By Aicha DRAME
The Support Program for Groups of Children in Child Labor (PAGE) aims to effectively improve the living and working conditions of children facing exploitation through labor. The organizers of the webinar held on Tuesday, November 28, 2023, in Mbour sought to gain a clear and descriptive understanding of the daily lives of child worker groups and their relationships with employers and the communities in which they operate.
The ultimate goal of PAGE is to transform these groups of child workers, victims of labor exploitation, into defenders of their rights who network with their peers in the African Movement of Children and Youth Workers (MAEJT) to actualize their rights and fulfill their dreams. Presiding over this webinar, Mr. DEGNI Marc Eliel, President of the Association of Children and Youth Workers of Côte d’Ivoire, stated that this movement tries to help young workers by involving and empowering them with activities.
According to the young boy from Côte d’Ivoire, governments strive and do their utmost to promote children’s rights, but this is not yet effective due to the lack of involvement of children in decision-making bodies. « Nowadays, it’s not easy to involve children in decision-making bodies and parliament, » he said, adding that children’s concerns are not taken into account in decision-making spheres. « We don’t see children within bodies such as the meetings of the Ministry of National Education, even though it’s the children who go to school and understand the difficulties they face and the realities of school better. Our presence in Dakar will allow us to establish the steps to achieve effective children’s participation, » detailed Mr. DEGNI.
In a continent shaken by socio-economic and political crises, security challenges, lack of social protection, and increasing poverty exacerbated by income loss/market closures, African children face numerous challenges, including labor exploitation. This phenomenon, as indicated by MAEJT representatives, has intensified with Covid-19, resulting in consequences for both adults and children: increased poverty and inequality, tensions within families, divorces, family breakdowns, forced marriages, early pregnancies, child abandonment, begging, dropout rates, among others, in the face of unemployment among many heads of households and soaring prices of essential commodities (Ref: Report on the « Effects of the Cost of Living and Economic Inflation on Children and Youth in Africa »: [link to the report]).
Given all these consequences on children’s lives, Enda Jeunesse Action (International Bureau), in its role as a support structure for MAEJT, began implementing a Child Labor Support Program called PAGE in 2021.
In the first phase of this program, MAEJT member countries successfully pinpointed the position of 1409 groups of children and young workers in Sub-Saharan Africa and together resolved the issues they faced. In the pilot phase of PAGE, the focus is on listening, analyzing, and finding solutions for vulnerable children. Member countries of MAEJT precisely identified and reached out to 1409 groups of child and young workers in Africa. Subsequently, they sought to address the problems they encountered.
As for the second phase that started in 2022, it builds on the lessons learned from the diagnostic analysis of the previous edition and on pedagogical tools produced in anticipation of expected outcomes. It highlights the problems child workers face concerning their rights, the types of responses to difficulties related to children’s rights, and the impact of these responses on the work and lives of children supported by this program.
Given the realities child workers experience, Enda Jeunesse Action (International Bureau), an organization that places children and youth at the center of its actions, in collaboration with MAEJT, organized the webinar to share the results of the second edition of the Child Labor Support Program (PAGE) and to alert on the uncertain future of these thousands of children forced to work for their survival.
The webinar allowed the voices of children and young workers in labor situations to be heard, presenting their perspectives on activities carried out and solutions obtained within this program; sharing overall statistics of beneficiaries; advocating for strong measures by authorities, CSOs, etc., to protect children.
The webinar organizers reviewed the mapping process. Then, there was the presentation of the overall results (phases 1 and 2) obtained from PAGE. Additionally, there were beneficiary testimonials/videos, discussions and exchanges on the results achieved, and advocacy messages.
In this regard, we noted the commitment of expected partners, networks, foundations, and philanthropies, notably Save the Children International, Plan International, UNICEF, IOM, World Vision International, ISS-WA, Ignite Philanthropy, Oak Foundation, USAID, ACPF, SOS Children’s Villages, Terre des Hommes, Hervetas, Batonga Foundation, Social Change Factory, EDUCO, Lightfl, Demeter Foundation.
In order to promote children’s rights, the African Movement of Children and Youth Workers (MAEJT), in collaboration with Enda Jeunesse Action, organized a webinar to share the results of the Child Labor Support Program (PAGE). An opportunity for stakeholders from 28 African countries to also launch the program on the occasion of the International Day of Children’s Rights to raise awareness about the situation of child workers in Africa and call on authorities and decision-makers at different levels to take urgent measures.
