Africa-Press – Angola. The Minister of State for the Social Area stressed, Thursday (18), in Luanda, during the launch of PANETI (National Action Program for the Eradication of Child Labour), that the Government, with the initiative, reinforces measures in favor of of children, promoting political strategies for their protection and development, auguring a bright future.
Carolina Cerqueira made it known that PANETI corresponds to the start of a journey “which is expected to be difficult, but rewarding, with the certainty of guaranteeing a brighter future for our children, a fairer society, in which equity is a right for all for the implementation of the country’s goals for sustainable development 2030”.
He mentioned, in this regard, that child combat work constitutes, for the Executive, a concern whose elimination is urgently required. PANETI/2022-2025, created in the light of Presidential Decree nº239/21 of 29 September, following the implementation of the Conventions of the International Labor Organization (ILO), constitutes, therefore, a decisive action for the protection of the rights of the kid.
“The Executive is aware of the crucial moment we are going through, and all the results to be achieved depend largely on the challenging and resilient measures that we are taking, reiterating our commitment and will to reverse the difficult situation that children still face, as well as to reversing the cycle of poverty and child labor”, said the minister.
In this context, he continued, the Government has mitigated the child labor phenomenon through inclusive Social Protection programs such as KWENDA, and others, the PIIM, which makes it possible to greatly increase the school network at a national level, in order to allow families keep their children in school, even in adverse economic circumstances.
The Minister of State for the Social Area, Carolina Cerqueira, mentioned that the School Meals, the Multisectoral Program to Combat Poverty, the most needed initiatives, as well as the increase in investment are examples that help to promote rural development, mechanize work in the agricultural sector and more investment in education.
The world economic crisis, climate change, armed conflicts and, particularly, the closure of schools, due to Covid-19, adjustments in national budgets to face the crisis, meant more work for children in aggravated situations, said the Minister of State, mentioning that many thousands were forced into the worst forms of child labour, as a result of the loss of employment and income for vulnerable families, making them poorer and more dependent.
Faced with this situation, many of these families were forced to make drastic decisions. UNICEF warns that more than 8.9 million children are at risk of entering child labor this year, as a result of the Covid-19 Pandemic, with the main incidence in Sub-Saharan Africa, an alert that cannot leave us indifferent.
In relation to this situation, the Minister of State alluded to the fact that, in the last 20 years, the number of child victims of child labor has increased alarmingly, currently reaching 160 million children and adolescents between the ages of 5 and 17, the worldwide, of which 97 million are boys and 63 million are girls, that is, 1 in 10 children in the world is in child labour.
The Minister of State for the Social Area, Carolina Cerqueira, said that the Angolan Government remains committed to international partners, in doing everything possible to reduce the consequences for the child. “There is no doubt that the commitment in question represents a great responsibility towards our partners and, above all, a noble mission for the future of children, therefore, with the future of humanity, in relation to which, the Angolan State , and all the living forces of the Nation, cannot be indifferent”, underlined the minister.
In 2019, the year in which the centenary of the International Labor Organization (ILO) was celebrated, the United Nations General Assembly unanimously adopted an ambitious resolution declaring 2021 as the “International Year for the Eradication of Child Labour”, under the auspices of the ILO, in partnership with the 8.7 Alliance, for the fulfillment of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
The aforementioned resolution, according to Carolina Cerqueira, urges UN member states to promote legislative actions and immediate measures to eradicate forced labor, end modern slavery and human trafficking. Along these lines, the resolution also aims to ensure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour, including the recruitment and use of child soldiers, in order to end child labor in all its forms by 2025.
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