Developing the power to tackle child labour through SCREAM - 26 Nov 07

Media Release by the Programme Towards the Elimination of worst forms of Child Labour (TECL)

Date line:     Kokstad, 26 November 2007

Child labour is a tough problem to tackle because it comes in many different forms. Very often it is a desperate survival strategy by impoverished households. Sometimes it is the result of cruel exploitation.

Clearly, different situations require different solutions – and a good understanding of the problem is the key to choosing the correct intervention.

This is why the programme Towards the Elimination of Child Labour (TECL) is coming to Kokstad in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, on November 27 and 28 to run a two-day workshop on SCREAM - “Supporting Children’s Rights through Education, the Arts and the Media”. TECL is a joint programme of the International Labour Organisation and the South African Government.

SCREAM uses the media, and the visual and performing arts to enable people to discover the character of child labour and take the right action. Learning, through this method, is a journey of discovery that demands the fullest participation of the learner and does not impose ready-made solutions.

The main workshop focus is how to use the SCREAM resource pack to help prevent child labour, to recognise it, and to assist families and children to end their involvement in child labour.

The workshop will pave the way for a pilot project on child labour in Kokstad’s schools. The project, which is expected to benefit at least 650 learners, forms part of the national Child Labour Programme of Action.

Patterns of child work, which involves an acceptable degree of work without any harmful impact on the child, and child labour, which involves potential or real harm to the child’s education, health or development, vary across South Africa.

Specific figures on child work and child labour in Kokstad and surrounding areas do not exist, but there are indications that the following practices are occurring:

• The use of children in farming and associated activities, including the driving of trucks and tractors.
• Scavenging by children on Kokstad's waste site, where they pick up food for consumption and materials for sale to recycling companies.
• Possible involvement of children in the growing and selling of dagga.
• And, possibly, the commercial exploitation of children for sex.

“Child labour can never be effectively tackled without empowering the community itself to take action. The Kokstad workshop will be especially valuable for education officials, educators and members of non-governmental and community organisations who work with children at risk,” says Bashi Devnarain of Crisp, an NGO co-ordinating the pilot project.

The Kokstad workshop, like others being conducted in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal, will help create a pool of SCREAM “master trainers” who will develop the capacity of others to use of this resource.

“We are also hoping to discover people who have the imagination and the skill to help us adapt the SCREAM methodology to incorporate activities such as music, dance and sport. We need to look at the content to see if it needs updating to deal with current issues in our lives – HIV and AIDS, prevention of violence and gender relations,” says Meda Couzens of Crisp.

Released by TECL, a joint programme of the International Labour Organisation and the South African Government.

More information from:

• Bashi Devnarain or Meda Couzen (on the Kokstad pilot project)          031 202 8082
• Astrid Coyne-Jensen (on the SCREAM workshops)                             072 418 8416
• Dawie Bosch, TECL Chief Technical Advisor                                       082 557 8597