ILO Subregional Office for the Caribbean

 

 

 

 

 

 

News

     

2007

  • World Day Against Child Labour 2007: New global partnership against child labour in agriculture
    ILO press release, June 2007

    The International Labour Organization (ILO) today joined forces with five key international agricultural organizations to launch a new landmark global partnership to tackle child labour in agriculture.  MORE...

  • World Day Against Child Labour 2007 to focus on elimination of child labour in agriculture ILO press release, June 2007

    This year's World Day Against Child Labour on June 12 is to focus on the elimination of child labour in agriculture, which accounts for a staggering percentage of the world's working children and is one of the most dangerous forms of work for children and adults alike. MORE...

    2006

  • Some 35 child labourers discovered in Parika area - Shadick
    Tuesday, January 3, 2006, Stabroek News

    Some 35 children in the Parika area were involved in child labour during last year.  according to Minister in the Ministry of Labour, Human Services and Social Security, Bibi Shadick.  MORE...

  • Dealing with the exploitation of children
    Sunday, January 22, 2006, Trinidad and Tobago Express

    Questions have been raised by the Committee on the Rights of the Child about this country's ability to effectively deal with the exploitation of children.  MORE...

  • Save the children
    Monday, January 23, 2006, Trinidad and Tobago Express

    Opinion: As with several of the debates now taking place about whether social development is keeping pace with this country's financial and economic growth and expansion, an international spotlight has been thrown on the question of the rights of the child in Trinidad and Tobago.  MORE...

  • ILO initiatives paying off, says Labour Minister
    Monday, January 23, 2006, Trinidad and Tobago Express

    Questions have been raised about Trinidad and Tobago's ability to effectively deal with child sex abuse, child pornography and child labour by the Committee on the Rights of the Child. MORE...

  • Programme launched to combat worst forms of child labour -- US Labour Department to provide US$2M grant
    Thursday, February 2, 2006, Stabroek News

    A United States Department of Labour US$2 million grant is being used to fund Educare Guyana, an initial three-and-a-half year remedial education programme to combat the worst forms of child labour (WFCL) in Guyana. MORE...

  • Groups discuss jobs hazardous to children at Kingston workshop
    Saturday, February 4, 2006, Jamaica Observer

    A list of hazardous jobs that children are prohibited from engaging in, which will ultimately be a part of the Child Care and Protection Act, was discussed at a workshop in Kingston on Thursday. MORE...

  • The working child
    Saturday, February 4, 2006, Stabroek News

    There is nothing furtive about child labour.  Neither the child who labours, nor the adult who sends him/her to do so attempt to hide it, so one would not imagine that there are laws against it and penalties involved.  MORE...

  • Save our children
    Sunday, February 5, 2006, Trinidad and Tobago Newsday

    The murder of 11-year-old Akiel Chambers in 1998 remains the blackest blot on the record of the Police Service. To be sure, there are many other cases where police officers have been lackadaisical or incompetent or corrupt.  But the Akiel case is especially egregious for several reasons: it was a child who was murdered; the child was being sexually abused; MORE...

  • Child month competition launched
    Wednesday, February 8, 2006, Jamaica Gleaner

    The National Child Month Committee has officially launched its poster and essay competition.  They are the first in a series of activities being organised for Child Month 2006 in May to educate the public about the needs of children.   The theme for the month is "restore the family, save our children". MORE...

  • Violence against children on the rise
    Saturday, February 11, 2006, Trinidad and Tobago Newsday

    Violence against children and adolescents is on the increase in the Caribbean, said Dr. Julie Meeks-Gardner, head of the Caribbean Child Development Centre at the UWI, Mona, Jamaica.  MORE...

  • Child molesters running free
    Sunday, February 12, 2006, Trinidad and Tobago Express

    Intro: Only two weeks ago news broke of a 12-year-old boy who had been buggered before he was thrown in a pond where he drowned. Dane Andrews, a pupil of Hindustan Government Primary, had reportedly gone to a man-made pond at... MORE...

  • Teen sex scandal rocks Tobago
    Friday, February 17, 2006, The Trinidad Guardian

    Scarborough police are now investigating a shocking sex rind in Bethel, Tobago, involving teenage girls who are being recruited as sex slaves. MORE...

  • Act now to end sex scandal in Tobago
    Saturday, February 18, 2006, The Trinidad Guardian

    The newspaper is demanding in the interest of the people of Tobago that the senior police officers in charge of operations in Tobago, the Chief Secretary of the Tobago House of Assembly, the civic and governmental institutions on the island that seek the welfare of children, parents and all the families of Tobago rise up immediately to ascertain the details about the alleged sex scandal in Bethel/Bethany... MORE...

  • CDA launches 'child-friendly' website
    Monday, February 20, 2006, Jamaica Observer

    The Child Development Agency launched its website Friday, saying the portal opens new communication channels and offers a window for information that should help foster sensitivity for children's rights. MORE...

  • UNICEF concerned with Jamaica's child labour figure
    Thursday, March 16, 2006, Jamaica Gleaner

    The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) remains concerned that a significant number of Jamaican children are involved in child labour and living in poverty. MORE...

  • Bills passed on overtime payment, child labour
    Monday, May 1, 2006, Stabroek News

    Four bills addressing holiday with pay, overtime payment, child labour and licensed premises were passed on Thursday in Parliament. MORE...

  • Child labour declining worldwide for first time, says ILO
    Friday, May 5, 2006, Jamaica Observer

    In the beginning I didn't know how to read.  But my teacher kept pushing me, and now reading is my life", Taina, now 15, said from Valente, 800 miles (1,300 kilometres) northeast of Rio. MORE...

  • Child labour down
    Saturday, May 6, 2006, Trinidad and Tobago Newsday

    The report said child labour in its worst forms is on the decline for the first time.  The report also indicates that if the current pace of the decline is maintained, and the global momentum to stop child labour continued, child labour could feasibly be eliminated in ten years.  MORE...

  • ILO says child labour on the decline
    Sunday, May 7, 2006, Grenada Guardian

    Taina Moraes cut sisal to make rope in northeastern Brazil, a tough job for a seven year old girl.  But UN-backed programmes helped her family plant crops and guy goats and in doing so got Moraes out of the factory and into the schoolhouse. MORE...

  • ILO initiatives paying off, says Labour Minister
    Tuesday, May 9, 2006, Barbados Advocate

    As of the 12th April 2006, all 13 Caribbean member States of the International Labour Organisation have ratified ILO Convention No. 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labour. MORE...

  • Child labour crisis in Savanna-la-Mar
    Thursday, May 11, 2006, Jamaica Gleaner

    Responding to reports of an alarming number of children selling at the Savanna-la-Mar market in Westmoreland, the Office of the Children's Advocate is spearheading a drive to stem the practice.  MORE...

  • Child abuse rampant in Tobago
    Friday, May 26, 2006, Trinidad and Tobago Express

    Sexual child abuse is rampant in Tobago, according to District Health Visitor Vere Jack who yesterday called for a special system so that "the child will not be raped again and again" when the tale is related. MORE...

  • Parents force girls to have sex with older men for cash
    Wednesday, June 7, 2006, Jamaica Gleaner

    Women's advocates are concerned that early and preteen girls are being forced into sexual relationships with older men by their parents. MORE...

  • TT team for children protection talks
    Sunday, June 11, 2006, Trinidad and Tobago Newsday

    Roseau, Dominica: Nearly 40 delegates, including ministers of government from the Eastern Caribbean, Suriname, Turks and Caicos Islands and Trinidad and Tobago, will gather in Dominica from Wednesday for the Governments of the Eastern Caribbean/United Nations Children Fund (INICEF) Mid-Term Review Meeting on Child Protection issues. MORE...

  • Call for child labour policy
    Monday, June 12, 2006, Trinidad and Tobago Express

    The All Trinidad Sugar and General Workers' Trade Union is calling on Government to elaborate on a clear and effective policy for the eradication and prevention of child labour in Trinidad and Tobago. MORE...

  • End in sight to global problem of child labour
    Monday, June 12, 2006, Deutsche Welle

    Some 218 million children worldwide are forced to work.  The International Labour Organization's World Day Against Child Labor Monday is designed to draw attention to their plight -- and the situation is already improving.  MORE...

  • Students march against child labour
    Tuesday, June 13, 2006, The Trinidad Guardian

    Rain failed to dampen the spirits of scores of schoolchildren who gathered at the Queen's Park Savannah yesterday to march against child labour. MORE...

  • Coming to grips with child labour
    Wednesday, June 14, 2006, Trinidad and Tobago Express

    The Ministry of Labour co-sponsored a march involving young children around the Queen's Park Savannah in Port of Spain on Monday, as part of its activities marking World Day Against Child Labour.  MORE...

  • New law on cards to tackle child labour
    Tuesday, June 20, 2006, Jamaica Gleaner

    Government is moving to draft new legislation to eliminate child labour locally, despite progress in reducing the incidence of abuses here.  MORE...

  • New law to cut out child labour
    Wednesday, June 21, 2006, The Nation Newspaper

    "...and even though the figure may be low for Jamaica, the potential still exists for the whole situation to balloon so that every effort has to be employed now to control it", he said, while addressing the opening ceremony of national consultation on tackling child labour at the Courtleigh Hotel in New Kingston on Monday.  MORE...

     2005

  • Help needed for street children in T&T
    Sunday, January 2, 2005, Trinidad and Tobago Express

    Criminal gangs use them as servile agents, drug lords as surreptitious couriers and perverts as their personal sex objects.  All the stakeholders, social welfare services, the non-governmental organisations (NGOs), the police and social scientists admit these facts about street children but the problem persists.  MORE...

  • Ministry says report slamming Jamaica's labour standards overstated
    Thursday, January 20, 2005, Jamaica Observer

    The labour ministry says Monday's report on Jamaica, which cited shortcomings in the application and enforcement of core labour standards, violation of trade union rights, equality and child labour, does not accurately reflect the status of labour standards in the country. MORE...

  • Trade unionists rap sections of report on Jamaica's labour standards
    Saturday, January 22, 2005, Jamaica Observer

    Two of the island's largest trade unions have criticised aspects of the International Conference of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) report on Jamaica's adherence to core labour standards, and supported the government's stance that some issues were overstated. MORE...

  • Jamaica faces US sanctions -- Named among 14 countries said not doing enough to halt trafficking in persons
    Saturday, June 4, 2005, Jamaica Observer

    The US State Department yesterday named Jamaica among eight new countries of 14 which could be subject to sanctions because they were not doing enough to halt international trafficking in persons. MORE...

  • US report baseless, says Jamaica
    Monday, June 6, 2005,
    Nation News, Barbados

    Brief Kingston - Jamaica's Government yesterday denounced a United States State Department report criticising the island's efforts to fight human trafficking, saying the findings were not supported by hard evidence and ignored recent measures to... MORE...

  • World Day against Child labour, June 12 (Posted: June 2005)

    The World Day Against Child Labour on June 12 was established by the ILO in 2002 to raise the visibility of global and local efforts against child labour and highlight the global movement to eliminate the practice, particularly its worst forms. According to the ILO, there are nearly 250 million child labourers worldwide. Removing more than one million children who work in mines and quarries from one of the worst forms of child labour is the focus of events around the world marking the World Day Against Child Labour on 12 June this year. Several Caribbean countries planned activities to commemorate the World Day this year.  MORE... 

  • Child labour exposed -- Eliminating the scourge in the Caribbean's top offenders
    Monday, June 13, 2005, Trinidad and Tobago Express

    "This is not the image that the Caribbean has of itself", said Leslie Bowrin, International Labour Oranisation Regional Child Labour Project Manager. MORE...

  • A rescuing ultimatum
    Monday, June 13, 2005,
    Jamaica Observer

    Owen James was right to have pointed out on his "Business Day" programme last Wednesday that if we do not take seriously the US State Department's 90-day ultimatum to address the problem of human trafficking in our island, our economy could face a big blow.  MORE...

  • Trafficking of persons and child care protection
    Tuesday, June 21, 2005,
    Jamaica Observer

    The matter of the trafficking in persons in Jamaica has been in the news recently, following the report by the United States of America that Jamaica has been downgraded from the 2004 assessment of being ranked at Tire 2 in human trafficking to now being ranked Tier 3, which is the lowest level of the three-tier system.  MORE...

  • The children of Jamaica's sex trade
    Sunday, June 26, 2005,
    Jamaica Observer

    She's 17 and she became a "masseuse" almost two years ago when pregnancy forced her to drop out of one of Kingston's more prestigious girls high schools. MORE...

  • Businesses exploiting children, says Peet
    Sunday, June 29, 2005, The Nassau Guardian

    Children are still being exploited in the business sector, a senior government minister has claimed.  MORE...

  • National Seminar on Child Labour in the Bahamas (posted: July 2005)

    A National Meeting on Child Labour and Hazardous Occupations in the Bahamas was held during the last of week of June in Nassau, Bahamas. The meeting brought together a group of key stakeholders from business, government, workers’ organizations and NGOs to sensitize them on child labour issues and co-opt their assistance in the identification and demarcation of hazardous work, consistent with the provisions of ILO Convention No. 182. and ILO Recommendation No. 90.  

    ILO Convention No. 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labour requires each member State to host consultations to identify where hazardous work exists. Under Article 3 of this Convention, hazardous work, one of the worst forms of child labour, is identified as work which, by its nature or the circumstances in which it is carried out, is likely to harm the health, safety or morals of children. It is expected that a list of hazardous occupations for children below 18 years of age  will be drafted for the Bahamas.

    The meeting was jointly hosted by the Ministry of Labour and Immigration, Bahamas and the Regional Child Labour Project, ILO Subregional Office for the Caribbean. 

    Similar meetings are being planned for the countries covered under the ILO’s Regional Child Labour Project.

  • Strategic Planning Workshop for the Bahamas National Steering Committee (posted: July 2005)

    A Strategic Planning Workshop on Child Labour was conducted for members of the Bahamas ad hoc National Steering Committee on Child Labour on 29-30 June 2005.  Hosted by the Regional Child Labour Project of the ILO Subregional Office for the Caribbean, in collaboration with the Ministry of Labour and Immigration, the objective of the workshop was to enhance the members’ capacity to develop a national plan of action for the eradication and prevention of child labour, based on a common understanding of the causes, issues, challenges and lessons learnt on child labour.

  • Child labour here seen as significant -- poverty fuelling problem, Yankana tells seminar
    Wednesday, July 20 2005, Stabroek News

    "Unless we deal with poverty, we would not be able to deal with the eradication of child labour", Executive Director of the Consultative Association of Guyanese Industry (CAGI), David Yankana, said yesterday. MORE...

  • Modern day slavery
    Monday, August 22, 2005, The Trinidad Guardian

    Tomorrow the world marks the UN International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its abolition.  We remember the thousands of slaves who suffered dehumanising treatment. MORE...

     

  • Two Mayan communities in Belize reap benefits from ILO’s Programme (posted: October 2005)

    Two Mayan communities, The Dump/Big Falls and San Antonio, in the Toledo District of Belize are already reaping the benefits of activities carried out by the ILO’s pilot Action Programme on Child Labour. The Programme is being implemented by the National Committee for Families and Children (NCFC), with the assistance of the ILO Subregional Office for the Caribbean.

    In both communities, where over 50% of the children are estimated to be involved in child labour, between 60-70 children are now being provided with uniforms, books and opportunities to continue their education full-time. A recent visit to the communities by Leslie Bowrin, ILO’s Regional Child Labour Project Manager, Ms. Judith Alpuche, Executive Director of the NCFC and Mr. Adelfino Vasquez, Labour Officer of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Defence, Belize, provided the opportunity to receive valuable feedback from the elders, parents and children on the activities carried out by the Programme.

  • Child labour rising in T&T
    Monday, October 3, 2005, Trinidad and Tobago Express

    Children are being turned into prostitutes and in one case a girl as young as eight, in Central Trinidad, was discovered selling her body to customers for as little as $5.  They are hustling sales on street corners and in the market place, taking up whatever jobs are offered to them and they are being exploited.  MORE...

  • Stem tide of child labour
    Monday, October 3, 2005,
    Trinidad and Tobago's Newsday

    THE EDITOR: The Convention on the Rights of the Child states in article 32 re: child labour that...1) State parties recognise the right of the child to be protected from economic exploitation and from... MORE...

  • Child labour charge in teen's death at TCL
    Tuesday, November 8, 2005,
    The Trinidad Guardian

    The Trinidad Cement Ltd group's human resource manager, Courtney Mc Nish, has promised that the Company "will not hide anything" in the investigation of the death of 17 year-old contract worker Dinesh Rampersad.  MORE...

  • Focus on local child labour problems
    Friday, November 11, 2005,
    Nation News, Barbados

    After a 2002 report commissioned by the International Labour Organisation discovered that children in Barbados are involved in prostitution and pornography, Barbados has been dealing with it at a national level. 

     

    2004

  • Ministry set to tackle child labour
    Sunday, April 11, 2004, Stabroek News

    A baseline survey on children doing forced labour, which will inform an action programme, rehabilitation and child-labour policy will soon be set in motion.  MORE...

     

  • US report spurs call for action to stop exploitation of women, girls
    Wednesday, June 16, 2004, Jamaica Observer

    Executive Director of the Bureau of Women's Affairs, Dr. Glenda Simms, has called for more action to be taken to eliminate the sexual exploitation of women and girls in the country.  MORE...

    2003

  • 6,500 street, working children in Jamaica -- survey
    Thursday, February 27, 2003, Jamaica Observer

    There are more than 6,000 street and working children in Jamaica, according to a national survey commissioned by the Ministry of Health, and conducted by WORKER MANAGEMENT Services Centre.  MORE...

     

  • Child development agency comes on-stream today
    Tuesday, April 1, 2003, Jamaica Observer

    The Child Development Agency (CDA), an amalgamation of the adoption board, the children's services division and the child support unit, comes on-stream today and is expected to tackle tough issues including child labour and the general protection of the nation's children.  MORE...

     

  • Measures now protect children
    Sunday, April 27, 2003, The Trinidad Guardian

    Drastic measures must be taken to protect the nation's children from the sadism, stupidity, or irresponsibility of their parents and guardians. No society, and indeed no animal species, can thrive or even survive for long without ways and means of protecting its young.  MORE...

  • Government moving to combat child labour, keep kids in school
    Wednesday, June 25, 2003, Jamaica Observer

    Government is soon expected to take steps to keep children under age 15 out of the workforce and in school, by ratifying an education regime established by the International Labour Organisation (ILO). MORE...

    2002

  • Josiah returns from Labour Administration Meeting
    Friday, April 19, 2002, Antigua Sun

    "We are charged with the modernisation of labour ministries and departments, while promoting the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, and the Convention on the Worst Forms of Child Labour," Josiah said.  MORE...

  • Jamaica to ratify two UN Protocols on rights of child
    Thursday, May 9, 2002, Jamaica Observer

    Jamaica will ratify two United Nations optional protocols on the rights of the child and will promulgate a new Child Care and Protection Act, Prime Minister P. J. Patterson announced yesterday at the UN 27th Special Session on Children in New York.  MORE...

  • Jamaica to undertake child labour survey
    Saturday, May 18, 2002, Jamaica Observer

    Jamaica is to undertake a national survey on child labour, as the international community continues to plan strategies to combat the global problem. MORE...

  • US funding Jamaica's programme to eliminate child labour
    Monday, May 27, 2002, Jamaica Observer

    The government's programme to reduce and ultimately eliminate child labour in all its forms -- the International Programme for the Elimination of Child Labour -- is being funded by the United States Department of Labour at a cost of US$562,687.  MORE...

  • Today is World Day Against Child Labour
    Wednesday, June 12, 2002, Jamaica Observer

    The ILO said that despite significant progress in global campaign to abolish child labour, it remained a major problem.  "In particular, the magnitude of child labour in its most hazardous and worst forms is far worst than was previously thought".  MORE...

  • Child prostitution widespread in Jamaica
    Sunday, July 21, 2002, Jamaica Observer

    Children, some as young as 10 and 11 years old, are engaged in prostitution like these ladies above and left (Observer library photos).  An International Labour Organisation (ILO) study on the worst forms of child labour in Jamaica has unearthed a disturbing practice of widespread prostitution by children, some as young as 10 years old, in six of the island's 14 parishes.  MORE...

  • Child prostitution... Are mothers to blame?
    Monday, August 12, 2002, Jamaica Observer

    C is a 15 year-old involved in prostitution who reported that she had been having sex from age eight, "because I like it".  According to her, "it was only after Watchie (school watchman) pay mi, dat mi start collect money fi it".  MORE...

  • Surveys to inform child labour response
    Sunday, August 18, 2002, Jamaica Observer

    Jamaica is doing surveys to determine the full dimensions of the problem as it begins to map a co-ordinated response to the issue of child labour, including prostitution, on the island, labour ministry officials say.  MORE...

  • $3.5 million to combat child labour in Ja
    Saturday, September 14, 2002, Jamaica Observer

    The International Programme for the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) has approved funding for two action programmes aimed at implementing activities to combat child labour.  MORE...

  • Labour Commissioner in Trinidad for anti-child labour meeting
    Thursday, October 24, 2002, Antigua Sun

    Labour Commissioner, Austin Josiah, is taking part in a three-day meeting in Trinidad dealing with the prevention and elimination of the worst forms of child labour. MORE...

  • Drug trafficking worst form of child labour
    Wednesday, November 6, 2002, Antigua Sun

    The worst forms of child labour in Antigua and Barbuda has been identified as drug trafficking and 'sugar daddying'.  MORE...

    2001

  • Government spending $23 million to combat child labour
    Byron Buckley, Senior Political Reporter, Thursday, October 18, 2001, The Jamaica Observer

    Over the next two years, Government plans to spend $23 million on a programme to combat the incidence of child labour in Jamaica, Donald Buchanan, Minister of Labour and Social Security told Parliament Tuesday. MORE...

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