sweatshops in Somalia

Sweatshops in Somalia

2006 When young minds are cultivated and allowed to develop fully , they provide a nation with great hope for a future , knowing that the next generation has the capabilities to improve on what the past has done

But when young minds are forced to take on responsibilities not suitable - or worse , detrimental - for their young capabilities , when they are exposed to situations harmful to their physical development , their intellectual development stalls . And the hope of the future is endangered

Children are supposed to be in school , developing

their minds and skills under the guidance of responsible adults . However , more and more children all over the world are being forced out of school in to work . Poverty is still the most common factor why children are forced to work

The United Nation Children 's Fund defines child labor by how many hours a child works in relation to his /her age . Child labor consists of a child age 5-11 working at least an hour of economic work or 28 hours of domestic work per week age 12-14 working at least 14 hours of economic work or 28 hours of domestic work per week and age 15-17 working at least 43 hours of economic or domestic work per week

One of the worst places for a child is Somalia , a poverty stricken and internally feuding country in Africa . The country hadn 't had a central government since 1991 when its last president and dictator Mohamed Siad Barre fled the country . Efforts to establish a central government after were all unsuccessful . Some political factions in the country particularly the self-declared Republic of Somaliland in the northwest the Puntland in the northeast , and the several Mogadishu-based factions refused to recognize any effort to unite the country

In October 10 , 2002 , Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed was elected Transitional Federal President by the 275-member clan-based Transitional Federal Assembly . Ali Mohammed Ghedi was appointed Prime Minister in December No national judicial system exists

The self-declared Republic of Somaliland still insists that they are an independent country despite absence of international recognition of its government

In Puntland , separatism and political dissent is worse . Three years after leaders declared it the State of Puntland in 1998 , they elected Jama Ali Jama as president . Yusuf , refusing to accept another president seized the town of Garowe and Bosasso and controlled Puntland

Meanwhile , inter-clan and intra-clan feuds continued in the central and southern regions . The Rahanweyn Resistance Army , which controlled Bay and Bakol , suffered infighting among factions as leaders fought for control over Baidoa . Clan and factional militias ravaged the country with numerous and serious human rights abuses

In this context of political instability and internal warfare , young boys , at least 14 years of age , have been participants in the attacks by the armed forces . Children were being recruited as soldiers in Puntland according to a UN Independent Expert on Human Rights who visited the country in 2003 . Many children are also members of marauding gangs

Children were also trafficked or sold to other countries for forced labor . Family members smuggle their children out of the country to relatives or friends in South Africa , Middle East and Europe . There they will work , mostly as sexual workers , or collect welfare to send back money to their family in Somalia

In the absence of a functioning national government , there is no national policy on child labor or education . The country also has not ratified the United Nation 's Convention on the Rights of a Child

International Labor Convention on the Worst Forms of Child Labor , of which Somalia is also not a signatory , identifies slavery , trafficking forced labor , forced recruitment into the armed forces , and prostitution as among the worst kinds of child labor and should therefore be abolished

Child labor is illegal according to the pre-1991 Labor Code of Somalia and the unimplemented Transitional Federal Charter . But because there is no functioning national government to implement it , child labor remains a huge problem

It is common for children to be employed in herding , agriculture and household labor starting at an early age . According to research done by the US Bureau on Democracy , Human Rights and Labor , 32 .5 percent of children , aged 5-14 , are working in 2002 . It is believed that the figures are actually higher . In 2004 , Unicef pegged it at 42 percent

Economic poverty and the lack of educational opportunities are key factors in the continuance of child labor . Somalia has the lowest rate of school attendance in Sub-Saharan Africa with only 13 percent of children attending school , this according to a Unicef research . The US Bureau on Democracy , Human Rights and Labor says the rate ranges from 10 to 20 percent . Of those who have entered primary school , only 10 percent eventually graduate from secondary school . Schools also lack textbooks laboratory equipment , and even running water . Teachers are also poorly trained . Many of the students attend Koranic schools but they do not offer a broad-based education . Some are even reported to be forcing girls to cover their heads with veils even though this was not a custom in Somalia

Without a government to provide free and compulsory education , 62 percent of schools in Somalia ask for fees of about USD 15 .60 a year This is according to a 2000 survey by the US Bureau of International Labor Affairs

It seems hard to find a solution for the conditions of children in Somalia . The country is beleaguered with problems

Politically , they still do not have a government to unite them and provide basic services . The war and the human rights violations caused are damaging the country and preventing the people from finding solutions to their other problems

Economically , the draught and the Horn plague are destroying or have already destroyed their means of livelihood , which is agriculture or livestock . Running water is almost non-existent in the country

The education system isn 't much to be happy about . Too few children are able to go to school . And those who were able to are not receiving quality education

The family isn 't too much of a comfort for a child either , when some families would allow their child to be sold to foreign countries or be slave of other people in exchange for money

Solving the child labor problem of Somalia would require solving their other issues first . A truce would have to be established among the feuding clans and separatist states through peace negotiations . After that a functioning central government would have to be established Policies and laws would have to be created and implemented . Basic services would have to be provided to the citizens

Efforts by international groups for the welfare of children are already helping to solve the problem . However , foreign aid would not and should not last forever . An independent country should be able to stand on its own feet and solve the problems of its own people

Bibliography

Child Labor ' United Nation Children 's Fund . May 2006 . United Nation Children 's Fund . July 17 , 2006 Somalia ' Country Reports on Human Rights Practices , 2004 . February 28 , 2005 . US Department of State Bureau of Democracy , Human Rights , and Labor . July 17 , 2006 . Somalia ' The Department of Labor 's 2003 Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor . July 17 , 2006 . US Department of Labor . July 17 , 2006 . Somalia ' The Department of Labor 's 2004 Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor . July 17 , 2006 . US Department of Labor . July 17 , 2006 .Gibbons , Elizabeth , Friedrich Huebler and Edilberto Loaiza . Child Labour , Education and the Principle of Non-Discrimination ' November 2005 . United Nation Children 's Fund . July 17 , 2006 . Sweatshops in Somalia

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