Well-known for its work in promoting decent work and personal fulfillment for all, Solidar Suisse in Burkina Faso has turned its attention to children working in the cotton value chain in Burkina Faso.
On Friday, October 27, 2017, at the Royal Beach Hotel in Ouagadougou, the NGO presented its partners with the results of a study it commissioned on child labor in the cotton value chain in three regions of Burkina Faso.
For Dieudonné Zaongo, Solidar Suisse’s Country Representative in Burkina Faso, development cannot be built without well-rounded children.
Unfortunately in Burkina Faso, many children are often subjected to the worst forms of child labor. This is why Solidar Suisse has carried out this study on child labor in the cotton value chain in the Boucle du Mouhoun, Cascades and Hauts-Bassins regions, with a view to gaining a better understanding of the phenomenon and, at the same time, to consider with the other structures involved in the fight, the best way of dealing with this scourge,” continues Mr. Zaongo Dieudonné, country representative of Solidar Suisse.
The problem of child labor is acute, and the consequences are such as to compromise the growth and development of nations. The fight against this phenomenon clearly requires concerted action by all those involved, concludes the representative of Solidar Suisse in Burkina.
The Director of the fight against child labor at the Ministry of Public Service, Labor and Social Security, agrees with the representative of Solidar Suisse in Burkina on the scale of the phenomenon. Mr. Alassane Traoré attests that nearly half of all children under 17 work, and 7 out of 10 work in agriculture. However, there are measures in place to counter the phenomenon, says Mr. Traoré.
According to consultant Yacouba Yaro, Director of CERFODES (Centre d’Etudes, de Recherches et Formation pour le Développement Economique et Sociale), children are exposed to risks linked to the effects of chemicals and pesticides, as they are not protected at work, with long-term consequences for their health.
One of the interesting results is the perspective that children and parents put forward. They think that in terms of a solution, school is the only way to get children out of these worst forms of work,” confides Mr. Yaro.
