{"id":226197,"date":"2022-05-17T09:46:27","date_gmt":"2022-05-17T07:46:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/social-justice-key-to-fighting-child-labour\/"},"modified":"2022-05-17T09:46:27","modified_gmt":"2022-05-17T07:46:27","slug":"social-justice-key-to-fighting-child-labour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/social-justice-key-to-fighting-child-labour\/","title":{"rendered":"Social justice key to fighting child labour"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Employment and Labour Minister Thulas Nxesi says the fight against child labour is about social justice, creating a prosperous future and hope for children.<\/p>\n

Minister Nxesi told delegates at the 5th Global Conference on the Elimination of Child Labour that South Africa as a long-standing member of the International Labour Organization (ILO) had always stood for global social justice.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut, in South Africa we also share the vision of the ILO and that of its member states – that of transforming the labour market and developing a decent world of work,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Nxesi was speaking during a high level panel discussion on the topic of child labour in the midst of the deficits in decent work and youth employment, identifying pressing global challenges, and priorities for the global community.  <\/p>\n

\u201cSouth Africa takes the issue of child labour very seriously. The country subscribes on the centenary declaration on the future of work that is premised on human-centred approach. The conference gives us an opportunity to show our commitment to eliminating child labour,\u201d Nxesi said.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, International Labour Organization Director-General, Guy Ryder, said the fight against the elimination of child labour has been characterised by \u201ca go back – to go forward\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy impression over the last 20 years is that we got a little bit complacent. We were making really good progress until the last 10 years. Things have started to slow down. We stopped making child labour and its elimination a key policy objective \u2013 nationally and internationally. We talk a lot about child labour and have a lot of programmes against child labour. We need a political push against this campaign.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have the global architecture. Nationally we also have commitments and thirdly, we need to bring in all the stakeholders,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Ryder said that there is a need to bring in the global elements and the national elements into the mix to regain the momentum quickly \u2013 which has somewhat dissipated.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet us not be distracted by the very real broad of challenges in the labour market \u2013 such as youth unemployment and others. Let us make sure that child labour features in all the approaches \u2013 explicitly,\u201d he said.  <\/p>\n

The conference continues today with discussions on:<\/p>\n