An assessment done here by the International Labour Orgainsation (ILO), found that child labour is almost non-existent, Labour Minister Stephenson King has said.
The ILO and other international agencies did at one stage flag Saint Lucia as a potential country where child labour may exist, King said, noting that as soon as he assumed office he decided to get to the bottom of it.
Mr King said while he is awaiting a final report from the ILO based on the debriefing that was held with him and officials from the Ministry of Labour recently, there is not really any child labour issues in Saint Lucia
There are however social issues, as far as children is concerned and the responsibility of parents. The minister is hopeful that an inter-ministerial team is established to deal with the findings of the report.
“The team could look at issues of school drop outs, social issues affecting families and children, and to take a bold initiative to invest some resources in regularizing those situations,” he added.
Estimates for Latin America and the Caribbean region point to a conservative estimate of 8 percent of the total children of school age engage in labour activities.
Labour conventions prescribe that no children below the age of 12 should be engaged in any work.
Leave a Reply