Let’s put an end to child labor

IN a scathing report made public this week, Human Rights Watch (HRW) had nothing good to say about the Philippine government’s actions – or lack thereof – to eliminate child labor, particularly the most dangerous work children are exposed to in small-scale gold mining.

HRW’s conclusions, which we reported yesterday, are worth repeating: “Although the government has ratified treaties and enacted laws to combat the worst forms of child labor, it has largely failed to implement them: The government barely monitors child labor in mining and does not penalize employers or withdraw children from these dangerous work environments,” the HRW report said.