‘Child labour on the increase in Sierra Leone – weak and unimplemented laws’ 23 July 2019

…Child labour has become a very serious concern for both human rights activists and civil society organizations in the country. Sierra Leone is signatory to many child rights conventions and protocols on child labour. The country has signed International Labour Conventions that are starkly against the use of child labour. Sierra Leone has signed the Minimum Age Convention also known as Convention No 138; the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention also known as Convention 182. These Conventions govern child labour laws, regulate and help prevent violations of children’s rights. The country has signed and ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) which is the most ratified children’s convention in the world. In 2007, the country incorporated the CRC into domestic law thereby enacting the Child Rights Act 2007. This Act is similar in its provisions to that of the CRC.

Although Sierra Leone has many applicable international and domestic laws governing child labour, child labour violations continue unabated. Sierra Leone has one of the highest rates of child labour in diamond mining. The question then becomes – what is child labour? According to IPEC, child labour could be defined as “ work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity that is harmful to physical and mental development.” Work for the development of the child could be regarded as child labour but not grouped under the worst forms of child labour. For example, if the child engages in doing domestic work especially girls who usually help their parents at home to cook and work, helping in the family business, such works are regarded as light work. But if such work deprives them of their education, it could be regarded as child labour, though not the worst form of child labour.

…In 2010, IBIS recorded that over half a million children in Sierra Leone were out of school working in the mines. This is a complete violation of both international and national laws on child labour. Children under the age of 12 are employed in Sierra Leone especially in diamond mines…A child that is employed in mining below 18 is a mere violation of his/her rights. Hundreds of children are fully employed in these mines. The Sierra Leone government has prioritized education and the new government has a free quality education as one of its flagship programs. But my visit to some of these mines discovers the contrary. While the government is working very hard to getting these kids to school, their parents are finding it difficult to work with the central government.