Marie

Marie is a seven year old from Haiti. She is a restavek - Creole for rester avec -- the local term for a type of child domestic found all over the world, one who has been handed over by a poor rural family to live with and provide domestic 'help' for a usually urban, wealthier family.

"She is regularly beaten with a leather strap if she is slow to respond to a request or is considered disrespectful."

She gets up at five in the morning and begins her day by fetching water from a nearby well, balancing the heavy jug on her head as she returns. She prepares breakfast and serves it to the members of the household.

Then she walks the family's five-year old son to school; later, at noon, she brings him home and helps him change clothes.

Next, she helps prepare and serve the family's lunch before returning the boy to school.

In between meal times she must buy food in the market and run errands, tend the charcoal fire, sweep the yard, wash clothes and dishes, clean the kitchen and -- at least once a day -- wash her female boss's feet. She is given leftovers or cornmeal to eat, has ragged clothes and no shoes and sleeps outdoors or on the floor.

She is not allowed to bathe in the water she brings to the household. She is regularly beaten with a leather strap if she is slow to respond to a request or is considered disrespectful. Needless to say, she is not allowed to attend school.

Source: UNICEF

Bina Akhtar’s dream

Bina Akhtar was only 10 years old when she began working at a garment factory in Dhaka, Bangladesh’s capital. She earned about $14 a month clipping loose threads from shirts and pants bound for US stores.

Five years later, Bina was no longer working in the factory. Instead, she was going to school, studying mathematics, English and history.This was possible due to a programmeme put in place by the United Nations. ILO and UNICEF, working closely with the Government of Bangladesh, persuaded factory owners to ban children younger than 14 from their shops. They also consented to surprise inspections.
"Bina was one of those rescued by UN inspectors. She was immediately enrolled in a school. Until then, she had never set foot inside a classroom."

Since 1994, ILO monitors managed to move an estimated 50,000 children from the garment factories, all of them under the legal work age of 14.

According to ILO’s Riijk van Haalem, who helped design the Bangladesh programmeme, when inspections began in 1996 , children were found in 33 per cent of all factories searched. By the end of 1999, that figure had fallen to under 10 per cent.

Bina was one of those rescued by UN inspectors. She was immediately enrolled in a school. Until then, she had never set foot inside a classroom. "Education is not a burden to me," says Bina. She now dreams of becoming a nurse.

Adapted from the Asian Wall Street Journal (21 March 2000)

Ratify ILO Convention No. 182 now!

The ILO Convention No. 182 is considered by many as perhaps the most significant legal instrument to tackle child labour. It defines the worst forms of child labour and asks all Governments to ban them. These are:

  • All forms of slavery;
  • Child prostitution;
  • Using children for illicit activities, especially drug trafficking;
  • Work exposing children to grave health and safety hazards.
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Ratification of the Convention should be the first and immediate task for all Governments. It will mean acceptance of the Convention by national parliaments. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, in his Millennium Report has urged all Member States to ratify and implement the Convention without delay.

Once Governments have ratified the Convention they must apply it in law and in practice . Among other things, Governments should:
  1. Introduce action programmemes to remove and prevent the worst forms of child labour;
  2. Provide direct assistance for rehabilitation of children and their social integration;
  3. Ensure access to free education;
  4. Identify children at special risk; and
  5. Take account of girls and their special situation.

 

Governments must also report regularly to the ILO regarding the application of the Convention and be accountable for all allegations of violations.

As of August 2000, 30 countries have ratified the Convention.