TAONGA CHIROMO (not real name) is a 13-year-old boy from rural Shurugwi who started fending for his mother and siblings at the age of nine.

Sharing his story with The Patriot, Taonga said the death of his father worsened the poverty they experienced as a family which forced him to help his mother by doing menial jobs.

“My father died when I was eight years old, leaving my mother with the responsibility of looking after me and my two siblings,” said Taonga.

Narrating his ordeal, Taonga said grinding poverty led him to help his mother as she could not make ends meet on her own.

“Sometimes we would go to bed hungry and if there was food, it would be leftovers from neighbours.”

The story of Taonga is, sadly, one of many, showing how different circumstances across the globe have forced children to become child labourers.

In communities around the country, and the world at large, many children continue to live under the bondage of child labour.

Some, as young as five years, work as street vendors or ‘professional’ beggars while many in the rural areas, like Taonga, are herdboys or in the agricultural sector.

Each year, on June 12, the World Day Against Child Labour brings together governments, employers and workers’ organisations as well as civil society  to highlight the plight of child labourers and to come up with strategies that can be implemented to help them.

This year’s theme is: ‘Act Now, End Child Labour’.

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) are some of the agencies spearheading the fight against child labour.

According to the latest report by ILO and UNICEF, child labour has increased to 160 million worldwide, an increase of 8,4 million children in the last four years — with millions more at risk due to the impact of COVID-19.

ILO Director-General Guy Ryder said: “The new estimates are a wake-up call. We cannot stand by while a new generation of children is put at risk. 

Inclusive social protection allows families to keep their children in school even in the face of economic hardship. Increased investment in rural development and decent work in agriculture is essential. We are at a pivotal moment and much depends on how we respond. This is time for renewed commitment and energy, to turn the corner and break the cycle of poverty and child labour.”  

Though the Zimbabwean law sets 16 years as the minimum age for employment and prohibits children under 18 from performing hazardous work, many children are victims of child labour.

One must not take away the fact that the issue of child labour is complex to the extent that many do not understand that they are initiating and participating in it.

From an African perspective, culture plays a role in determining what is viewed as child labour.

African children work for many reasons.

Some, like Taonga, want to help their families survive while others may work to earn money for school fees and uniforms — so issues of abuse are on the back burner.

Sadly, for child-headed families or orphans, they have no choice but to work.

Work plays an important role in a number of cultures.

It is regarded as an important feature in structuring personal, family and social identity, therefore, it may be seen as a way of preparing children for life.

It is also seen as building character and imbuing children with a culture of work so necessary in later life.

According to the ILO: “Child labour refers to work that is inappropriate because of a child’s age, the nature of the work, the number of hours worked or some combination of these factors.”

This definition provides a guideline to understanding what child labour is.

The ILO identifies four basic groups of cruel and unacceptable work termed as the worst forms of child labour.

The first is slavery, which is forcing someone to work. 

This category involves children who are trafficked for the purposes of work, for example, soldiers who kidnap boys and girls and make them work in military camps.

Commercial sex, that includes prostitution and pornography work is highlighted as the second one.

The third one is illicit work that includes forcing children to sell drugs or steal.

Fourth and worst type of child labour is hazardous work.

ILO says this is work that can harm the health and safety of a child. 

Many harmful jobs are found in agriculture and mining, where children are exposed to dangerous chemicals or machinery.

However, COVID-19 has aggravated the issue of child labour in many societies.

The ILO and UNICEF report also highlights that COVID-19 crisis has brought additional poverty to these already vulnerable populations and may reverse years of progress in the fight against child labour. 

School closures, says the report, have aggravated the situation and many millions of children are working to contribute to the family income. The pandemic has also made women, men and children more vulnerable to exploitation.

“We are losing ground in the fight against child labour, and the last year has not made that any easier. Now, well into a second year of global lockdowns, school closures, economic disruptions and shrinking national budgets, families are forced to make heartbreaking choices. We urge governments and international developments banks to prioritise investments in programmes that can get children out of the workforce and back into school, and in social protection programmes that can help families avoid making this choice in the first place,” said UNICEF Executive Director Henritta Fore.

The International day against child labour was first observed in 2002 by ILO.