Africa: Today, children will participate in an interactive session in order to draft recommendations on how governments, civil society and key stakeholders can try to ensure that SDG 8.7 is achieved. What happened yesterday?
The day kicked off with thematic panels, one of which sought to connect civil society organizations. Panellists came from various organizations around the world, but all of them agreed: that we must eliminate child labour, starting from the root causes.
Emmerance Tuyishime, Acting CEO of the Pan Africa Farmers’ Organization, was born and raised in a farming family in Rwanda. She is intimately familiar with the issue of child labour.
“Some people say child labour prepares children for the future,” she said. “However, it is harmful. Period. It interrupts children’s ability to learn due to heavy work, both mentally and physically.”
“We push banks to do better. How? Geographically and thematically, through both advocacy and monitoring. Periodically, they check where banks are investing, what the risks are, and whether there are measures in place to prevent child labour.”
– Augustina Perez, Child Rights Senior Associate at the Bank Information Centre
“It’s an endogenous process. Increasing taxes is a fundamental part of increasing social protection, so you can’t forget about growth as well.”
– Benjamin Davis, Director of inclusive Rural Transformation and Gender Equality Division at FAO
“With a 37% unemployment rate in South Africa, due to deindustrialization, there is no middle road,” he said. “We have to increase our level of competitiveness in the so-called data economy.”
– Tshilidzi Marwala, Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of Johannesburg. #EndChildLabour
