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ph:DR Launch of the campaign “Zero tolerance to child labor in sectors with high prevalence in Benin”
The Minister of Labor and Public Service, Mrs Adidjatou MATHYS and her colleague of Social Affairs and Microfinance, Mrs Véronique TOGNIFODÉ proceeded, on Friday April 13, 2023, to the official launch of the campaign: “Zero tolerance to child labor in sectors with high prevalence in Benin”. It was at the village hall of the Administrative Towers in the presence of the Resident Representative of UNICEF in Benin Djanabou MAHONDE and many other personalities and actors involved in the protection of children.
“Child labor constitutes a violation of fundamental human rights”; It is in these terms that the Director General of Labour, Mrs Mireille LEGBA ADANKON set the scene before clarifying that child labor is defined as work which deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity and which affects their physical and mental development.
In Benin, the areas of child protection in general and the fight against the worst forms of child labor in particular have been strongly impacted by the series of reforms initiated by the Government in all sectors since 2016, with result in a substantial improvement in the situation of the rights and well-being of children.
According to the results of the MICS survey carried out by INSTaD, the national prevalence rate for child labor fell from 52.5% in 2014 to 19.9% in 2022. This corresponds to a clear gain of more than 32 points. Despite this significant progress, the Government’s ambition to achieve the targets of point 7 of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8 on decent work is far from being achieved. It urges “to take immediate action to eradicate forced labor, end modern slavery and human trafficking, prohibit and eliminate the worst forms of child labor, including the recruitment and use of child soldiers and, by 2025, end child labor in all its forms”.
Raising public awareness
Despite the legislation in force in Benin prohibiting any form of exploitation or abuse of children, children find themselves in the markets, streets, apprenticeship centres, mining quarries and construction sites or even in houses where they are subjected to begging, exhausting or dangerous work. It is therefore in the face of these sad observations that the campaign “Zero tolerance to child labor in sectors with high prevalence in Benin” was initiated jointly by the Ministry of Labor and the Public Service and the Ministry of Social Affairs and Microfinance, as part of an emergency plan. The objectives pursued are to mobilize child protection actors, market users, artisans, communities and children themselves in the fight against child labour; to carry out joint inspection and control visits to markets, crossroads and other points of sale; identify and remove child victims of economic exploitation and abuse, including those involved in begging; continue the care and reintegration of children in work and begging situations; take action against perpetrators and accomplices of economic exploitation of children; finally, capitalize on good practices in the fight against the economic exploitation of children.
This government initiative is strongly welcomed by the Resident Representative of UNICEF for whom “the place of children is in school”. For Mrs. Djanabou MAHONDE, who refers to the International Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Children’s Code of Benin, “the child must be protected and must not be compelled to do any work likely to compromise his education, or harm his health or development.
For the Minister of Social Affairs and Microfinance, “We must act as quickly as possible to counter acts constituting violations of children’s rights and which tarnish the image of our country. Child labor undermines and does not promote the perception of the various reforms undertaken by the government for the protection and promotion of children’s rights.
Minister Véronique TOGNIFODÉ salutes the leadership of the Minister of Labor and Civil Service for having initiated the emergency plan which will protect children from exploitation and the worst forms of child labour. The MASM welcomes and congratulates at the same time, the synergy of action which augurs for an unequivocal implementation of this emergency plan.
Minister Adidjatou MATHYS announces for her part, a series of actions will be carried out over four months on a pilot basis in order to achieve collective awareness of the extent of the scourge. These actions will focus on mass communication, which requires the involvement of media professionals to support the initiative through broadcasts, documentaries, reports, awareness spots and all other press articles likely to promote dissemination. information within populations. The Minister of Labor and the Public Service therefore calls for mobilization to put an end to the culture of the use of child labor for the purpose of economic exploitation.
After the launch of the “zero tolerance to child labor in sectors with high prevalence in Benin” campaign, public awareness raising was held in the afternoon at the dantokpa market.
The Ministers Adidjatou MATHYS, Véronique TOGNIFODÉ, the representative of UNICEF, the Prefect of the Littoral department as well as child protection actors went to meet the users of the said market. For this first outing with a view to raising awareness among the general public, the choice of the largest market in Benin is significant because the results of the national survey on child labor carried out in Benin in 2008 revealed that 34% of children are subject to work and that markets are privileged places for the economic exploitation of children.
In June 2013, a survey carried out with the support of UNICEF in three (3) main markets in Benin, namely Dantokpa, Ouando and Arzèkè, revealed the presence of 7,882 children in a situation of economic exploitation in these places of transaction.
