Youth call upon parents, government to curtail child labor

Working children depict their suffrings in songs.

Have mercy on your small children who work in streets with the heat of the sun, our childhood lost by the injustice of those who are older than us, our ambitions have been damaged by working in streets, the light in our eyes have come burn, are some words from the lyrics sung by children in the opening of a workshop on children rights organized by the Ministry of Human Rights last Saturday.

The children of this workshop called on parents to consider the consequences of sending their children to work instead of sending them to school. They said there are many parents who just send their children to streets whether to work or beg to save money for their fathers’ qat. “If a donkey works in my place in the extreme hot of the sun, he will not be able to endure and simply will die,” said one of the children in a song. 

Small girls in this workshop tried to call on their parents to let them go to school instead of forcing them to stay home and do housework. “Illiteracy is the real reason behind misfortunes. We as girls need to be put in schools, but what we really face is that our families refuse to put us in schools by justifying that it is shame for girls to go to schools,” said a group of girls. 

“When I first went to my father asking him to put me in a primary school, he told me that schools are not for girls, but for boys,” said Amal Mohammed, 14 years old. “Now I am working with my brothers by selling handkerchiefs, and in addition to this I am helping my mother at home.” She wondered why boys have the right to go to schools while girls have to stay home. 

“The whole world celebrates this day - the International Day of Children Rights - to remember that there is an important part of the world, and deserve certain rights that must be guaranteed by their governments and parents,” said Dr Huda al-Ban, Minister of Human Rights. She added that the international and national laws state that a child has the right to live in suitable environment in order to be able to be an effective member in his society.  

Al-Ban said that the Yemeni government pays particular attention to improving the environment and lives of children so they can be effective agents for change for the future of their communities and their societies. “The government cares about childhood because it is the real future of the country, and children are the only guarantee to develop the condition of Yemen in the future. Form this point, the Ministry of Human Rights has implemented many programs and activities that aimed at educating people on the rights of children and how to protect them,” said al-Ban.

“Respect for human rights starts with the way that a community deals with children. Those who work in the educational and child-services field are the only ones who can understand and appreciate the importance of children rights, and will be the ones able to educate students about these rights,” added al-Ban. She said that if citizens and students do not appreciate the importance of childhood and are not aware of the attempts that the government is taking to improve their situation, there will not be a ray of hope for success in this community. 

Girls have the right to go to schools and play a serious role in soceity building.

Al-Ban pointed out that if teachers, those guiding the future of this country, do appreciate the importance of human rights in general and children’s rights in particular, they could end up damaging the development of the children and ultimately of the nation as well. A healthy future for Yemen necessitates children’s rights be upheld, that all children have their due educational opportunities while protected from abuse, exploitation, and the burdens of entering the workforce too early.

“Celebrating this day is considered a promising sign for rectifying the current issues facing children today, especially those in the worst conditions. We in this day aim at educating children of their rights and to help them to draw their beautiful future,” said Safeah al-Sayadi, the director of the Working Children Rehabilitation Center. She said that the center aims to improve the lives of children who were forced to work at a young age. “The center tries to give these children the chance to get education. It has helped more than 1200 children who work under difficult conditions.”

Al-Sayadi said that the needs of children are much greater than the financial resources available to organizations. “Our center tires to help children’s families who are in need of money. Our center needs funding if were are able to stand on our own two feet to help those children who are in need. Another problem facing us is that there is no cooperation between the centre and other foundations working on children’s issues,” said al-Sayadi.       

“We want this center to be a strong resource in assisting children to leave the streets and go to school,” said Fatheya Abdullah, the Assistant General Secretary of the Supreme Council of Childhood and Maternity. “The most important thing we should do is to collect information about the conditions of the child’s family. We have to know why these families force their children to go to streets instead of going to schools. We have to try to solve the problems of these families in order to protect these children.”

Abdullah said that there are some fathers who are in good health, but they force their children to work in order to earn money for their qat habits. In this case, these fathers are supposed to be punished according to the law, she added. She added that there are families who are poor, but do not oblige their children to work, so in these cases the families must be supporting in helping and protecting the children. “We want to strengthen the laws related to children in order to solve children’s problems and to protect them form abuse, but we are still waiting for the parliament take action on our recommendations.”  

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