Government Policies and Programs to Eliminate the Worst Forms of Child Labor
The Government of Zimbabwe is making efforts to incorporate child labor issues into the plans and policies of several government ministries, such as the Ministries of Health and Education.[2764] The Government of Zimbabwe is in the preliminary stages of cooperating with ILO-IPEC [2765] and has conducted a national child labor survey with technical assistance from ILO-IPEC’s SIMPOC.[2766]
Zimbabwe has made progress in the education sector by promoting better access to schools and improving the quality of schooling.[2767] Since 1980, overall primary school attendance has increased by over 4,000 percent.[2768] The government plans to build more schools and expand existing schools to take on more students, provide scholarships or cover education costs for poor children through the Social Development Fund and other social safety nets, and continue training staff and improving school facilities. From 1990 to 1999, the number of training centers for out-of-school youth has increased from 3 to 15 nationwide.[2769]
Incidence and Nature of Child Labor
In 1999, a child labor survey conducted by the Zimbabwe Central Statistics Office, in cooperation with ILO-IPEC, estimated that 33 percent of children between the ages of 5 and 14 in Zimbabwe were working.[2770] Over 90 percent of working children reside in rural areas.[2771] Children work in a variety of sectors including traditional and commercial farming, domestic work, small-scale mining and gold panning, micro industries, and informal economic activities.[2772] According to the 1992 census, an estimated 800,000 children in Zimbabwe live on large-scale commercial farms, and children as young as 10 to 12 years of age have been reported to work on cotton, tea, and tobacco farms. Many children on commercial farms work for long hours in the fields, often in exchange for education at farm boarding schools.[2773]
In 1999, there were a reported 12,000 street children in Harare, and the number is said to be increasing across the country.[2774] Street children are found selling wares or watching cars.[2775] A rising number of children under 17 years are engaged in prostitution, and children are reportedly trafficked to South Africa for purposes of prostitution and forced labor.[2776] The traditional practice of offering a young girl as payment in an inter-family feud continues to occur in Zimbabwe.[2777] The child labor situation is also affected by the prevalence of HIV/AIDs, which has left nearly one million children orphaned and reliant on informal work to supplement lost family income.[2778]
Education is not free or compulsory.[2779] Primary and secondary school fees were reintroduced under the country’s Economic Structural Adjustment Program of 1991.[2780] In 1997, gross primary school enrollment was 112.4 percent.[2781] In 1994, the gross primary attendance rate was 108.9 percent, and the net primary attendance rate was 84.6 percent.[2782] Certain segments of the educational system are particularly weak, including schools in the suburbs, on large-scale farms, and in refugee camps.[2783] Few commercial farms have schools, and landowners have reportedly suspended children from attending if the children refuse to work for them.[2784]
Child Labor Laws and Enforcement
The Employment of Children and Young Persons Regulation of 1997 sets 12 years as the minimum age for general employment and 16 years as the minimum age for activities other than light work, apprenticeships, or vocational training.[2785] Children under 18 years may not be employed during school terms without the approval of the Ministry of Labor or in hazardous, overtime, or night work.[2786] Additional protection is provided by the Labor Relations Act, which stipulates that any employment contract for a child under 16 years cannot be considered legally valid.[2787] The Children’s Protection and Adoption Act of 1972 protects children’s right to education, should they work, and prohibits certain types of street vending and trading by children under 16 years.[2788] Forced labor is also prohibited.[2789]
Pursuant to the 2001 Sexual Offenses Act, prostituting children under the age of 12 or the procurement of any person for prostitution are criminal offenses and punishable by fines of up to USD 167 or up to 10 years of imprisonment.[2790] No laws specifically address trafficking in persons.[2791] Labor regulations, and specifically child labor laws, are poorly enforced because of weak interpretations of the laws themselves, a lack of labor inspectors, and a poor understanding among affected workers of basic legal rights.[2792] Zimbabwe ratified ILO Convention 138 on June 6, 2000, and ILO Convention 182 on December 11, 2000.[2793]
|
