The ECLT Foundation works directly with communities in 6 countries.
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According to the ILO 152 million children, aged 5 to 17, are still in child labour.Agriculture is the most signiciant contributing sector, making up 71% of all global child labour, much of which is considered to be hazardous for their health,safety and development.
There are growing calls for farmers to diversify from tobacco to flowers, legumes or other crops. However, this oversimplifies the issue and detracts attention from the real challenge: to develop viable, high-value crops that offer smallholder farmers a realistic choice of how to allocate resources and reduce poverty. ECLT Foundation research has shown that tobacco growing is often an integral part of the farmer’s diversification efforts.
Recent heightened public attention on the unacceptable situations faced by children and families working in tobacco growing shines a light on violations of human rights otherwise largely and historically kept in darkness. The Guardian puts children at risk with articles lacking context and promoting a supply chain approach to fight child labour in tobacco growing.
The ECLT Foundation prioritises convening decision makers and thought leaders for sustainable and collaborative solutions against child labour that benefit farmers, children, farmers and their families.
The ECLT Foundation has a bold ambition. We are working for rural families so they can benefit from farming while ensuring that their children are healthy, educated, safe from exploitation, and encouraged to reach their full potential. In 2017, we responded to the large number of challenges faced by rural communities where tobacco is grown.
World Day Against Child Labour 2018 focuses safety and health for young workers and fighting hazardous child labour. Young people above the legal age have the right to work, but their health and safety must be ensured. ECLT is supporting celebrations taking place in Malawi were the Foundation has worked since 2002.
Today, the ILO estimates that 152 million children are in child labour. Overall, 71 percent of these children are working in agriculture, most them doing unpaid work with their families. The ILO statistics provide an important standard, but it is important to know more about child labour to understand the possible limitations of these numbers.
The decision made by the ILO Governing Body will have significant impact on children in communities in all the 124 countries around the world where tobacco is grown.
The International Labour Office of the ILO has released its “integrated ILO strategy to address decent work deficits in the tobacco sector,” which will be presented at the Governing Body session in March 2018.
