Pope Francis underlined that ensuring the present and future of children is ensuring the present and future of the entire human family in his addressing of the 5th Conference on the Elimination of Child Labour taking place in South Africa. The Conference is taking place in Durban, South Africa from 15 – 20 May.
For the occasion, Pope Francis has sent a message extending his warm greetings and prayers to the participants in a letter addressed to Mr. Guy Rider, the Director-General of the International Labour Organization.
The six-day event aims to raise awareness about child labor and accelerate efforts toward its elimination at a time when about 160 million children – almost one in ten worldwide – are being forced to work, according to the UN.
Pope Francis notes that in spite of the significant progress that has been made in eliminating child labour from society, the tragedy has been worsened by the impact of the global health crisis and the spread of extreme poverty in many parts of the world “where the lack of decent work opportunities for adults and adolescents, migration, and humanitarian emergencies condemn millions of young girls and boys to a life of economic and cultural impoverishment.”
More so, “too many small hands are busy ploughing fields, working in mines, traveling great distances to draw water and doing work that prevents them from attending school,” the Pope lamented, thinking also of the victims of child prostitution which has “robbed millions of children of the joy of their youth and their God-given dignity.”
Pointing at poverty as the chief factor that exposes children to labour exploitation, Pope Francis encouraged the participants to deliberate on the “structural causes of global poverty and the scandalous inequality that continues to exist among the members of the human family.”
He also expressed confidence that the conference will lead to increased awareness on the part of social actors and relevant bodies – both national and international – to work towards finding “appropriate and effective ways of protecting the dignity and rights of children, especially through the promotion of social protection systems and access to education on the part of all.”