Human Services and Labour Ministries team up in new fight against Child Labour

The Ministry of Labour is partnering with the Ministry of Human Services in a new effort to tackle child labour in Guyana.

On Monday, Human Services Minister, Dr. Vindya Persaud said the Government is keen on implementing and developing national policies to eliminate child labour in all forms.

She said efforts are being made to train more officers from the Ministry of Human Services, as well as the Ministry of Labour to engage more meaningfully with families and children in communities.

‘So, we need to look at this issue from a very deep level and I think we also need to look at the cases on an individual basis, so we don’t only look at the child’s situation but we also look at what is the family’s situation,” Minister Persaud said.

However, she stressed that child labour must not be confused with chores in the home. Additionally, Dr. Persaud noted that the Ministry of Human Services is also looking at the issue of child abuse, explaining that the Labour and Human Services Ministries must work with the Education Ministry so that there can be public education and education in schools on the issues affecting children.

“Whatever circumstances that child would have found him/herself in, we need to engage holistically. But before that even happens, public education is key, as well as education in school. So there needs to be that nexus with the Ministry of education where children also know what is child labour,” the Minister stressed.

Meanwhile, Minister of Labour, Joseph Hamilton stated that from all indications, cases of child labour have been reduced in Guyana. However, he said much more still needs to be done, and that can only be done through collaborations with agencies such as the Child Care and Protection agency.

‘We have to be prepared in every region that that child must find him/herself in some place, not just to be taken care of but in a place where they can receive training and development—technical training so that, by the time they are sixteen they have technical skills, so that they can properly work to support their mother and their siblings,” the Minister said.

The Minister stated that the National Action Plan for the elimination of child labour is a clear indication of the Ministry’s commitment to end child labour.

He explained that Guyana’s laws and regulations concerning child labour are sufficient, but there is still a lot of ground work to be done.

“We must be able to say in a deliberate way, what we did that is progressive for those children, a year from now we must be able to say what those children are and what has become of them and if the seminar fails to answer that question, I don’t think we would have done justice to ourselves,” Mr. Hamilton said.