From John Manzongo in VICTORIA FALLS

There are more than 168 million child labourers globally and the majority are found in the agricultural sector, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) has said.

In a presentation to the 43rd African Regional Labour Administration Centre (ARLAC) governing council meeting on fundamental principles and rights at work underway here, ILO senior specialist in fundamental principles and rights at work Ms Lisa Wong said according to 2012 statistics, most of the child workers are found in private economies and plantations.

“The children are mostly vulnerable, like orphans due to the HIV and Aids pandemic and other underprivileged who are engaged in debt bondage. Some are into forced labour because they are victims of human trafficking.

“Enforcement of labour laws is usually difficult in these sectors because they fall outside the mandate of labour inspectors. Most of the cases are prevalent in plantations, domestic service and commercial sex exploitation,” she said.

She however said there is a 33 percent decline in the worst forms of child labour globally.

“There is 33 percent reduction in the overall number of child labourers and 50 percent reduction in worst forms of child labour.

“Since the year 2000, more than 115 000 child soldiers have been released by their captors because of increased global calls and attention,” she added.

Ms Wong also said global trends show that women are still marginalised at the workplace as most of them are dominating in the lower paid occupations with a gap of 23 percent, compared to their male counterparts.

“There is also greater discrimination at the workplace on ethnic and racial grounds. Ethnic origin, race and colour are among the most frequent grounds of discrimination invoked by complaints in both private and public sectors.

“The principle of equal remuneration between men and women for same type of work is rarely prescribed in national legislation,” she said.

The meeting which will translate into a high level symposium today is being attended by government officials and labour experts from 13 African countries.