The National Child Labour Action Programme for South Africa
Impact of HIV/AIDS on child labour
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- 4.6Focus on hot spots, such as ex-homelands
- 4.7Prevention of child labour
- 4.8Considering child labour in other policies
- 4.9General measures required from the Department of Labour
4.5Impact of HIV/AIDS on child labourThe HIV/AIDS pandemic has made children’s situations ever more precarious, and is therefore a major influence on child labour. Children whose parents become infected and later become ill and eventually die, are affected in many ways. Educational opportunities are compromised as children are withdrawn from school to care for ill family members, to care for siblings and to help with household chores where adults cannot do so any more, or to work to supplement family income. These issues are elaborated at 7.1. The Department of Education is planning to make a major intervention in this regard through an audit, curriculum training and drafting of a policy framework. Some stakeholders have recommended that children in households where their parents are ill, should be removed to shelters. Such an approach could create more problems that it may solve, and is presently against government policy. However, there may be circumstances where it may be best for the child to provide alternative care. The statistics on child work on which this document and the Discussion document rely are sourced primarily from a survey conducted in 1999. The prevalence of HIV/AIDS has increased significantly since that time and has almost certainly increased the incidence of many forms of child work and labour. In addition, HIV/AIDS brings other substantial hazards to already hazardous forms of exploitation of children, such as commercial sexual exploitation (see 5.3). 4.6Focus on 'hot spots', such as ex-'homelands'An analysis of the incidence of work-related activity by children shows that most forms are concentrated in the ex-homeland areas. Children in these areas, more than children in any other type of area, generally have to engage in many different types of work-related activity simultaneously. For example, 12% of children in these areas did economic work for three hours or more per week, compared to 11% in commercial farming areas, and 5-6% in urban areas. A further 32% of children in ex-homeland areas collected fuel or water for three hours or more per week, compared to 18% in commercial farming areas, 11% in urban informal areas and 3% in urban formal areas. These patterns suggest that implementation of most of the policy measures proposed in this document should be focussed in the ex-homeland areas. A concentration of children in WFCL and other priority kinds of child labour in specific geographical hot spots should be an important factor for focusing implementation of policies to alleviate difficulties faced by children engaged in such forms of work, or those at risk of being so engaged. This should include the following:
4.7Prevention of child labourPreventing child labour is far better than remedying the problem, and prevention strategies form the key element of the policy. They include the following:
4.8Considering child labour in other policiesThis document makes it clear that a large range of policies is, or should be, implicated in addressing child labour. The proposal in this regard is as follows:
4.9General measures required from the Department of Labour
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