Home 

Weekly Newsletters Main

Philippines: Child Labour, Meager Pay

Feature Article
Afghanistan: Landmine Education

Important Links

A study in 1998 revealed that a US based multinational company, Dole, employed child workers on its banana plantations. Children as young as 11 worked for 5 to 11 hours on the plantations and earned 50 to 86 pesos per day (US$- 9 cents to 1 dollar 6 cents). Children worked in order to help support their families since the wages that their parents earned were insufficient to make ends meet. Most children started out by shuffling their time between School/Informal School and work on the plantations but soon gave up their education in order to earn more wages.

A study done by ILO in 1999 showed that the average age of children working in Small- scale mining in Philippines was 10-14 years old. None of the children, surveyed in the study, were wage-employed or had an employer. Children were mostly involved in over-ground work such as carrying heavy sacks of stone, carrying ore, cleaning stones and the like. Children were paid lower than adults though their work wasn’t much different. Most children were paid around 8 pesos (US$- 2 cents) by piece rate for carrying sacks of stones or pails of water. Most children worked to contribute to the family income and help in making ends meet. (Note: mining ranks first among hazardous operations in Philippines).

A study done in 2000 exposed that, children as young as 4 years old worked for a German garment Multinational Company with 48 branches around the world. Children were paid by piece rate. A 4 to 6-year-old child worker who did ‘simple jobs’ earned 5 pesos a day (US$- 1 cent) and an 11 year-old child earned 10 pesos (US$- 18 cents). Children worked for 8 to 11 hours a day Monday to Friday and during pre-Christmas peak hours, they worked on Saturday and Sunday as well.

According to the National Statistics Office of Philippines, 1 in every 6 children had to work to help support their families in 2001, and most of them laboured unpaid. Four million of the 25 million Filipino children were ‘economically active’ in 2001.

A survey released on December 3^rd this year revealed that child labourers in both urban and rural areas in Philippines continue to be underpaid. Most children worked in order to help support their families and save money so that they could go to school.

The Constitution of Philippines does not allow children below the age of 18 to be employed. Philippines is a signatory to the ILO Convention 182 on Elimination of Worst Forms of Child Labour (28^th November 2000) and the UN Convention on Rights of the Child (21^st August 1990).

Featured Article

Afghanistan: Landmine Education for Children

Landmine education programs have been one of the most effective along with mine clearance efforts in Afghanistan. With more than 800 sq km left to clear, of which 410 sq km are high priority, Afghanistan is the most heavily mined country in the world. Children are especially vulnerable to landmines because of their curiosity and love of play. According to the UN, 90% of the victims of landmines are children under the age of 18. In addition to killing and maiming, mines devastate the child’s development and future.

A large quantity of unexploded ordnance (UXO) and landmines remain from the US-led war against terrorism in Afghanistan. This poses a huge threat to innocent children.

In response to the current threat the UN’s Mine Action Program for Afghanistan (MAPA) and other NGOs have stepped up efforts and are asking to incorporate landmine education into the curriculum in public schools. Apart from catering to children attending public schools, these programs have expanded to reach a large number of working children involved in scavenging and metal collection.

Child casualties due to landmines have considerably decreased since the first landmine education program in 1996. Landmine education programs educate children on what the devices look like and how to respond to them in case they come in contact with such devices. The following excerpt is an indication of the effectiveness of landmine education programs: 

 “I was looking for wood and metal in an old building, and suddenly I saw a large piece of metal in the ground. When I looked closer I could see that it was a mine, just like the ones we had been told about at the center. So I walked away quickly and told some other people that it was there. Then they came with stones painted red, to mark the area. I think I was very lucky.” (Wahida, a 13- year-old girl).