For IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 17, 2006
Contact: Larry McQuillan
(202) 403-5119
AIR Hosts Successful Regional Conference on Eliminating Child Labor in Southern Africa
WASHINGTON ? The American Institutes for Research and its partner Khulisa Management Services hosted a major regional conference on child labor in Johannesburg, South Africa in July under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Labor-funded Reducing Exploitive Child Labor through Education in Southern Africa (RECLISA) project.
The three-day conference, attended by over 270 delegates from 12 countries, sought to raise awareness of the need to reduce exploitative child labor in five Southern Africa countries: Lesotho, Swaziland, South Africa, Botswana, and Namibia. Participants included government officials, academics, independent consultants and representatives from non-governmental organizations, community-based organizations, and a variety of international agencies.
Approximately 50 presentations were made during the July 4-6 conference by a diverse group of experts, with topics divided into four main areas: advocacy, education, social support services and governance. Presentations covered research and recommendations as well as related practice issues on the various forms of child labor, including: child trafficking, commercial sexual exploitation, agriculture, orphaned and vulnerable children, and children on the street. Lessons learned and good practices were shared as presenters highlighted successful programs and described the challenges faced.
The plight of child labor was demonstrated directly by children through artwork and drama, and delegates viewed a video on trafficking produced by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM). Other highlights included keynote addresses by prominent South African government officials such Director General of Education Duncan Hindle and Deputy Director General of Labour Les Kettledas and leading academics such as Professor Jonathan Jansen of the University of Pretoria and Professor Mary Metcalfe of the University of the Witwatersrand, and an address at a gala dinner by U.S. Chargé d?Affaires Don Teitelbaum.
AIR?s project director for RECLISA, Tony Doggett, addressed the conference, as did AIR?s Chief of Party in the field, Phil Christensen. ?All too often child labor robs the young of an education, indeed of their childhood itself, yet their voices rarely reach our ears, said Christensen. ?It is we who must speak for these voiceless victims of child labor. We are the ones who can ? and must ? hear their cries and respond to their pleas.?
Commitments were made to develop national child labor action plans in each of the participating countries, to rigorously monitor implementation of the plans, and to mount campaigns to raise awareness and build public understanding. Conference documents are available on the RECLISA website, www.reclisa.org.
About AIR
Established in 1946, with headquarters in Washington, D.C., the American Institutes for Research (AIR) is a nonpartisan not-for-profit organization that conducts behavioral and social science research on important social issues and delivers technical assistance both domestically and internationally in the areas of health, education, and workforce productivity.
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