The reality of child labour in Zanzibar

Child Labor (Photo credit: Siddy Lam)

AMOUR Khatib Ali 9, is one of the many children from the coastal villages in Zanzibar, who spend most of their time along beach ferrying hsh from the sea for scaling
Young boys, dressed in shabby clothes, are seen along the sea shore, sometimes during school hours earning between Tshs 200 and 1,000 depending of the workload Even though the work seems cumbersome, the children say they love it because
they earn money, and their parents are not concerned that the work may be considered childlabour.

The Rapid Assessment Report on the Worst Forms of Child Labour in Zanzibar dentiDes agriculture, mainly on clove plantations, seaweed farming hshing working in the hotel and tourism sedor and child prostitution as examples of child labour. Discussions with key stakeholders also identiDed quarrying breaking stones into gravels and domestic work as other areas of childlabour.

Children are involved in adMties such as transport. construdion and petty trading available data on child labour which was colleded in the integrated Labour Force Survey done in 2006 indicated that more than nine per cent of children in Zanzibar are engaged in one form of childlabour or another.

The UN-ILO dehnition of child labour, is that it involves at least one of the following charaderistics: Violates a nation’s law on the minimum age for labour; for Zanzibar it is 16 years; threatens children’s physical, mental, or emotional wellbeing; involves intolerable abuse, such as forcedlabour, or illicit adMties; and prevents children from going to school…

Source:

DailyNews Online Edition – Child labour may need another definition in Zanzibar.