The Security Council, in a landmark resolution, has unanimously castigated the continued recruitment of child-soldiers and approved setting up of a mechanism for monitoring, reporting and punishing the people concerned.

According to the UN figures, 2 million children have been killed in armed conflicts and 6 million others disabled or wounded over the past one decade.

The approval had been delayed since February, with China and others insisting that member states not yet on the powerful 15-member body's agenda could not be monitored.

Mr Olara Otunnu, special representative of Secretary-General Kofi Annan, briefed mediapersons here yesterday on the issue.

''For the first time, the UN is establishing a formal, structured and detailed compliance regime of this kind. This brings together all the key elements we have been developing in the last few years to ensure accountability and compliance on the ground,'' Mr Otunnu, in-charge of Children and Armed Conflict (CAAC), said.

In February, he compiled a report of child combatants with a list of offenders -- both government and insurgent rebel groups.

Among them are the Tamil Tigers of Sri Lanka, the Janjaweed of Sudan and the Communist Party of Nepal.

Yesterday, the Council said, the mechanism will monitor flagrant violations by both governments and insurgents, focusing especially on crimes identified in the CAAC resolution it had passed in April last year, depicting the violations and calling for the mechanism and for time-bound national and rebel action plans to comply with international law.

The crimes are -- recruiting child soldiers in violation of international norms, killing and maiming of children, rape and other sexual violence mostly committed against female children, kidnapping and forced displacement, denial of humanitarian access to children, attacks against schools and hospitals, trafficking, forced labour and other forms of slavery.

The Council, in response to these grave violations, said that institutions at the country-level would gather evidence and forward this information to the secretary-general, who would report to the Security Council and the General Assembly.

The UN chief's report may also be considered by other international, regional and national bodies, within their mandates and the scope of their work, in order to ensure protection, rights and well-being of the children affected by the armed conflicts, the Council said.

It stressed that the Council was concerned about the lack of progress by listed offending parties on developing and implementing the action plans to end violations that the 'April resolution' called for.

And urged them to undertake the work without delay, in collaboration with UN peacekeeping missions and UN country teams.

It also asked the secretary-general to provide the criteria to be used in drawing up the action plans.

For the continuing offenders, the Council reaffirmed ''its intention to consider imposing, through country-specific resolutions, targeted and graduated measures,'' like banning the export and supply ofmilitary equipment and withholding other military assistance to parties in the conflict situations on the Security Council's agenda.

The council urged member states, the UN system and other multilateral organisations ''to take appropriate measures to control illicit subregional and cross-border activities harmful to children, including illicit exploitation of natural resources, illicit trade of small arms, abduction of children'' and their recruitment as combatants, and other violations of children's rights during war.

The Council welcomed recent initiatives by some regional and subregional organisations to mainstream child protection into their advocacy, policies and programmes, to develop peer review programmes and monitoring and reporting mechanisms and to include child-protection training in their peace and field operations.

The Council this year would monitor nations or rebel groups operating in Burundi, Ivory Coast, Congo Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia and Sudan.

The same would be expanded to Colombia, Myanmar, Nepal, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Uganda next year.

http://www.newkerala.com/news.php?action=fullnews&id=9601

Amnesty International (AI) revealed Tuesday that thousands of children across Nepal are facing serious violence and abuse in the ongoing conflict between the government and the rebels.

In a report Nepal: Children caught in the conflict released worldwide today, AI said that Nepalese children were being killed deliberately or in indiscriminate attacks, illegally detained and tortured, raped, abducted and recruited for military activities. “The conflict is a disaster for the children of Nepal,” said Puran Sen, director of Amnesty International’s Asia-Pacific Programme. “Some children have been directly targeted by one or other party to the conflict, while hundreds more have died from bombs and improvised explosive devices.”

It is estimated that at least 400 children have died in the conflict-related violence since 1996. Besides, thousands of children have been forced to flee their homes and face desperate poverty and exploitation. In July 2005, the International Labour Organisation predicted that between 10,000 to 15,000 children would be displaced in Nepal during 2005 alone.

The report said that such treatment to children was in contrary to Nepal’s human rights obligations. The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) has a provision that “every child deprived of liberty shall be treated with humanity … and in manner which takes account of the needs of persons of his or her age”, while torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment are forbidden under the CRC and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

The report said that the limited education services had been badly hit by the conflict, depriving many children from their right to education.

In many areas schools have entirely shut down due to destruction of premises, lack of teachers, crossfires between the two sides, and threats by the Maoists, the report said. In other areas children are getting less than 100 days of schooling a year because of Maoist imposed bandhs and compulsory participation in party activities such as ‘political education’ sessions. In addition, many children who might otherwise attend school are kept at home for fear of abduction.

AI said that over the last few years the Maoists had abducted tens of thousands of school children for ‘political education’ sessions, held in remote locations. “While most of these children return home after a few days, some do not and it appears that the rebels are recruiting children for military activities and forced labour, despite the fact that the use of children under 15 in armed conflict is a war crime.”

The report said that the conflict had worsened the problem of trafficking of girls for commercial sexual exploitation. “In particular, the thousands of girls who have already been displaced by the conflict are especially vulnerable to trafficking and sexual exploitation.” While in the past trafficking was mostly across the border into India, now the girls are increasingly being trafficked to urban centres within the country, where many of them are forced into sex work in dance parlours and bars, it added. “Nepal’s children are being caught up in the cycle of violence that is gripping the country,” said Sen. “In addition to experiencing violence and abuse, as the conflict erodes education, health and development services, thousands of children are unable to enjoy their rights to education and health.”

AI has urged the government to fulfil its commitments to protect the rights of children, as laid out in the CRC and other human rights treaties; to bring to justice those violating child rights; and to provide appropriate services for the children affected by the conflict.

It has also called on the rebels to end the abduction and recruitment of children, release within its forces and end all indiscriminate attacks and targeting of civilians.

“It is vital that both sides take all possible steps to respect and protect the rights of children and minimise the negative impact of the conflict on their lives,” said the report.

http://www.gorkhapatra.org.np/pageloader.php?file=2005/07/27/topstories/main9

The government will continue with the on-going national programme to pull kids out of child labour, the Minister of Labour, Youth Development and Sports, Prof. Juma Kapuya told the National Assembly yesterday.

The minister informed the house that about 642 kids were withdrawn from the worst forms of child labour in 2004/05 financial year.

Youth aged 6-17 were reportedly engaged in worst forms of child labour including prostitution, mining and agricultural plantations in the period under review.

Out of the 642 kids assisted, about 309 were girls and 333 boys. ’’About 65 girls were involved in commercial prostitution.

They have been induced to run small and medium enterprises thus securing alternative and safe employment,’’ he said.

In the period under review, Kapuya said about 1,361 youth-659 girls and 711 boys were withdrawn from cruel labour.

About 29 youths out of the number were enrolled in social welfare institutions and deployed to 22 centres in the project areas to work as child care experts.

About 21 municipal councils identified 64, 954 youths working under difficult environment.

He listed the councils as Bagamoyo, Karagwe, Kisarawe, Magu, Makete, Musoma rural, Rungwe, Temeke, Muheza, Mikindani, Masasi.

Others are: Mtwara, Singida Urban and Rural, Kibondo, Songea and Ilala.

Disclosing 2005/06 strategies and programmes, Kapuya said his ministry has allocated funds to facilitate implementation of disabled and old persons’ development policies.

’’Establishment of the National Youth Council is in the offing,’’ he said adding his ministry would conduct extensive sanitisation to job market stakeholders on the current labour laws to minimise labour disputes.

In their comments, some MPs told the government to review National Social Security Fund (NSSF) to make sure contributions remitted to the scheme benefited members (worker).

NSSF collects a lot of money from workers and spend it on development projects which are not necessary beneficial to contributors, said Talala Mbise (Arumeru-North, CCM).

’’The government should stop exerting pressure on NSSF to embark on unplanned projects,’’ said Athuman Janguo (Kisarawe,CCM).

He was referring to the recent acquisition of Mafuta House by the pension body following alleged pressure from the government.

The House endorsed about 39bn/- for the ministry.

http://www.ippmedia.com/ipp/guardian/2005/07/26/45390.html

Lack of full-time project directors, teachers and instructors, has adversely affected implementation of a law which seeks to eradicate child labour, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has said.

The CAG in its report for the year ending March 31, 2004, has said the provisions of the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act 1986, could not be properly implemented for the want of skilled manpower.

It said the cases involving penalty of Rs 7.28 crore for employing child labour in hazardous industries were either withdrawn or cancelled by the state Labour Department.

The data on child labour in the state was grossly understated at 66,000 against 19.28 lakh working children, according to the 2001 census, the report said.

Out of 55,510 child workers enrolled in special schools upto March 2004, only 9,469 were mainstreamed, the CAG report said.

It said Rs 49.59 lakh earned as interest on Corpus Fund were not utilised for providing relief to the families of the children withdrawn from hazardous occupations.

The Act, besides enforcement measures, envisaged rehabilitation of children below 14 years of age.

http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/002200507211464.htm

Amnesty International revealed today that thousands of children across Nepal are facing serious violence and abuse in the ongoing conflict in Nepal, where Maoist rebels and security forces have been fighting a brutal internal conflict for the last nine years.

In a report released today, Nepal: Children caught in the conflict, the organization said that Nepalese children are being killed, illegally detained, tortured, raped, abducted and recruited for military activities and accused both sides to the conflict of violating the most fundamental rights of children.

"This conflict is a disaster for the children of Nepal," said Purna Sen, Director of Amnesty International's Asia-Pacific Programme. "Some children have been directly targeted by one or other party to the conflict, while hundreds more have died from bombs and improvised explosive devices. Thousands of children have been forced to flee their homes and face desperate poverty and exploitation."

Both sides to the conflict have been responsible for killing children. The security forces have killed children they suspect of involvement with the Maoists, while the Maoists have abducted and killed the children of security forces personnel, as well as caused the deaths of many children by deliberately bombing civilian infrastructure and leaving improvised explosive devices in civilian areas.

There have been disturbing reports of children suspected of affiliation with the Maoist rebels being detained for long periods in army barracks, police stations or prisons -- often held together with adults. Many child detainees report having been tortured by security forces during their detention.

Such treatment is in direct violation of the Nepalese government's human rights obligations. The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) provides that "every child deprived of liberty shall be treated with humanity...and in a manner which takes account of the needs of persons of his or her age", while torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment are forbidden under the CRC and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Chandra Malla told Amnesty International how, after her husband was killed by security forces, the police came to her home and arrested her 10-year-old son. They dragged him from the house and beat him with a pistol, accusing him of being a Maoist. The boy was held in custody for six days, during which time he was beaten with a plastic pipe all over his body. After his release, the security forces continued to visit his home and threatened to rape his 12-year-old sister.

Amnesty International has received reports of girls being raped by security forces during "search operations". One 15-year-old girl from mid-western Nepal told Amnesty International how she was raped by a soldier in her family's cattle shed during a night time "search operation" in her village. Many women's organisations report that the conflict is also resulting in more girls being trafficked for sexual exploitation -- already a serious problem in Nepal.

Over the last few years the Maoists have abducted tens of thousands of school children for "political education" sessions, held in remote locations. While most of these children return home after a few days, some do not and it appears that the rebels are recruiting children for military activities and forced labour, despite the fact that the use of children under 15 in armed conflict is a war crime.

Education services have come under particular attack. Both sides have used school premises for military purposes and the Maoists have bombed a number of schools, injuring children. These attacks, combined with Maoist abductions of school children and crippling strikes, mean that many of Nepal's children are missing out on vital years of education.

"Nepal's children are being caught up in the cycle of violence that is gripping the country. They are abducted and recruited by the Maoists and then become targets for the security forces, placing them at risk of detention or even killing," said Purna Sen. "In addition to experiencing violence and abuse, as the conflict erodes education, health and evelopment services, thousands of children are unable to enjoy their rights to health and education."

Amnesty International is urging the government of Nepal to fulfil its commitments to protect the rights of children, as laid out in the CRC and other human rights treaties; to bring to justice security forces personnel who commit human rights violations; and to provide appropriate services for those children who are caught up in the conflict. It is also calling on the Maoists to end the abduction and recruitment of children, release all children within its forces and end all indiscriminate attacks and targeting of civilians. It is vital that both sides take all possible steps to respect and protect the rights of children and minimise the negative impact of the conflict on their lives.

http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/SODA-6EN38N?OpenDocument

In the labyrinthine innards of Zafarabad, a resettlement colony in East Delhi, 25-odd kids — aged five to 14 — are squinting their eyes in ill-lit zari factories against gossamer fabrics to craft fashion produce. Squatting on grime-caked floors — without fans, potable water or toilet blocks — this underage, undernourished army is toiling in the most inhuman conditions. Dilapidated buildings, hovel-like interiors and sauna-esque rooms — which leave even adults gasping for breath in 45 degrees-plus — complete this picture of near-Dickensian wretchedness. And this is the children’s fate 24/7 for which they earn a piffling Rs 50 per month!

The scene is no better in India’s commercial capital, Mumbai. On June 1, the city police swooped down on Madanpura’s (Central Mumbai) zari factories to rescue 400 child labourers working in heart-wrenching conditions. Following this, the Maharashtra labour department sent middlemen scurrying for cover as it raided gold-plating workshops in Bhuleshwar to rip the lid off a child labour racket involving hundreds of kids. On June 6, Delhi’s Najafgarh area was shook up massively as the police rescued 30 children — all belonging to Bihar’s Sitamarhi district — from zari workshops. In Secunderabad and Sholapur, cases of child labour have recently come to light. In Muradabad, Mirzapur, Srinagar, Ferozabad too.

Child labour is a horrific reality that ricochets across many Indian towns. But in a country obsessed with Page Three palaver, it’s a topic that fails to spike the collective adrenaline of the movers and shakers. Of course, with media pressure, the police do wake up sporadically to conduct rescue operations. But no sooner do the cameramen exit the scene than these children return to the grind, usually with the same set of employers.

Shockingly, 10 crore kids are engaged in illegal employment in India, a world record of sorts. Delhi alone has the dubious distinction of employing 15 lakh children in myriad factories, five lakh of whom have been brought in from neighbouring states. Overall, around 500 zari factories in the country employ 5,000 children from various parts of the country. These kids are invariably smuggled inter-state by Shylockian middlemen who tantalise parents with the lure of “vocational training” for their “employable” kids.

Hence, while the rescue operation may seem like a noble exercise to begin with, it loses its potency the moment the rescued child is re-cycled as child labour. Also, by punishing the perpetrators of child labour — employers or middlemen — the state action remains punitive. How about attacking at the root of the malaise by presenting these kids with educational opportunities? For research has proven that the only long-term solution to eradicating child labour is to educate them.

The Child Labour Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986, forbids the engagement of children in certain employment sectors while regulating their conditions in others. Clearly, this act needs to be amended forthwith, for it neither completely prohibits child labour nor lays down any provision for educational opportunities of the rescued child.

Similarly, in its preamble, the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000, talks of providing care and protection to children wrongfully employed but has no provisions for what happens to the kids post-repatriation. What is this if not tokenism? Why is the act silent on ensuring education for these children? What happens after repatriation? What after the rescued child is re-cycled as child labour? The act is disconcertingly quiet on all these fronts.

Similarly, the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976, provides for the abolition of bonded labour (“to prevent the economic/physical exploitation of the weaker sections”), but overlooks the crucial rehabilitation of child labour. Ditto the Beedi and Cigar Workers (Conditions of Employment) Act, 1966, the Factories Act, 1948, and the Motor Transport Workers Act, 1961, all of which prohibit employment of children in the establishments covered by these acts but fail to address the rehabilitation issue.

The sordid picture that emerges from these sundry legislations is that there is no cohesive state policy to address the critical issue of child labour in India. The law neither provides for the rehabilitation of child labour nor for the prevention of its re-cycling. Thirdly, and most importantly, none of the existing laws provide for any educational opportunities for the rescued children. A mere visit to the Badli resettlement area — on the Haryana border — illustrates the point. Here, despite the existence of 12,000 hutments, not a single school worth its name exists. What is this if not a fertile breeding ground for future child labourers?

http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=75024

A human rights group has sued three U.S. companies in federal court in Los Angeles to force them to step up efforts to end child labour on African farms that supply cocoa beans used to make chocolate products.

The International Labor Right Fund filed suit on behalf of former child labourers against Nestle, Archer Daniels Midland Co. and privately held Cargill Inc. on Thursday claiming the companies are involved in trafficking, torture and forced labor of Mali children who were enslaved to work on Ivory Coast farms.

The lawsuit comes soon after U.S. and European chocolate and cocoa industry missed a July 1 deadline imposed by federal law for adopting protocols to eliminate child labour from the West African cocoa supply chain.

U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, one of the protocol's authors, said earlier this month he was disappointed that the industry had been unable to certify that its chocolate products were not made with child labour but was satisfied it was "committed to moving forward."

In a statement, the International Labor Rights Fund blasted the industry for dragging its feet and refusing "to exchange a small portion of its massive profits to ensure sufficient return for farmers and workers."

Representatives for Archer Daniels Midland of Decatur, Illinois, one of world's largest agricultural processing companies, and Cargill, an agricultural products and services provider, had no comment on the lawsuit.

A Nestle spokeswoman also would not comment on the lawsuit, but said the company was working with the International Cocoa Initiative foundation created by the Harkin-Engel protocol.

"Obviously we strongly believe it is important to make sure that cocoa is grown responsibly without abusive labor practices," Nestle spokeswoman Barb Skoog said.

The lawsuit claims the Mali children were beaten and forced to work 12 to 14 hours a day with no pay and little food or sleep.

The three main plaintiffs said they were ages 12 to 14 when were taken from their homes, but the lawsuit covers "thousands" of children who were allegedly enslaved from 1996 until the present to work in the Ivory Coast region.

The claims were brought under the Alien Tort Claims Act, which has recently been used by human rights groups to sue multinational corporations for violations of international law in countries outside the United States.

Similar lawsuits were brought against Unocal Corp by villagers who claimed they were enslaved by Myanmar's military government to work on a pipeline for Unocal and other entities.

Settlements in those cases were finalized earlier this year.

http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=businessNews&storyID=2005-07-
16T023233Z_01_HO609108_RTRUKOC_0_FOOD-NESTLE.xml

This conference paper summarises discussions and conclusions reached at the conference on 'Girl mothers in fighting forces and their post-war reintegration in southern and western Africa' held at the Rockefeller Foundation's Bellagio Center, Bellagio, Italy, from April 12th through 18th 2005. The conference was intended to provide an opportunity for those directly involved with the demobilisation and community reintegration of girl mothers in African conflict situations to explore the existing research and share their practical experiences, with the 'luxury' of time and space for reflection, discussion, sharing and creating possibilities - programme ideas, policy recommendations, a research agenda, and a scholarly publication.

The goals of the conference included:

Countries particularly focused upon included Uganda, Sierra Leone, DRC, Sudan, Angola, and the participants discussed at lengths various aspects of working with, and researching, girl mothers.

Because so little is known about girl mothers and their children, participants felt they were unable to work on approaches and 'best practices' since few presently exist. Instead, substantial discussion occurred from the perspectives of practitioners, researchers, and policy makers about knowledge gaps, articulation between policy, research, and practice; there was substantial debate about how (conceptually) to address the problems that arise in working with girl mothers and their children. Participants decided that the debate needs to move now to a practical level whereby best practice can be more readily articulated.

http://www.eldis.org/cf/rdr/rdr.cfm?doc=DOC18955

Hundreds of underage job finders in the Lake District are being exploited by businesses that flout child employment laws, according to new research.

A survey by Cumbria County Council has revealed that nearly half of all under-16s who have a part-time job are employed illegally.

It also showed that one in nine children work longer than the legal limit of 12 hours each week, while 20 per cent begin their shifts before 7am, the earliest permitted start time.

The study, carried out for the council by the child employment research group at Paisley University, also revealed that one in five were younger than the legal minimum age of 13 when they started working.

Charlie Monkcom, a business adviser with the NSPCC, has called for tougher enforcement of the law: “What is happening in Cumbria is probably typical of the rest of the country,” he told Cumbria Online.

“Something like 80 to 90 per cent of children in work aren’t registered, which is a legal requirement.

“There needs to be greater transparency and a