THE state of child labour in the country has declined by 2.3 per cent in the past eight years, according a new report released yesterday.
The
Tanzania’s Mainland 2014 Child Labour Survey report launched in Dar es
Salaam indicates that 28.8 per cent or 4.2 million out of 15 million
children are engaged in child labour. The percentage of children,
sometimes engaged in hazardous jobs, dropped from 31.1 per cent recorded
in 2006 to 28.8 per cent in 2014.
“The decrease is encouraging. We’re at
the right pace given the challenge of population explosion in the past
eight years in our country,” said Deputy Minister in the Prime
Minister’s Office responsible for persons with disabilities, Dr Abdallah
Possi.
The minister, who was speaking during
the launch of the report, attributed the positive gains to government
efforts in conducting awareness campaigns and the involvement of
stakeholders in combating the scourge of child labour.
He assured that the government would
continue making efforts to ensure that the number of children at work
places is reduced at high speed. He noted that for Tanzania to do away
with dependence on donor countries, it should invest on its children in
preparing them to become a productive force for economic growth.
The new study was carried out by the
state-run National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in collaboration with the
International Labour Organisation (ILO).
Other development partners involved in
the study include the UK Department for International Development
(DfID), Foreign Affairs Trade and Development of Canada and the World
Bank. NBS Director General, Dr Albina Chuwa, said the findings of the
survey will be incorporated in national policies as a way forward for
addressing the problem of child labour.
She said the study was intended to show
the magnitude of the child labour problem in the country and look into
its economic and health effects to children between the ages of 5 and 17
years.
