Minister of Labour, Human Serviced and Social Security, Dr. Dale Bisnauth, in addressing participants of a two-day seminar on the Prevention and Elimination of Child Labour in Guyana, said government's spending on education and poverty reduction programmes has been a major step in combating child labour.
The seminar, held at the National Library conference room, was hosted by the Ministry of Labour in collaboration with the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).
It was attended by about 20 labour officials from Region Four (Demerara/ Mahaica) and Region Six (East Berbice/Corentyne).
Dr. Bisnauth said there could be progress in the reduction of child labour once there is the political and social will, adding that any society that regards itself as civilized must find acts of child labour reprehensible.
However, he cautioned that society must not confuse child labour with child-work. The distinction between child work and child labour must be understood, he stressed. The acceptance of one must not serve as a justification for the other, he said.
He noted that many children have had to help around the home and assist parents on a family farm or in family business, for example, but this could be essentially part of children's developmental process.
Minister Bisnauth threw out a challenge to civil society to become engaged in this enterprise, but more specifically to employers within the informal sector particularly in agriculture where child-labour is more likely to exist.
"I want to challenge them to join in this war against child labour. Let us all resolve to put the welfare of the child first", he urged.
The Minister stressed that labour legislation is likely to remain useless unless there is a system of inspection in place or societal consciousness, to address the problem.
With assistance from the ILO, Guyana has now set in train, mechanisms to combat child labour.
The UN Convention 182 dealing with the Prevention and Elimination of the Worst forms of Child Labour was adopted by the ILO in 1999 and in 2001 Guyana became a signatory to the convention.
During the seminar a video clip encouraging people to work together to stop child labour was shown. The material has been compiled from six countries within the Caribbean region.
Among other officials present at the seminar were Mr. Leslie Bowrin, Project Manager, ILO/CIDA; Mr. Samual Goolsarran, Senior Specialist, ILO Caribbean Office, Mr. David Yankana Executive Director, CAGI and Mr. Andrew Garnette of the Guyana Trade Union Congress. The programme was chaired by Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Labour, Mr. Pulandar Kandhai.