CAPSA - Capacity Strengthening of Governments to Address Child Labor and/or Forced Labor, and Violations of Acceptable Conditions of Work in Sub-Saharan Africa

In 2020, the International Labor Organization (ILO) estimated that there were 79 million child laborers in Sub-Saharan Africa. Forced labor in Sub-Saharan Africa is estimated to affect some 3.4 million people, according to the most recent estimates. Child laborers and victims of forced labor typically work in situations that fall outside internationally recognized acceptable conditions of work, such as in unsafe working conditions or being paid wages below the legal minimum wage. These often-illegal practices can enable producers to cut costs, providing them and the countries in which their goods are produced with an unfair economic advantage. These practices also may harm workers and businesses in the United States when they are competing with products made by children and/or workers in forced labor. 

In Kenya, children are engaged in child labor in agriculture, industry, and the informal sector, and some are exploited sexually for commercial gain. As a result, Kenya is a source, transit, and destination country for children and adults subjected to forced labor and trafficking for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation. Gaps in Kenya’s legal framework and policies, weak enforcement of labor laws, a lack of information on enforcement and coordination activities, and insufficient assistance services to victims all contribute to child labor, forced labor, and the inadequate protection of workers in the country. Relating to conditions of work, Kenya is susceptible to work-week and overtime violations, weak enforcement of occupational safety and health regulations, and insufficient fines to deter unsafe practices.

In Uganda, children are subjected to the worst forms of child labor in gold mining and commercial sexual exploitation, sometimes as a result of human trafficking. The country also faces gaps in their legal framework, including inadequate laws regulating the minimum age for employment and hazardous work. In addition, the lack of a centralized supervisory authority along with inadequate funding, training, and resources has hampered the capacity of law enforcement agencies to conduct child labor inspections and investigations.