Paul´s Diary – in our Child friendly report, Paul and Supermaia travel the world together to visit working children and to find out about the different lives, hopes and reasons why children work. They meet so many different children in different countries who tell them what kind of work they do, which kind of work they like and which not and what they expect from different people to support them.

Working to Change the World is a resource guide designed for educators, especially Ontario middle and secondary school teachers on the issue of Children & Work. The purpose of this resource guide designed for educators is to educate, raise awareness, and promote discussion around the issue of children and work. I recommend you share it with your teacher to see if they would like to use it in the classroom.

The Children Lead the Way Moment of Change booklet captures the individual testimonies from 10 children who have participated in the program in Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Kenya, Nicaragua and Peru. This booklet will give you an idea of how international organizations can help working children improve their lives

In Africa: http://english.maejt.org/

In Latin America: http://molacnats.org/

In Asia: http://www.concernedforworkingchildren.org/empowering-children/child-work-and-child-labour/

A place for work in children’s lives? is the question behind this paper, which highlights the various challenges faced by international organizations when addressing issues of children’s work. This Plan document written by Michael Bourdillon, a leading expert on working children, considers the role of work in the lives of children. Work in the home, in school and elsewhere can be seen as useful in learning and growing up. On the other hand, regular exposés in the media document the abuse of children in the workplace and their lack of access to quality and meaningful education around the world. The paper highlights what good practice means and some general principles for policies and interventions related to children’s work.

This 20min animated docu–drama ‘Forgotten on the Pyjama Trail’, inspired by true events in Morocco, is an insight into what happens when a simplistic approach of a ‘ban’ is followed and how it affects the lives of the very children it claims to help.

This 1min50 video introduce the openDemocracy.net series on how child work should be approached by all organizations (private or public) that try to address the issue.

In January 2015, 12 working girls and boys in the Children Lead the Way program from Bolivia, Kenya, Nicaragua, Peru, Paraguay and Canada met in Canada to share their experiences and develop an International Declaration. See link for all the videos on this project.

Some types of child work are visible (street selling) while other jobs stay hidden or hard to find (farm work). Around the world, the majority of children do domestic labour in their own homes and/or in agriculture, but many have other jobs. Photographs taken by David Parker over the past three decades reflect common jobs that young people do globally, and they also demonstrate the uneven visibility of child work: some workers are hidden even from the most intrepid photographer. Also left out are images of children in prostitution, slavery, and warfare. Parker has chosen not to display images of prostitution for ethical reasons and others are too dangerous to photograph.

The issue of child labour is multi-faceted: it means that there are many aspects of issues. A good approach is to analyze the issues through a child rights lens: what are the rights of the child that are violated in each specific situation? There is no black and white picture of what is child labour, rather there are very diverse situations and the term “child labour” covers realities that are very different in different contexts. For some children, the biggest problem is that their right to be free from violence is violated: people hurt them in the work that they do. For some, their right to be free from exploitation is violated: they do not get compensated fairly for the work that they do. For many, it is their right to education that is compromised: because they work, they cannot get access to a proper quality education or they don’t have time to study adequately after school.

The issue of age is a legal one: where countries have decided to put a minimum age for employment, children who are working under this age are considered to be in child labour regardless of the conditions in which they work.

Finally, the rights of the child is often violated differently if a boy is working of if a girl is working.

Safety at work is very important to protect workers, adult or youth. There is not one company that we can name that is worse than others. We have to work with the private sector so that they understand human rights and children rights in particular, and demand, as consumers, that those standards are respected. Respecting rights has a cost: pay employees a fair salary, have security systems in place so they don’t hurt themselves on the work place, have additional funds to protect them when they can’t work (health, pregnancy, etc.). As a rule of thumb, when consumers want to support human rights, they should look for certification in the products that they buy (such as fair trade certification) and be aware that if something is cheaper than what it should be, it is probably because the company that produced the good didn’t make such a good work in protecting human rights.

Also, we have to be very careful with blanket bans: they have proven to be very harmful to the children they were seeking to help. It is very important that if children are working it is often because they need an income. We cannot remove the source of income without replacing it with another one, otherwise children will look for other forms of work that can be even more dangerous. It is a matter of survival for many of them.

Labour and slavery are two different things. Children can chose to work because they see work as a better alternative than poor quality education, and they can find work that is supporting them economically and help them to grow their skills. But usually, children start working to provide for themselves or their family, whether because they live in poverty, in countries that have no money or no political will to support vulnerable people, where they don’t get free healthcare or free education, or because they have to run away from violent homes and need to provide for themselves. What is really interesting is to listen to what working children have to say about the reason why they work, and what they like and dislike about their work.

There are many ways that young people can make a difference. You have taken the first steps by educating yourself on an issue. Now you can share your knowledge.

In practice, it is important to remember that most children who work are working in the agriculture sector and the informal sector. Those who are working for companies are a minority, so when we think of solutions, it has to fit all children and not only those who are working in factories. I think what really makes a difference is to listen to what working children have to say, spread their message of empowerment and dignity, and look for local solutions: raising awareness on children’s right, on the root causes of inequality for all, adults and children, engaging on rights issues that are close to you as well. Fighting for your rights is as important because if children’s rights are not respected in Canada or in your community, how can we expect that they are respected elsewhere?

You can find out about what your elected representatives are doing to promote and protect children’s rights, write them a letter to let them know what your concerns are, or engage with local organizations who are organizing collective action to join forces. You can also start your own campaign.