Child labour laws need coordination to work

 By ELIZABETH MIAE

THERE is a lack of coordination by central government agencies to implement laws against child labour in the country.

This was the general view of participants at the Child Labour National Action Plan forum currently underway in Port Moresby. 

During a group plenary session, participants discussed the strengths and weaknesses of the current regulatory and policy overview (Employment Act 1978 and Lukautim Pikinini Act 2009), identified gaps in the policies that needed to be addressed and how and included other relevant issues that were related to child labour.

The participants comprised of representatives from the National Council of Women, Young Women’s Christian Association, Unicef, Consultative Implementation and Monitoring Council, Public Employees Association and the Labour and Industrial Relations Department who have gathered since yesterday to formulate strategies for the CL National Action Plan (NAP).

Another view raised during the discussion was the need for the government to seriously analyse before rectifying international conventions and protocols.

A participant said the government should consider the resources and capacity it has and it should be held accountable for failing to meet its obligation to the convention on children’s rights.

Other views expressed by participants included lack of awareness on child rights and laws that protected children against all forms of violence and abuse, no coordination and mechanism between government agencies, non-governmental organisations and churches to run national policies with their various projects on the ground, there needed to be a clear definition of a child and a youth and culturally the use of children in labour was considered to be a form of discipline and rearing.   

It was also raised during the forum that the Employment Act 1978 (currently being reviewed) was not effective and that NAP should be the overarching plan that all other national policies and regulations come under. 

European Union head of delegation to PNG, Ambassador Martin Dihm said when opening the forum that children were the most valuable group in the population and their rights should be protected.

“Children are innocent members of our society and they should not be exposed to certain forms of abuse,” he said.

He referred to the findings of last year’s research on CL in Port Moresby which he described as ‘shocking’. 

“Children were involved in the worst forms of labour. It (research) has invaluable information for law enforcers to act on.

“It is interesting because it involves the reasons why children are affected.”

He said poverty and lack of education were the main reasons. 

“This forum is meant to discuss and come up with an action plan to address child labour in a sustainable way,” Dihm said.

“Concrete and tangible outcomes are expected from the forum and the European Union is prepared to help push the issue.”