Brasília, November 24, 2003 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - The director of the Office of the International Labor Organization (ILO) in Brazil, Armand Pereira, said today that the biggest challenge to be faced in coming years is to eliminate the participation of children and adolescents in the drug trade. According to Pereira, narcotraffic is the area in which the institutions that work to erradicate child labor, including the ILO, have the least competence and actual experience.
On Friday (21) the ILO launched the book "Good Techniques to Combat Child Labor," to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the International Program for the Elimination of Child Labor (IPEC), developed by the ILO. The publication analyzes the IPEC's activities in Brazil since 1992 and its relations with the government and Brazilian society and presents the ten best experiences in the field of erradicating child labor. Among them, actions against child and adolescent labor in the Rio de Janeiro drug trade, against sexual exploitation of children in Mato Grosso and on the border between Brazil and Paraguay, and the creation of the National Forum for the Prevention and Erradication of Child Labor (FNPETI).
On the narcotraffic question, a study conducted by the IPEC discovered that, in addition to increased participation by minors in this type of activity, there has been a reduction in the recruitment age over the past 10 years. The average age dropped from 15 to 12. Among the chief characteristics of the children who are involved are the fact they belong to the poorest families in the slums, have little formal education, and are, for the most part, blacks or mulattos. Another aspect revealed by the study is that these youngsters marry much sooner than other adolescents.
In 10 years, from 1992 to 2002, Brazil managed to reduce child labor by 40%. But there are still around 5.4 million children and youngsters nowadays, between 5 and 17 years old, exercising some activity, according to data from the National Home Sample Survey (PNAD), carried out by the IBGE in 2001. Many are not even reimbursed for their labor, a situation that gets worse, the younger they are. (DAS)
