Child labor
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The document is a final report on child labor presented to Dr. Shafqat Bukhari by a group of students. It discusses child labor around the world and in Pakistan through case studies of Nike and the chocolate industry. It outlines the effects of child labor on children, including impacts to family, values, language, and physical health. The report concludes with recommendations such as using child labor funds to address the issue, reducing poverty and illiteracy, providing free education, and conducting awareness programs.
Child labor
- 1. Final Report Mohammad Ali Jinnah University Child Labour Presented To:Dr.Shafqat Bukhari Sociology Sec-B Group Members: Saad Mazhar Shamail Ahmad Zeeshan Raza
- 2. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT This is to acknowledge that our instructor Dr.Shafqat Bukhari has excellently treatedusand shared her experiencesand expertise with al the group membersand helped us through out the preprationof thisreport as well as presentation. There fore all the members of the group are heartly thankful to Dr.Shafqat Bukhari for her co-operation and precious time. We Zeeshan Raza, Saad Mazhar and Shamail Ahmad dedicate this complete presentation to her for her kindness and support. Month Day Year
- 3. ABSTRACT This report wasassigned to us by our instructor Dr.Shafqat Bukhariabout two weeks before submission. The topic we chose for the presentation is child labor. Major reasons behind this topic were its occurrence in Pakistan, its drawbacksand effectsonthe society. We will discuss the child labor itself with the help of factsand figuresregarding child labor around the world. Then a few cases will be discussed which will be followed by effects of child labor on children and on the society. After all this we will share the findings of a survey we conducted with the young labors discussing the consequences they face. We will conclude the presentation with recommendationsand precautionsthat are needed to be taken if we want child labor to come to an end. All the above mentioned parts mentioned in the report and they will be properly presented as well.
- 4. CONTENTS INTRODUCTION/EXPLINATION_________________01 NIKE CASE STUDY_____________________________03 CHOCOLATE CASE STUDY______________________05 EFFECTS OF CHILD LABOR_____________________07 RECOMMENDATIONS__________________________08 CONCLUSION_________________________________09
- 5. INTRODUCTION/EXPLANATION The International Labor Organization(ILO) defineschild Labor as: 1- whena child is working during early age 2- he overworksor givesover time to Labor 3- he works due to the psychologically, socially, and materialisticpressure 4- he becomes ready to Labor ona very low pay Another definitionstates: “Child Labor” isgenerally speaking workfor childrenthat harmsthemor exploitstheminsome way (physically, mentally, morally or blocking access to education), United NationsInternational Children’sEmergencyFund(UNICEF) defines “child” as anyone below the age of 18, and “child Labor” assome type of workperformed by childrenbelow age 18. (UNICEF) In Pakistanchildren aged 5-14 are above 40 million. During the last year, the Federal Bureauof Statisticsreleased the resultsof itssurvey funded by ILO’s IPEC(International Programonthe Eliminationof Child Labor). The findings were that 3.8 million children age group of 5-14 years are working in Pakistanout of total 40 million children in this age group; fifty percent of these economically active children are in age group of 5 to 9 years. Even out of these 3.8 million economically active children, 2.7
- 6. million were claimed to be working in the agriculture sector. Two million and four hundred thousand (73%) of them were said to be boys. TABLE The table below indicated the distribution of child labors throughout the provinces in Pakistan. Province-wise Comparison of Child Labor Province Total No. of Children in age group of 5-14 years (millions) Total No. of Economically Active Children in Age group of 5-14 years (millions) Ratio of Child Labor Punjab 22.63 1.94 8.6% Sindh 8.62 0.30 3.5% NWFP 6.71 1.06 15.8% Balochistan 2.07 0.01 0.5% Total 40.03 3.31 8.3% Time to get aware of some factsrelated to child labor around the world.. o There are 218 million child laborersinthe world. o 14% of all childrenbetween5-17 yearsare child laborers. o 1 in 7 childrenaround the world is a child laborer. o Every year 22,000 childrendie in workrelated accidents. o 69% of child laborersworkinagriculture.
- 7. NIKE CASE STUDY Child labor is a big probleminmost third world countries, but possibly the most known among the United States is Pakistan. The reason is Nike. Nike has been accused repeatedly of using exploitative child labor in the production of its soccer balls. Before we get into that, we'll examine the tradition of child labor in Pakistan. The per-capita income of Pakistan is approximately $1900. (The average, middle class person in Pakistan makes about $5 a day.) The average working person has to feed nine or ten people with their $5. On top of that, there is the high inflation rate to deal with. It becomes so hard to survive that many families resort to giving their children up to child labor in order to get more income. Child labor is scattered all over Pakistan, but it has the greatest impact on a north-western province called Sialkot. Sialkot is an important center for the production of goods for export, especially sporting goods. In 1994, it brought about $385
- 8. million into the Pakistan economy. Child labor exists in both the export and domestic sectors of the economy in Sialkot. This has been well documented internationally, and it is documented that child labor is against Pakistan's law, but neither the government nor anyone else chooses to do anything about it. The Nike Scenario: If you have bought a soccer ball recently, there is a good chance that a child helped produce it. Over half the world's soccer balls are produced inPakistan, and all of those pass through a production line. This production line is not only comprised of adults, but children as well. This problem is not specific only to Pakistan. Children worldwide work on production lines. Nike is the main culprit of the soccer ball case, but technically they are not the ones hiring the child laborers. Like a good chess player, Nike always thinks a few moves ahead. They don’t just jump right in and hire children, but instead subcontracts them through a local firm. In this case, the local firm is SAGA Sports. The local firm is supposed to abide by Nike's international rules and regulations, and in turn, it is the duty of the business hiring the firm to check the local firm's actions. This is not what happens. Nike doesn't check its local firms and the local firms are not abiding by Nike's rules. By the late 1990s, Pakistan had come to account for 75 percent of total world productionof footballs (or “soccer" balls in the US), and 71 percent of all soccer ball imports into the United States. The International Labor Rights Forum and allies called attention to rampant child labor in the soccer ball industry. According to investigations, thousands of children between the ages of 5 and 14 were putting in as many as 10 to 11 hours per day stitching. Then, the International Labor Organization, UNICEF, Save the Children, and the Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry signed the Partners' Agreement to Eliminate Child Labor in the Soccer Industry in Pakistan on February 14, 1997, in Atlanta, Georgia.
- 9. CHOCOLATE CASE STUDY Ten years ago the chocolate industry signed the “Harkin-Engel Protocol”, a promise to eliminate the Worst Forms of Child Labor (including trafficking and hazardous work) in the cocoa sector of Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana, where two thirds of the world’s cocoa is grown. However, none of the Protocol’s six articles calling for actionwere fully implemented, and the required industry-wide change in the cocoa sector has not taken place. The promise still hasn’t been met. An estimated 1.8 million children work on the small cocoa farms in these countries, growing and harvesting the core ingredient of the chocolate we eat. Many of these are working under what is known as the Worst Forms of Child Labor, which includes trafficking, slave-like conditions, and hazardous work. Cocoa grows in pods on Cocoa trees. The pods are harvested by using machetes, and are sprayed regularly with insecticides. Kids as young as 11 and 12 years old work long days, sometimes 10 hours or more, doing thisdangerous work, without any protective clothing, and with little to no access to medical care if they get sick or are injured. They are also forced to carry bags of cocoa pods, weighing up to 40 kilograms. Hardly suitable work for a 12 year old. In the same period as the Harkin Engel Protocol has been in effect, from 2001 to 2011, the global revenue from cocoa
- 10. products was an estimated USD 1 trillion. That’s $1.000.000.000.000. The cocoa industry therefore certainly has the financial means to tackle the problem. Since the industry has not taken responsibility for carrying out the necessary reformfromwithin, it isnow necessary for governments to demand a minimum standard of compliance of companies and require due diligence in their supply chain. Clear and strong legislationis urgently needed as the status quo is simply not acceptable: why should children toil, at the expense of their health, educationand sometimestheir lives, for an industry so immensely profitable? The best remedy for these abuses is to send the children to school. To achieve that, it is necessary that companieshave independent organizations checking their whole supply chain, that they tell the public each year what they’re doing to stop this child labor, and that governments install an independent oversight on progress. 10 Campaign is an informal worldwide coalition of major civil society organizations working in sustainable chocolate. It’s partners include STOP THE TRAFFIK, International Labor Rights Forum, World Vision Australia, Fairfood International, Stop Child Labor - School is the best workplace, Südwind Research Institute, Berne Declaration, FNV Bondgenoten and the Confédération Syndicale Burkinabé, as well as various individuals with extensive experience in sustainable cocoa.
- 11. EFFECTS OF CHILD LABOR Child labor is a crime, not only because it’s unethical or government doesn’t allow it, but also because it ruins the life and values of those children who become victim of this disgraceful activity. Following are some of the effects which can be commonly observed in child labors... Family They are unable to spend time with their family because of overloaded work which they have to do for survival. Values Their values are effected most, they use drugs, cigarettes etc. Language They use abusive language as they are never taught to speak politely. This is also the part of their environmental influence. Physical abnormalities
- 12. Due to extra load and weight lifting their height stops and they are also found as part of incidents during work. There are many more effects which they face and suffer throughout their life because of involvement in child labor activity. RECOMMENDATIONS We’ve gathered some recommendations after a thorough study on this problem, after a long discussion few recommendations which we thought were appropriate are mentioned as follow… Funds We should use child labor funds for child labor. Factor reduction We should work on reducing their factors like poverty, illiteracy, inflation, corruption etc. Free education Free education should be provided needy and poor people. Awareness
- 13. Awareness programs should be conducted for business firms etc. CONCLUSION This report wasassigned to us by our instructor Dr.Shafqat Bukhariabout two weeks before submission. The topic we chose for the presentation is child labor. Major reasons behind this topic were its occurrence in Pakistan, its drawbacksand effectsonthe society. We will discuss the child labor itself with the help of factsand figuresregarding child labor around the world. Then a few cases will be discussed which will be followed by effects of child labor on children and on the society. After all this we will share the findings of a survey we conducted with the young labors discussing the consequences they face. We will conclude the presentation with recommendationsand precautionsthat are needed to be taken if we want child labor to come to an end. All the above mentioned parts mentioned in the report and they will be properly presented as well.