N.C.F.C.: Child labour project a success

Child labour: like many countries around the world, many of our youngest citizens are forced to endure unsafe conditions, exposure to the elements, and a lack of education. According to local officials, the illegal activity occurs mostly in the agricultural sector, in both commercial and family subsistence farms. In July 2005, Belize joined regional partners in a pilot project designed by the International Labour Organization to identify and remove child labourers. Forty-nine children between the ages of fourteen and seventeen from the Toledo District were selected, and with the support of parents and community leaders, put into schools and vocational institutions. This afternoon, we spoke with Executive Director of the National Committee for Families and Children, Judith Alpuche, who says the awareness campaign has made the project a success.

Judith Alpuche, Executive Director, N.C.F.C.
?We are not saying that your children, when age appropriate, shouldn?t assist with chores etcetera on the farm, in the home or wherever. We are not saying that, we are talking about situations where they are in danger, situations where they are working long hours under difficult circumstances, situations that keep them from getting an education. And actually, it was not a hard sell convincing parents that they should send their children to school. The barrier is, or why the children are not in school is because their parents can?t afford to. And of course, because there are some cultural issues that come into play where people believe, okay, now you are fourteen, it?s kinda time for you to go out there in the world.?

?But there?s been lots of awareness raised in these villages because of the project. And the rates that we have with children who completed this semester, it?s?we?re very pleased, because thinking of the circumstances these children come from, many of them were out of school for a year or two years in the workforce, and now to put them back into conventional school… We only had four of them that dropped out of the forty-nine that we put into conventional schools, so I think that?s pretty impressive, we thought that was really impressive. And it really shows that if you create an enabling environment for kids, they do amazing things every time.?

With the pilot phase completed, officials now hope to duplicate the initiative in other parts of the country. According to a recent labour survey, about six percent of Belize’s children, ranging in age from five to seventeen, are engaged in some form of work that qualifies as child labour as defined by the I.L.O. If you would like to help the children in the pilot project to complete school, the National Committee for Families and Children says they welcome sponsors willing to pay school fees, buy uniforms, or provide meals to the children.