By Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer Washington
20 January 2010
Poor families in poor health, the loss of land and the legacy of war are all contributing to a child labor problem in Cambodia, the country’s national International Labor Organization coordinator said Monday.
“The latest studies we have show that in many countries, if there exists child labor, that country is in heavy poverty,” said the coordinator, Chhorvirith Theng, as a guest on “Hello VOA.” “In a country where educational development exists, that country has no child labor. So on both these tendencies, the government of Cambodia is paying attention. For instance, we take education as a core sector.”
The government and private sector are working to jointly eliminate child labor in Cambodia by 2015, Chhorvirith Theng said, through plans to educate people at the grassroots level, as well as vocational and skills training and microfinance.
A national survey in 2001 found 1.5 million children aged 5 to 17 who were economically active in Cambodia. Around 250,000 were working in risky occupations.
Child labor is not only a problem in Cambodia, but around the world, Chhorvirith Theng said. The ILO estimates as many as 250 million children involved in labor, with the majority involved in dangerous jobs that can be damaging physically, mentally and spiritually.
“The latest studies we have show that in many countries, if there exists child labor, that country is in heavy poverty,” said the coordinator, Chhorvirith Theng, as a guest on “Hello VOA.” “In a country where educational development exists, that country has no child labor. So on both these tendencies, the government of Cambodia is paying attention. For instance, we take education as a core sector.”
The government and private sector are working to jointly eliminate child labor in Cambodia by 2015, Chhorvirith Theng said, through plans to educate people at the grassroots level, as well as vocational and skills training and microfinance.
A national survey in 2001 found 1.5 million children aged 5 to 17 who were economically active in Cambodia. Around 250,000 were working in risky occupations.
Child labor is not only a problem in Cambodia, but around the world, Chhorvirith Theng said. The ILO estimates as many as 250 million children involved in labor, with the majority involved in dangerous jobs that can be damaging physically, mentally and spiritually.
7 comments:
250 million children and most of them are in china and india.
i know, this is nothing in cambodia, compare to hundreds and millions of child laborers in india and china and so forth, really. plus, i don't understand why the those countries use machinery like trucks, and other type of transportation to delivery products or travel, etc, why continue to use human hard labor like this? don't tell me, they are still living in the stone age! please be advanced already, this kind of human label were supposed to be in the stone age or dark age era, but nowadays? wake up, people, if they can invent airplanes, cars, etc, then it's time to rid the world of human hard labor like this, especially children. hard label should only reserve for criminals in prison only, really! wake up, please!
All children deserve to be looked after and educated and it is good that ILO understand the plight of these childre, however, there is little their families can do if they don't have enough to meet day end needs.
i did the same thing when i was a child to help my parent to strugle for living, becuz it's cambodia. but it's not only in cambodia, look at vietnam, lao, pakistan, bangladesh, indonisia even at bambay city, india a rich country with nuclear program and still abused its children.
i know, those biased reporters never be fair to cambodia! they always pick on cambodia for this or that, etc... are they that ignorant to look around the world and mention that as well, really! please be fair to cambodia as child labor is not unique to cambodia, you know! thank you.
so, would you complain too if some people like this child chose to go bare-footed? i mean, shoes or sandals aren't that expensive, really. so, blame on the gov't again? how stupid! think about educating the public for a change. how about change that outdated mentality! have some concept of cleanliness and hygienic practice. i mean some people do need education in this arena, really. no more excuses. even food stalls and markets in cambodia should be educated the people to be have some cleanliness in mind when preparing food and working in the market areas. i'm sick to see so many trash everywhere. then they wonder they there are diseases! wake up, people, get educated for a change, really!
yes, seeking an end to child labor in cambodia is a positive sign. i'm for it, really. however, please report fairly as cambodia is not unique to having child labor,etc... please be fair to cambodia in the report, that's all. thank you.
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