Four months after Guyana’s Labor Minister launched an inquiry into child labor and the exploitation of coconut plantations in the Pomeroon, Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam), the Minister has said that the Ministry is reviewing reports of child labor occurring in two coconut estate in the region.
Although the findings of the first investigation, published in November 2020, were not released, the Minister, during his visit to coconut estates over the weekend, again received reports of the incident, and said that the Regional Labor Officer had been employ to address it the issue.
Children’s rights legislate in key pieces of local and international legislation, and are further protected by the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Guyana is a signatory of both international treaties.
According to the United Nations, over 165 million children aged five to 17 are in employment. One survey shows that over 70 million are in some kind of dangerous employment – supply chains, from agriculture to manufacturing, services to construction.
The Director General of the International Labor Organization (ILO), Guy Ryder, some time ago, in addressing the issue of child labor, said that it has no place in well-functioning and regulated markets well, nor in any supply chain. He said countries must act now to stop one-off child labor, and this has been endorsed by the Sustainable Development Goals. Acting together, it is everyone’s ability to make the future one without child labor.
To support businesses in their actions to remove child labor from their supply chains, the ILO and the International Employers Organization (IOE) jointly created the Child Labor Guidance Tool, a resource for companies to increase their knowledge and capacity to conduct business in accordance with international labor standards on child labor.
The tool draws on the long experience of the ILO International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor (ILO-IPEC) in working with employers to combat child labor in supply chains, and incorporates contributions from a wide range of companies.
Here, in Guyana, the then APNU / AFC Government announced, a few years ago, that a unit dedicated specifically to the issue of child labor would be established at the time by the Ministry of Social Protection. This announcement came just days after a survey revealed that an alarmingly high number of Guyanese children are involved in the worst forms of child labor. However, this unit has not been fully realized. A National Action Plan was also launched aimed at the complete abolition of child labor in Guyana with the aim of eliminating child labor in the country by 2025.
At the time, a national child labor rapid assessment survey was conducted in Georgetown, New Amsterdam, Linden, Corriverton, Black Bush Polder, No. 58 Village, Charity, Kwakwani, and Ituni. It was made into three categories of children: 15 years and under; 15 to 16, and 16 to 18. A total of 532 children and young workers were surveyed.
The survey identified that many of the young people who participated in the research in all three categories were involved in sales and agricultural activities. It was also highlighted that hidden evidence of prostitution activities was found in all age ranges. Another disturbing fact revealed by the survey was that a small percentage of the young people in work suffered illnesses and injuries while at work, especially in the fields of weeding, begging, or conducting sexual activities. The study also highlighted that guardians / parents reported that the main reason for the children to work was to help support their families.
There is no doubt that fighting child labor requires a multi-sector approach, and, as a matter of policy, the Government must ensure that laws are enforced to protect our children.
There is no doubt that all Guyanese must assist in helping to promote the rights of the child, and provide them with better protection and care. There must also be labor and occupational health and occupational safety officers in each region to help address this issue.
