CHILD LABOUR REDUCED BY 60% IN SL: LABOUR MINISTER

Labour Minister John Seneviratne said, according to the Child Activity Survey conducted in 2015/2016, number of child labour had reduced by 60% in Sri Lanka compared to the previous Child Activity Survey conducted in 2008/2009.

He said Children in hazardous forms have also been significantly reduced. He made these remarks in his speech at IV Global Conference on the Sustained Eradication of Child Labour in Argentina recently.

“Sri Lanka has been in the forefront of the combat against Child Labour as illustrated through its national and international commitments, its promising indicators on education and its policies and programmes, particularly those extending social protection to disadvantaged groups. Sri Lanka has ratified ILO Convention on Minimum Age to Employment, 1973 (No.138) and Convention on the Worst Forms of Child Labour, 1999 (No.182), UN Child Rights Convention, and the Palermo Protocol on Trafficking in Persons, 2015.

The government has enacted laws and regulations to combat child

Recently the minimum age of education was raised from 14 to 16 through the regulations for the Education Ordinance by the Ministry of Education, and the minimum age of employment should also be raised to 16

labour including its worst forms. The principal law is the ‘Employment of Women, Young Persons and Children Act – No: 47 of 1956’. The minimum age of employment (14, at present) and the minimum age of hazardous employment (18) are well defined in this enactment. The hazardous employment of children and young persons is prohibited by the ‘Hazardous Employment Regulations’ under this law.

Recently the minimum age of education was raised from 14 to 16 through the regulations for the

Sri Lanka has been in the forefront of the combat against Child Labour as illustrated through its national and international commitments, its promising indicators on education and its policies and programmes, particularly those extending social protection to disadvantaged groups

Education Ordinance by the Ministry of Education, and the minimum age of employment should also be raised to 16. Therefore, the necessary arrangements are being made to amend the ‘Employment of Women, Young Persons and Children Act – No: 47 of 1956’ with the other relevant laws.

The provisions for prohibiting the forced labour of children, prohibiting the child trafficking, Prohibition of Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children, and Prohibition of Using Children in Illicit Activities are already set up in the Penal Code of the country.

The government has established mechanism to coordinate its efforts to combat child labour through the formation of ‘National Steering Committee’ and this committee was functioning since 2013 according to the declaration of the Labour Minister in the Global Conference on Child labour in May 2010, the Hauge in Netherlands. A number of meetings of this committee have been convened and the draft policy paper on child labour was prepared by this committee with the assistance of the ILO. Finally the policy paper was accepted by not only this committee, but also the National Labour Advisory Council, and then submitted to the Cabinet of Ministers. Finally this policy has been accepted by all stakeholders and declared by the President of Sri Lanka, Maithiripala Sirisena on the 8th of September this year. This policy is intended to ensure effective coordination among all organizations and individuals working for the protection and development of children in Sri Lanka. It also outlines key policy recommendations, including strengthening and expanding nonformal education opportunities for vulnerable children (including child labourers) in geographic locations with the highest concentrations of vulnerable households,” he said.