Child Labour in West Africa

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Recommended: Negative impacts of child labour

Children are the future of this world, as adults we do everything in our power to provide our children with the opportunity to lead a better life than the one we had. However, in West Africa there are an estimated “1.8 million children” who are stripped of their basic right of attending school, and put to work instead so they can help their families afford basic needs. Many times these children work up to sixty hours a week in hazardous or slave like conditions. Violating many of these children’s fundamental human right. Article 5 of the Universal declaration of Human rights, states “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment” (UDHR,Article 5). The International Labour Organization has many projects that focus on eliminating Child labour in West Africa. Even though many people believe it is impossible, we should continue the fight to eliminate child labour, because it is “mentally, physically, socially [and] morally dangerous and harmful to children”, and every child deserves the opportunity to overcome all obstacles and lead a better life (Child Labour, 16).
Child labour has been a part of our history for hundreds of years. Child labor is best described as work that
"Is mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous and harmful to children; and interferes with their schooling by depriving them of the opportunity to attend school; by obliging them to leave school prematurely; or by requiring them to attempt to combine school attendance with excessively long and heavy work" (Child Labour,16).
Many people are unaware of how common child labour truly is, and although child labour continues to decrease around the world, it is still prevalent in developing countries, with high ...

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...Works Cited

Buchanan, Jane. "Hellish Work." Kazakhstan: Migrant Tobacco Workers Cheated, Exploited | Human Rights Watch. N.p., 14 July 2010. Web. 09 Dec. 2013.

Child labour: a textbook for university students (pdf). Geneva: International Labour Organization. 2004. p. 16.

"Child Protection from Violence, Exploitation and Abuse." UNICEF. N.p., 19 Jan. 2013. Web. 06 Dec. 2013.

“Facts on child labor 2010” (pdf). Geneva: International Labour Orginzation. 2010.

Kale, Sailee. "Causes and Effects of Child Labor." Buzzle.com. Buzzle.com, 25 Dec. 2011. Web. 09 Dec. 2013.

Lorimer, Judy. "Build a School in Africa." Build a School in Africa. Word Press, n.d. Web. 09 Dec. 2013.

"The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, UDHR, Declaration of Human Rights, Human Rights Declaration, Human Rights Charter, The Un and Human Rights." UN News Center. UN, n.d. Web. 06 Dec. 2013

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