Child labour in Namibia

Child labour in Namibia has occasionally been reported.^[1] This involved cases of child prostitution as well as voluntary and forced agricultural labour, cattle herding and vending.

Namibia ratified both the ILO Minimum Age Convention (C138) and the ILO Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (C182) in 2000. In addition, the country also ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1990. Namibia signed the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child in 1999, but has not ratified it as yet.

Namibia's Labour Act is the principal law governing employment-related matters in Namibia and contains provisions prohibiting employment of children.

According to the 1999 Namibian Child Activities Survey child labour exists in the country, predominantly in the agricultural sector.^[2] The results of a follow-up survey conducted in December 2005 have not been made publicly available.

Between 2006 and 2008 the country has been in the process of formulating the Action Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour in Namibia, which was nationally endorsed in February 2008. This was done with the assistance of the International Labour Organisation's (ILO) programme Towards the Elimination of the worst forms of Child Labour.

A Programme Advisory Committee on Child Labour (PACC), representing government departments, organised labour and business, and civil society guides the development and implementation of the programme.

The different elements of process are described in this article.

References

1. ^ allAfrica.com: Namibia: Child Labour in Namibia 'Must Be Tackled Head-On'
2. ^ Masters thesis by LM Nekundi