A recent rapid assessment by the International Labour Organisation
(ILO), an associate organisation of the United Nations, has found that
child labour is common
in Zanzibar, with prostitution,
fisheries and seaweed farming among the most hazardous
sectors
in which children are involved.
The report also found evidence of child labour on clove plantations in
Zanzibar, a semi-autonomous island chain within Tanzania, and in the
hotel and tourism sector, for which it is also famous, although the
levels of child labour in these sectors were classified as
moderate
.
The results were published last week in a report of the ILO's rapid assessment on the worst forms of child labour in Zanzibar, which was conducted in June 2001. The information was collected from 489 respondents over a five-day period.
The 2001 Situation Analysis of Children in Tanzania recently released by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) also painted a depressing picture, noting that, while the country had maintained relative stability and improved its economic performance, this had not translated into real improvements in the lives of children. [see http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=27708]
Tanzania has not met 2000 targets, and is far from being on track
to meet 2015 international development targets,
the report
stated. Instead, virtually every critical measure of child
wellbeing stagnated or declined through the 1990s.
Because the ILO report on Zanzibar was on the basis of a rapid assessment, it does not provide an in-depth analysis of the impact of child labour, according to sources at the organisation.
However, it does propose a series of measures that would go some way towards tackling the problem. These included: a sensitisation process for all stakeholders about the impact of child labour; measures to withdraw children from child labour in fishing and prostitution, while providing alternative income sources; formulation of bylaws restricting child labour; and a curb on the tourist-induced influx of western influences on Zanzibari people.
According to the report, the main causes of child labour are poverty, irresponsible parents, family breakdown, a lack of alternatives for children after they have completed their formal education, and children's desire to be financially independent from their parents.
Children between the ages of six and 14 were found to be involved in
the preparation of seeds, planting, harvesting and drying processes on
seaweed farms on the east coast of Unguja (the main island of
Zanzibar, often referred to as simply Zanzibar), where working
environments were reported to be dangerous
.
Meanwhile, through the process of physical counting
,
researchers revealed there were some 50 child prostitutes (aged
between 14 and 18) in the Stone Town, the main urban centre on
Unguja. None of these children were reported to be attending school,
but, of the child prostitutes, only three percent were said to have
originated in Zanzibar.
The extent of child labour in Zanzibar varied not only by sector but also according to the time of year, with the high tourist season and harvest time significantly increasing the levels of child labour, according to the ILO report.
Whereas the situation might not be as serious as in other African or
Asian countries, the Zanzibar government regarded child labour,
especially in the fishing industry, as an issue needing to be tackled
immediately, Omar Shajak, Principal Secretary in the Ministry of
Employment, Youth Women and Children, told IRIN at the weekend. It
is a serious concern for the government, and it will continue if
measures to reduce it are not taken,
he said.
Shajak said the Zanzibar government and its development partners had assessed the ILO findings at a recent workshop, and would now address the issue through programmes such as an existing ILO pilot-project, aimed at empowering women to reduce child labour.
There was also a particular need for an advocacy campaign to curb
child prostitution, according to Shajak. We want to make sure that
the norms, attitudes and the values of Zanzibar are inculcated in the
younger generation,
he said. There needs to be an advocacy
campaign among men, but the young also need to learn that prostitution
is not a good way to earn money.
The ILO has suggested that additional studies should take place to explore the nature, scope and impact of child labour in clove plantations, the hotel and tourism sector, and in prostitution during their respective peak seasons.
It also proposed that grass-roots communities be empowered to monitor
levels of child labour, and that the ILO, together with the social
partners, explore the possibility of including an element that will
cushion household incomes in their efforts to combat child labour
.