Campaign to raise awareness of child labor

JAKARTA (JP): An internationally sponsored campaign against child labor in Indonesia and around the world will be initiated next month to raise awareness of the protection of children's rights.

Arist Merdeka Sirait, the coordinator of the Indonesian Committee for the Global March Against Child Labor said in a written statement that the campaign, supported by the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) and the International Labor Organization (ILO), is aimed at encouraging awareness and government support for a ban on child labor.

"Our mission is to support children's rights for education, for liberation from exploitation and to prevent them from working in places that could destroy them physically, mentally, spiritually, morally and hamper their social development," Arist explained.

He said the campaign here would include seminars and discussions on child labor, an exhibition on children's creative works and musical performances.

A worldwide march on the subject, which will include an Indonesian leg, is due to be held from Feb. 16 to June.

No specific date or location has been given for the Indonesian leg, but Arist said activists from 70 labor and non-governmental organization in 10 cities in Sumatra and Java have expressed their willingness to participate.

Based on data from the Central Bureau of Statistics, there are more than 1.8 million child laborers aged from 10 to 14 in Indonesia. About one million are located in Java.

Arist said that the figures were probably even higher as the statistics did not include children under the age of 10.

He claimed that some six million children aged between 7 and 14 reportedly did not attend elementary school.

He said that in rural areas, there were an estimated 1.35 million children working in the agricultural sector.

According to Arist, who quoted a Unicef report, child laborers often endured working hours as long as those put in by adults.

He said children worked 45 to 60 hours per week in factories, much longer than their colleagues who worked on farms and plantations.

Arist's immediate concern is the physical abuse and exploitation suffered by children forced to work as prostitutes.

"Few people realize that there are children trapped in jobs which are naturally not suitable for their age," he said. (09)