Gov’t to combat child labour
Although she acknowledged that child labour is a gross violation of human rights, the Minister of Labour and Home Affairs, Anna Mokgethi has revealed that the government has been able to address the problem of child labour through legislation, enforcement mechanisms, policies and social programmes.
Speaking at the joint regional child rights conference and the children’s helplines’ summit in Gaborone recently, she pointed out that over the last few years, they engaged with the United States Embassy through its Bureau of International Labour Affairs (ILAB), together with non-governmental organisations such as Humana People to People Botswana.
She noted that through such engagements, her ministry also provided comprehensive information on its labour law enforcement efforts and conducted targeted inspections in key districts where there were reports of child labour. Mokgethi explained that the government of Botswana ratified the International Labour Organisation’s Labour Inspection Convention and the Labour Inspection (Agriculture) Convention.
She added that their efforts were not in vain saying in 2022, Botswana received a “moderate advancement” rating for its efforts to eliminate child labour. She also said that was a clear demonstration of their commitment to addressing child labour and protecting children’s rights. Mokgethi further said they were also committed to adhering to all the international conventions that they signed, including The African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of
the Child and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. “As Botswana, we are committed to ensuring that our children enjoy safe passage to productive adulthood. We will jealously uphold our children’s inalienable rights to health, education and shelter. We will protect our children from physical and emotional harm as well as inhuman and degrading treatment. In our quest to become a high income economy, we will continue to invest smartly and effectively in our children to build first-rate human capital. We will emulate countries like Singapore, Japan, China and Norway, which are today enjoying their demographic dividends because they invested
heavily on their future human capital, their children,” she added.
The minister further emphasised that their children were the most determinative factor of their future competitiveness, development and prosperity. She also said it was through commitment, perseverance and deliberate action that they would be able to nurture and protect children.
She said child labour hinders the proper growth of children as they miss crucial stages of their development. She also said child labour may lead to lifelong physical or psychological damage. Mokgethi also explained that there was a strong link between poverty and child labour. She added that child labour perpetuated poverty across generations by keeping the children of the poor out of school and limiting their prospects for upward social mobility.
“The end result is that the children of my maid will also become maids to my children. Ke gore ngwana wa modisa wame wa go nna modisa wa bongwanake. This is wrong and it must end. In Botswana, child labour is prevalent in three sectors: agriculture, livestock and domestic work in urban areas involving young girls.
We are aware that child labour mostly occurs because of lack of knowledge and cultural misperceptions regarding distinctions between child labour and children’s daily chores. Ka Setswana re dumela gore mafura a ngwana ke go rongwa,” Mokgethi said.
For his part, the Chair of CRNSA, Motshwari Pitso said they found it fit to bring together civil society organisations (CSOs) together with government representatives, development partners, researchers and academics in the field of childcare.
He added that they were concerned about the way SADC governments were casually treating child welfare issues. He also said they were concerned about meagre budget allocations that were not adequate to address child welfare problems.
“The response and coordination of children’s rights in government are lacking and must be strengthened. We need to harmonise our laws with existing child rights statutes because some of them are in conflict. We need a sustainable approach to childcare. At the SADC level, we are concerned that we don’t have a desk at the SADC Secretariat. We also do not have a SADC Protocol on childcare,” he noted.