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Johannesburg, August (GYRP) - Too many children who should not
be working are, while too many young people who should be working aren't.
Sometimes statistics speak louder than words. According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), one in six children - 246 million - are in work that is detrimental to their development. Seventy-three million working children are under 10 years old. And 8.4 million children are trapped in slavery, trafficking, debt bondage, prostitution or other illicit activities. Of these, 5.7 million are bonded and 300,000 have been forcibly recruited for armed conflict.
"Socially sustainable development is largely dependent on achieving education for all and child labour is a major obstacle to this," says the ILO in Sustainable Development @ Work, a document prepared for the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD). In turn this makes it harder for them to find decent work as adults. This undermines national development because they are less able to contribute to economic growth.
Meanwhile, 66 million young people are unemployed and 500 million will enter the workforce within the next decade. In South Africa, the WSSD host country, youth unemployment rose from 45% to 55% between 1995 and 2000.
ILO Director General Juan Somavia told summit delegates on Thursday to "remember that it is through work - and work that is accomplished in conditions of freedom, equity, security and human dignity - that people can rise out of poverty."
When a young person is unemployed their job prospects for life are damaged. They have less spending power, which hurts economies, and their frustration can lead to crime, rising drug abuse and social unrest.
The ILO is tackling youth unemployment as the lead organisation of the Youth Employment Network (YEN). This is a joint project with the World Bank and UN that sees four ‘Es’ as crucial to helping young people into work:
· The first is Employability - young people need education, skills and the confidence to find work, especially given the speed of technological change.
· Second, Entrepreneurship. "We believe young people have a lot of energy to set up and develop their own businesses," says Maria Ducci, ILO Director of External Programmes and Partnerships, "but there are too many barriers to this at the moment."
· The third ‘E’ is Equal Opportunities for men and women - discrimination against women is even more marked among young people than other workers.
· And the fourth is for Employment Creation. Young people will only find jobs if they exist in the first place.
At the moment employment issues are being sidelined from the WSSD negotiations. It's just one example of the balancing act of achieving sustainable development.
The summit seems to be about building the joists between the three pillars - social, economic and environmental - to stop the building, our earth, falling down. Employment may just be a vital but neglected support.
© GLOBAL YOUTH REPORTERS PROGRAMME
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Annabel Short
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