UN experts urge action to address alarming increase of child labour in agriculture sector – OHCHR

GENEVA (30 May 2022) A group of UN human rights experts* have welcomed the adoption of the Durban Call to Action on the Elimination of Child Labor on 20 May 2022 by representatives of governments, workers and employers organizations, UN agencies, civil society and regional organizations attending the 5th Global Conference on the Elimination of Child Labour in South Africa. They issue the following joint statement:

The Call emphasizes the need for urgent action because the COVID-19 pandemic, armed conflicts, along with food, humanitarian and climate change threaten to reverse years of progress against child labour. We echo the call for urgent measures to address this tragedy and remain deeply concerned that millions more children will be soon pushed into work, which can seriously jeopardize their physical and mental health. Child labour also produces a structural impact on the enjoyment of other human rights, including rights to adequate housing, education, right to the highest attainable standard of health, right to a healthy environment and often has its root causes in structural, racial and other forms of discrimination.

In 2020, the number of children in child labour around the world rose to 160 million, the first increase recorded in 20 years; today around 79 million children are engaged in hazardous work. Seventy percent of child labour is concentrated in the agriculture sector with an estimated 108 million children working on farms and plantations around the world, which can cause short-term and chronic adverse health effects. The same agricultural system that diminishes biodiversity and increases pollution harms children. Tens of millions of children are engaged in hazardous work, where they are often exposed to toxic chemicals, including highly hazardous pesticides. To this day, children working in agriculture continue to be exposed to hazardous pesticides that are banned in the country of export, resulting in abhorrent double standards and discrimination.

It is often the case that after exposure to toxic pesticides, the violation of a childs right to physical integrity from toxics cannot be undone. In this sense, agricultural workers are often neglected, and there is an urgent need for States and business to address the dramatic increase of child labour in the agricultural sector worldwide.

The Durban Call to Action includes 49 immediate and effective measures governments should take to end child labour with an emphasis on agriculture. Most crucially, this includes adopting an action plan to eliminate obstacles to the establishment, growth and pursuit of lawful activities of rural worker organisations to give agricultural workers a role in economic and social development.

The Call to Action further includes a commitment to reduce poverty and improve labour conditions of all people working in rural communities including peasants, fishers, forest dwellers, and pastoralists. It recommends ending their functional dependence on child labour, by securing adequate incomes through cooperatives, and representative organizations in line with relevant ILO instruments, reassessing piece-rate wage systems in agriculture; and recognizing the need to guarantee adequate minimum wages for agricultural workers, sufficient to meet their needs. Strengthening social protection is also key in eliminating child labour. It protects households from extreme poverty which could, otherwise, lead to taking children out of school and putting them to work.

While there may be a place for children exceptionally and occasionally helping on family-run farms, childrens place is in school. The Call to Action commits States to realize the right to education, by ensuring universal access to free, compulsory, quality, equitable and inclusive education and training. When prohibiting child labour, Governments must also ensure that the necessary conditions for learning are met, including adequate nutrition, water and sanitation, healthcare, books and uniforms provided free of charge. Poverty cannot be a reason that children are not in schools.

Governments must act rapidly, effectively, and continuously to improve working conditions on farms and plantations to provide decent employment and eliminate child labour. Business enterprises must have due diligence processes in place to ensure that there is no child labour across the supply chains and, where it is found, to hold all their subsidiaries, contractors, and sub-contractors accountable in line with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. Governments must ensure that all actors involved in the use of child labour are held accountable.

Governments must promptly implement the instruments already in place. For instance, the ILO Convention on the Right of Association in Agriculture is key to eliminating child labour and achieving decent work for adults in agriculture. We encourage States to ratify, domesticate and implement international labour standards. We also strongly encourage governments to implement the UN Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas.

Finally, we hope to see a conference to follow-up on the Call to Action and the development of strategies for better international coordination and cooperation on eliminating all forms of child labour, especially in the agriculture sector.

ENDS

(*) The experts: Michael Fakhri, Special Rapporteur on the right to food; Ian Fry, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of climate change; David R. Boyd, Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment; Koumba Boly Barry, Special Rapporteur on the right to education; Clment Nyaletsossi Voule, Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association; S. Tlaleng Mofokeng, Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health; Balakrishnan Rajagopal, Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living, and on the right to non-discrimination in this context; Felipe Gonzlez Morales, Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants; Olivier De Schutter, Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights; E. Tendayi Achiume, Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance; Tomoya Obokata, Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences; Marcos A. Orellana, Special Rapporteur on the implications for human rights of the environmentally sound management and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes; Catherine S. Namakula, current Chair-Rapporteur, Barbara G. Reynolds, Vice-Chairperson, Dominique Day, Miriam Ekiudoko and Sushil Raj Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent; Elbieta Karska (Chair-Rapporteur), Fernanda Hopenhaym (Vice Chairperson), Anita Ramasastry and Pichamon Yeophantong; Working Group on Business and Human Rights

The Independent Experts are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Councils independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity.

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UN experts urge action to address alarming increase of child labour in agriculture sector - OHCHR