REWU starts campaigning for African virtual March against Child labor

From January, 10th 2022, the Rwanda Extractive Industry Workers Union (REWU) has joined African Virtual March against Child Labour campaign to see children at school not at work.

The campaign focuses on a call to action towards getting children back to school, given that education is an effective social vaccine against child labour.

The 5th Global Conference on Child Labour which is to be held in South Africa (May 2022) is an opportunity to mobilise support for this call and make it happen.

This campaign led by Global March against Child Labour, with the support from civil society actors, public institutions, influencers and others in and outside Africa will also invite the ministry of Labour, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Finance and South Africa President, as a host country of Global Conference on Child labour, to take urgent steps to address child labour.

Eng. Mutsindashyaka Andre, the Secretary General of REWU explained that “joining this campaign is to emphasize on REWU’s continuous role in campaigning against Child Labour.”

He added that among the duties of REWU, it has to work with union members, its partners, community, security organs and leaders at all levels to combat any form of child labour.

REWU is aware that Children under the age of 18 also dropped out of school and came to look for work in the companies that had no legal documents, and this is where REWU also decided to put more focus in order to campaign against Child labour.

Some children accompany their parents at working place in order to increase the production for increasing the family income, and other children are looking after the babies in the quarries, sugar cane, cross border business, road business, etc…. REWU fights for eliminating those kinds of child labor.

While that situation is similar across the world, also note that millions of children in Africa are toiling in child labour, at the cost of their health, education and childhood.

 Sub-saharan Africa has 87 million child labourers, i.e, and more children in child labour than in rest of the world combined.

These children are from vulnerable families and their socio-economic conditions have exacerbated since the COVID 19 pandemic started.

It is everyone’s duty to fight against this problem as it hinders Child’s development.

The Campaign against African Child Labour will conclude on 14th March 2022.
Ends.