The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has launched a project to fight against child labour in nine African countries, one of its regional directors said on Monday.
The project ”aims to find concrete solutions to one of the most pressing and difficult problems in west and central Africa,” said the ILO director for central Africa, Francoise Achio.
Nine African countries — Cameroon, Gabon, Benin, Ivory Coast, Mali, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Nigeria and Togo — have called on the ILO for help in combatting the scourge, she said.
”800 000 children in Cameroon, 80 million throughout Africa and 250 million in the world are forced to work under the most difficult and dangerous conditions,” the head of the programme,
Fatoumata Keita, said.
A report issued by the ILO early this month showed that one child in every six aged 5-17, or 246 million children can be classed as a child worker.
The ILO also said 8,4 million children are estimated to be caught up in forms of child labour that violate international law, including slavery, trafficking, prostitution, pornography and forced recruitment for armed conflict.
The Asia-Pacific region has the largest absolute number of working children between 5-14 years with about 60% of the world total, or 127 million.
Sub-Saharan Africa is in second place, followed by Latin America and the Caribbean, and the Middle East and North Africa. – Sapa-AFP