80 million children work in Africa

  1. Posted on Wednesday 15 December 2010 - 11:00
    rubakana
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    Rubakana Eddy, AfricaNews reporter in Bujumburam, Burundi
    An estimated 80 million children work across Africa a figure that could reach 100 million by 2015. Despite the measures implemented to eradicate the scourge, trafficking and exploitation of children continues in Africa.
    africa map
    According to the International Labour Organization, a little over 51% of children aged 10 to 14 work in Burkina Faso, although the Labour Code prohibits employment of children under 14 years.

    It is also common in Togo 313,000 Togolese children between 5 and 15 work in urban areas of Togo or in foreign countries and are treated as virtual slaves.

    Many children, mostly aged under 14, leave their families to find work in other regions or cross the border to travel to neighbouring countries.

    They often perform poorly paid and arduous work as laborers on plantations or domestic, in dangerous health situations.

    The trafficked children are working 10 to 20 hours a day, they carry heavy loads and handle dangerous tools.

    The scourge is growing in West Africa and Central Africa where some leave voluntarily or at the request of their parents, seeking to escape the terrible poverty of their region.

    But others are trapped against traffickers who exploit them or resell them dearly.

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