‘I want to be President’ – Malawi’s little voices against child labour

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Programme and Operations Officer for eastern and southern Africa at the ILO’s International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC)

When you talk of Malawi, many people think: “Oh, yes the country where Madonna adopted two children.”

The south-eastern African country also made the news in April 2012 when Joyce Banda took office as president, becoming the second woman to lead a country in Africa.

To me, Malawi is a place of hope and the home of a frail 10-year-old girl with big black eyes with the stern look of a child who has grown up too quickly. I don’t even know her name but she made a huge impression on me.

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A big team with a clear goal

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Information Officer, ILO Country Office for the Philipines.

The referee blows the whistle, indicating that the match is about to start. As I help my 10-year old son put his goalie gloves on, I recall the time he asked me about children working with dirty hands.

It was five years ago. I had just returned from a field visit to an ILO project in Camarines Norte, Philippines. As I was unpacking, he saw some pictures I had taken of children working in gold mines.

“Why are those children working with dirty hands, Mama? I have clean hands and a nice watch but they don’t. Why are they not in school?”  Continue reading

Turning childhood dreams into a decent future

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Decent Work Technical Support Team for East and South-East Asia and the Pacific

In a hot and bustling Jakarta suburb, a group of young girls – and one boy – charm me with their songs, dances, messages, and laughter. Like other healthy teenagers around the world, they sing and dance to the music of Justin Bieber and Bollywood, text their friends and family, chatter about trends, their dreams and aspirations.

They are the lucky ones. They have a childhood – finally. Continue reading