Child workers will total 5 million by 2008<\/p>\n
By T. Sima Gunawan<\/p>\n
OSLO (JP): Indonesia will have on its hands the problem of 5
\nmillion child workers and other vulnerable children by 2008, a
\ngovernment official said.<\/p>\n
Suyono Yahya, secretary to the office of the Coordinating
\nMinister for People's Welfare, described vulnerable children as
\nthose coming from poor families who are likely to also be forced
\nto work for income.<\/p>\n
Suyono pointed out that child labor is a reality facing not
\nonly Indonesia, but even developed countries such as the United
\nStates.<\/p>\n
He said on Sunday that Indonesia is applying policies with
\nvarious approaches for the \"virtual\" elimination of child labor.<\/p>\n
\"I call it 'virtual' because child labor can't really be
\neliminated... no matter how hard the government's effort is to
\nfight it.\"<\/p>\n
Suyono was in Oslo to attend the International Conference on
\nChild Labour.<\/p>\n
The International Labour Organization says there are 250
\nmillion working children worldwide. In Indonesia, the number of
\nchild workers is currently around 2 million, according to Suyono.<\/p>\n
In the problem, \"education is the key issue,\" Suyono said.<\/p>\n
Poverty is the main cause of child labor and the government is
\nseriously committed to reduce poverty, Suyono said.<\/p>\n
He conceded that in some cases displacement due to development
\nactivities was the reason for poverty, as was true for farmers
\nwhose land was appropriated for industrial estates.<\/p>\n
\"But that's not the general situation. Most people become poor
\nbecause of backwardness... We have 22 million poor people in this
\ncountry. Are they all poor because they had to give up their
\nland?\"<\/p>\n
He reminded developed nations that they agreed in a 1970
\nsummit in Rio de Janeiro to provide 0.7 percent of their GNP for
\nOfficial Development Assistance (ODA) to developing countries. In
\npractice, they now give only 0.3 percent of their GNP, he said.<\/p>\n
The Oslo Conference is expected to renew the commitment of
\ndeveloped countries to fulfill the Rio agreement \"as soon as
\npossible\".<\/p>\n
Early this month, Japan, which is the world's largest aid
\ndonor, declared it would cut its international aid budget by at
\nleast 10 percent next year and keep it down in years to come.<\/p>\n
The planned cut in its development assistance budget, which
\nwould start in April 1998, would be the first for Japan since its
\nODA program started in 1954. Japan decided to cut its budget
\nbecause its budget deficit is reportedly the worst of all major
\nadvanced industrialized nations today.<\/p>\n
In fiscal 1997, which runs to March 1998, Japan's government
\nset aside 1.17 trillion yen (US$9.7 billion) for its ODA general
\naccount budget, financed by taxpayers. Its operational budget,
\nwhich also is financed through loans, totaled 1.68 trillion yen.<\/p>\n
Japan's ODA in 1996 dropped for the first time in dollar terms
\nsince 1990 -- falling 35 percent from the previous year to $9.44
\nbillion largely due to the yen's sharp depreciation against the
\ndollar, the report said.<\/p>\n
In 1996, Indonesia was the largest recipient of Japan's ODA,
\nreceiving $965.5 million, followed by China with $861.7 million,
\nThailand with $664 million, India with $579.3 million and the
\nPhilippines with $414.5 million.<\/p>\n
The other top 10 recipients were Pakistan, Mexico, Egypt,
\nBangladesh and Sri Lanka.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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