More than 300,000 children are engaged in child labour in the city of Maputo

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More than 300,000 children are engaged in child labour in the city of Maputo

12:26 CAT | 13 Jun 2018

O País

Speaking about child labour on Tuesday, the Director of Labour in the city of Maputo, Jafar Buane, said that the worst forms of child labour in this part of the country were to be found in the fisheries and agriculture sectors.

However, the informal trade sector is the most critical, involving around 74 percent of minors.

“We have a situation in Maputo City that makes us feel bad because the informal sector is one that is fed by children. We are talking about the age group from seven to 17 years old. We have 300,000 children in this age group in the city of Maputo, of which 74.4 percent are in the commerce sector,” he said

Child labour has context and specificity varying from region to region, with emphasis on agriculture and fisheries, which, although they do not cover a large number of children, are also a concern, he added.

Buane further mentioned that the government had been making efforts to mitigate this phenomenon, but “it has not been easy, because there are things working against us. But we cannot force children to stop working, because there are various reasons why they are on the streets, from poverty to being orphans”.

More than one million children between the ages of 7 and 17 are involved in child labour in Mozambique.

Source: O País