Wow!: With free education, Congo’s child miners swap hammers for books
ANGE KASONGO, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports on how the decision to provide free primary school education to children in the Democratic Republic of Congo is helping address issues of child labour – but that poverty keeps millions more away…
Yemen’s children toil at dangerous work, not school
Sanaa, Yemen Reuters Instead of attending school, 15-year-old Harith Mansour spends his days wringing chickens’ necks, plucking feathers and bagging up fresh meat for customers of a small shop in Yemen’s capital Sanaa. He is one of an unknown number of Yemen’s children working to keep their families fed and housed as the toll of […]
Postcards: Congo’s children dodge gangs to sell sex drugs on Kinshasa streets
JORDAN MAYENIKINI, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports from the streets of Kinshasa…
Court jails 10 for child trafficking in Ivory Coast cocoa sector
Bouna, Ivory Coast Reuters A court in Ivory Coast on Wednesday sentenced 10 people found guilty of child trafficking to 10 years in jail, part of an effort to clamp down on organised networks that smuggle children to work in cocoa plantations. Ivory Coast, the world’s top cocoa producer, and the companies that buy its […]
Lifestory: From street kid to mentor – surviving childhood labour in Ethiopia
With the World Day Against Child Labour having recently been marked across the globe, EMELINE WUILBERCQ, writing for Thomson Reuters Foundation, records former child-labourer Teklu Haimelo’s story…
Essay: 152 million reasons to end child labour
Saturday marked World Day Against Child Labour. CHANTELLE MAYO, of Baptist World Aid Australia, reflects on what’s needed to break cycles of poverty and exploitation…
Quickfacts – 10 facts about rising child labour around the world
Addis Ababa, EthiopiaThomson Reuters Foundation The United Nations says child labour is on the rise for the first time in 20 years, with millions more young people at risk of becoming child labourers due to the economic shocks and school closures caused by COVID-19. Here are 10 facts about where and why child labour persists, […]
Orphans, soldiers, students: North Korea turns to “volunteers” for coal mines, construction
Seoul, South KoreaReuters Orphans, conscripted soldiers, and students – some appearing to be children – are “volunteering” to work manual labour in North Korea, including in coal mines, farms, and large construction projects, the country’s state media have reported. Hundreds of graduates of orphan schools “volunteered to work in difficult fields”, according to reports by […]
Governments urged to boost cash grants to end pandemic-fuelled child labour
Johannesburg, South AfricaThomson Reuters Foundation From brick kilns to carpet factories, COVID-19 has pushed children as young as eight years old into dangerous and abusive jobs, rights groups said on Wednesday, urging governments to roll out cash allowances to reduce child labour. Human Rights Watch and advocacy organisations in Ghana, Nepal and Uganda interviewed 81 […]
Child labour: Pandemic pushes more young vendors onto Central African Republic’s streets
INES KPAKOLA, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports on how the coronavirus pandemic has exacerabated the issue of child labour in the Central African Republic…