June 12: World Day Against Child Labor, the “Zanmi Timoun” Foundation is concerned about child labor in Haiti

The “Zanmi Timoun” Foundation recalls that the number of children forced to work worldwide is approximately 160 million. Worse still, 79 million of them carry out dangerous activities. In other words, they are exposed to activities that may compromise their moral, mental and physical well-being. It is obviously as part of a vast campaign against this scourge that the International Labor Organization (ILO) proclaimed, in 2002, June 12 the world day against child labor. In Haiti, this phenomenon is in no way a concern for public authorities.
Indeed, according to the World Bank, Haiti remains the poorest country on the American continent. This poverty is believed to be due to an unrelenting multidimensional crisis that has severely damaged the country’s basic infrastructure. This situation has plunged many families into conditions of extreme economic vulnerability. And at the same time, it has transformed 400,000 children into domestic workers. Among them, 286 thousand, aged between 5 and 14 years old, carried out their tasks in inhumane conditions or even similar to servitude. Apart from the ban on working in this category by current legislation, these children, separated from their families, are exposed to the risks of long days of atrocious unpaid work, inaccessibility to creative activities, dropping out of school, verbal or physical violence and sexual exploitation and abuse.

The child in domestic service is not the only consequence of the dislocation of the Haitian economy. This has also forced a large number of children to fight in the streets to meet their needs. Left to their own devices, without any family or legal protection, their work space quickly transformed into a context of deprivation of the fundamental rights of the Child. Indeed, they are often easy prey to prostitution and organized crime.

In short, all these factors involve risks likely to jeopardize the development and well-being of the Child. Indeed, on a psychological level, working conditions are stigmatizing and demeaning, and can deal a major blow to the child’s self-esteem. On a physical level, they can harm the child’s development. Given these impacts, the “Zanmi Timoun” Foundation demands that the Haitian State create a climate favorable to respecting the rights of children while establishing mechanisms to eradicate child labor in the country.

Port-au-Prince, June 12, 2023

Besnard FELIX
Psychological Assistance Manager
Such. : +509 3847 8918 / 4186 3815