrictions have dramatically reduced access to child protection services and workplace inspections,” she said.

UNICEF’s Executive Director however noted that there are “hopeful signs” that child labour challenges can be better addressed and hence the call for more social protection programmes.

“Many governments have accelerated efforts to deploy social workers in the community, equipping them with mobile phones, and digital technology. Some are strengthening online learning platforms and some are expanding social protection programmes like cash transfers that target the most vulnerable families. We can all be inspired by these efforts. But as we mark the International Year of the Elimination of Child Labour, we must do more. So UNICEF is calling for more investment in child protection programmes that prevent and respond to all forms of violence, abuse and exploitation, including child labour,” she remarked.

“As a global community, we need to re-imagine education to improve both quality and quantity, to reach every child and young person and this includes digital technology and remote learning. UNICEF is gathering partners around the need, including the need to connect every school in the world to the Internet through the Gig Initiative, and it means teaching skills to make a livelihood through the Generation Unlimited Initiative,” Fore stressed.

She added, “We need governments to strengthen child labour regulations across the board, from laws and policies, to workplace inspections, to job protection systems that can support children who want to return to school and the ILO is a critical partner here.”

It was just last December that Minister of Labour and Social Partnership Relations, Colin Jordan, gave the assurance that the Barbados Government is committed to addressing all issues of child labour that may surface here, even though he acknowledged that Barbados has no reported cases of child labour thus far.