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Union fait la Force!
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By Empereur Wu. Wei
Today the global mobility of capital, the conception of free trade, and the absence of international regulations give the multinational cooperations the power to overcome all political and labor constraints. In order to maximize profits, they use not only all necessary manners to control and influence local governments, including corruption and in the extreme case military coup d'état but, in addition they also exploit local populations even juveniles without any sense of duty concerning their welfare. As the result, through by the absence of reinvestment and the incompetence of local civil servants, these exploited countries became poorer and poorer.
The
globalization, industrialization and free trade introduced the demographic
transition and urbanization in to the traditional south countries, and
the phenomenon of child labor, which the most intolerable is among the
consequences, and it is getting worse than ever. In 1979, a study shows
that more than 50 million children below the age of 16 were considered
child labor (United Nation labors agency data). Today in 1998, according
to the Campaign for Labor rights which is a NGO and United Nation Labor
Agency, 250 million children around the world are working in farms, factories,
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and households (Free). Some human rights experts indicate that they are as many as 400 million children under the age of 15 are performing forced labor either part or full-time.
Indeed, an uncountable number of unfortunate families are directly connected with this industry of devil. Nonetheless, if we want to resolve this issue we could not simply by saying vis-a-vis those multinational companies such like Nike, Reebok or World-Mart "boycott their product." The reason is because if these multinational cooperations decide to move the factories out of the country or simply cancel their demand, there will be no more chance for those poor people to feed. Indeed, it is just like the opium, it makes you sicker and sicker, yet you can not live without it. At the same time, it does not mean that we must accept an unacceptable number of people who are at the dusk of the third millenium still living without dignity. How could we change the current situation without damaging the economic development of those developing and less developed countries? According to International Labor Organization’s director-general Michel Hansenne: "child labor only perpetuates an endless cycle of illiteracy and poverty." Indeed, the main reason of the child labor is poverty; and one of the root causes of poverty is the overpopulation and lack of primary education. Therefore, if we want to ban the modern slavery we must start at I. Control the birth rate. II. Guarantee universal primary education and make it more flexible. III. Ban the most hazardous forms of child work (UNICEF).
The issue of overpopulation, which is an important social impact, is a subject that we can not misunderstand the cause and its effect. In some less developed countries the
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birthrate is nearly 4 per cent a year such as in Kenya. This means that the population in this country will double in less than a generation (Hauss). Consequently, it is impossible for a poor family to even be self-abundant. Some would argue in this situation that child labor has to occur because families need to have their child bringing home a small amount of moneys. Therefore, the child labor phenomenon is justifiable. However, such argument is questionable, even thought it is not totally wrong. We need to realize that firstly, if the birth rate in a traditional agriculture family is surpassing the "normal rate" (High-income countries), it is because the mortality of infants is high. For instance, the number of children who die prior to reaching one year of age - the infant mortality rate - exceeds 100 per 1000 live births. In OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development), by contrast, infant mortality averaged 9 per 1000 live births in 1992 (Spiegel). Consequently, in order to ensure that enough children will survive to help with the backbreaking labor of subsistence agriculture, women are, by social convention to marry young and bear as many children as possible. In the other hand, the high rate of infant mortality is in most part caused by the low level of medication care and poor sanitation system, which is the result of underdevelopment. And, evidently a standard education for the future generation is indispensable for the matter of social economic development. The cause of child labor is underdevelopment, and de facto teaching is the key point. From this moment, if children do not go to school in order to go farther intellectually than their parents, the Third World countries will never emerge from this vicious circle of underdevelopment.
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Most of us would be horrified to support a business that exploits children; nevertheless chances are you may have done just that on your last shopping trip. Perhaps you splurged on a hand-crafted carpet, without knowing it was made by a seven-year-old from India, where children are chained to looms for 12 hours a day. Maybe you just bought a soccer ball for your son or daughter, without realizing your gift was produced by five-year-old hands inside a dark and silent factory in Pakistan. Even you are more mundane purchases, a leather bag, a shirt, a pair of jeans, or produce from the local grocery store it could be the product of a bonded labor, which is the most common form of child labors. The bonded labor system is the direct result of urbanization and demographic transition. One way that many families in traditional societies attempt to cope with the pressure of overpopulation and the resulting unemployment is to send children to urban areas to find cash employment. Under this system, parents often pledge children under the age of physical maturity (Which is 15) to factory or mine owners in exchange for small loans or to repay the debts of the parents or grandparents. Another reason is because there is no social security for the elder in most southern countries, so parents often rely on their children for financial support. In a newly independent South Asia country, the People's Republic of Bangladesh for instance, according to UNICEF the country is one of the world's major garment exporters, and the industry employs over a million workers. Most of them are women, but not only. In 1992, between 50,000 and 75,000 of its workforce were children under 14, mainly girls (UNICEF: Agreement). To make the case worse, according to the indication of World Bank (Country Brief), in 1993
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there were 47 females per 100 male students, and the adult literacy rate is still among the lowest in the world, (38 per cent in 1995) and finally the unemployment rate was 35.9%. (CIA.1996)
The case of Bangladesh is common among the LDC’s (Less developed counties); in addition child labors are trading like animals by their masters. It is extremely difficult for bonded laborers to speak out against the abuse of their basic human rights. Children who have protested have either been beaten or even killed by their employers. The misfortune of bonded labor takes place often in the countryside. In cities, young children spend their days picking up used paper, plastics, bottles and metal pieces from the streets, garbage dumps, and selling them to retailers for recycling. According to the International Labor Organization report (UNICEF: State), nearly 153 million children are working in Asia, 80 million in Africa and 17.5 million in Latin America.
When
similar information became public, a large public opinion was to "boycott".
Yet emotive responses in the past have caused more harm than good. The
fate of children banned from Bangladesh's garment industry few years ago
is a case in point. Following the introduction of the Child Labor Deterrence
Act in 1992 by US Senator Tom Harkin, a US bill threat to ban imports of
goods made by Bangladeshi children, Bangladeshi clothing manufacturers
dismissed an estimated 50,000 children from their factories, approximately
75 per cent of all children in the industry. Deprived of much needed income,
most of the children were forced to take on harmful, less well paid work,
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including prostitution. A Bangladeshi kid who participated in a world conference was even killed by his boss after that decision was made.
People who live in the northern part of the globe must understand that an action such as a boycott is not reasonable. In addition, from different perspectives the best solution is not to boycott but to cooperate with the unfortunate reality and to make the current working situation as excellent as possible for working juveniles. In 1989 children who came from the Third world declared in the "Convention on the Rights" that they are against the boycott, and they want an education system which can adapt the reality, such as professional training (Free). It is certainly more difficult to do it in the reality, because the reality and thought are often disconnected. However, after some governmental level's concern from the northern countries, and with the remarkable effort of NGO’s, a lot of good results show that it is possible to improve the working and living condition of working children. Under the Memorandum of Understanding's agreement which is co-authored by UNICEF, the International Labor Organization and the Bangladeshi Garment Manufacturer and Exporter Association, Bangladeshi children can leave the factories and go to school for three hours a day, six day a week (Agreement).
Under the terms of the agreement, four fundamental key provisions were formulated. *The removal of all under-age workers - those below 14 - within a period of four months; *No further hiring of under-age children; *The placement of those children removed from the garment factories in appropriate educational programmer with a monthly stipend; *The offer of the children's jobs to qualified adult family members. In
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addition, the M.O.U also provides the children's families 300 Taka a month. And the wage paid to the children is about the same amount than adult 500 to 600 Taka a month (Agreement). [US$1 = 42.450 Taka]
The alternative solution which we find in a small poor South Asia country like Bangladesh, could be a practicable resolution for the remaining Less Developed Countries which suffered much or less the same kind deplorable economic situation. However, the main foundation of the poverty in the Third world is not only the overpopulation and education, it is also caused mainly by unjust wealth distribution of the world economic system which was created by the northern capitalist countries. In the reality, four fifth of the world wealth are controlling by the northern countries which are called The Developed Core.
One of the most respectful politician in Africa, the former President of Tanzania Julius Nyerere made the following ironic statement: "Decision made in Washington are more important to us than those made here in Dar es-Salaam so, may be my people should be allowed to vote in American presidential election (Hussa)". In the other hand, some may say that according to the social economic development theories suchlike the Sinatra Doctrine (the famous "I fallow my way"), the comparable weak economic development in Bangladesh, the one has no major natural resources only natural gas, timber (CIA: Bangladesh), or Tanzania, a land rich in tin, phosphates, iron, crystal, coal, diamonds, gold, natural gas etc (CIA: Tanzania), is the result of their own fault. Because they are both independent Nation-States by the excellence a state structure which
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protect and promote the interest of that nation (Spiegel), hence they are the masters of their own destiny.
Meanwhile, if we examine the case of major developing countries, they are united in certain shared characteristics, despite their differences of natural resource: small domestic markets, dependence on only a few cash crops, poor infrastructure (roads, schools, and health care) and especially lack of financial investment which are controlling by the Developed Core.
At
that time we can conclude that the phenomenon of child labor is only an
effect of economic discrimination and domination from The Developed Core.
Consequently, if the major developed countries would like to help the acceleration
of the economic growth in the Third World countries which is in the interest
of every interested, the finical investment is in certain aspects much
more important than the democratization which could be viewed as an absurdity
one day if the same situation continuous. Therefore, the social impact
of child labor, overpopulation and education must be addressed in order
for development to continue. And, if the government and people in the developed
countries really want to change the miserable living condition in the Third
World, it is primordial for them to have the courage of to share firstly
their wealth with the rest four fifth -world populations.
CIA. The world fact book 1997: Bangladesh. Washington. Online.
Internet. May18. 1998. Available. http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html
CIA. The world fact book 1997: Tanzania. Washington. Online. Internet. May18. 1998.
Available. http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html
Free the Children Organization. "Articles about child labor from around the world."
Hauss, Charles. " Domestic Responses to Global Challenges: Comparative
Politics" 12 vols. The less Developed Countries. St. Paul: West,
2nd ed. 1997. 305.
Hauss, Charles. " Domestic Responses to Global Challenges: Comparative
Politics" 12 vols. The less Developed Countries. St. Paul: West,
2nd ed. 1997. 319.
Spigles, Steven. "World Politics in a New Era": Glossary. Fort
Worth: Harcourt College Publisher, 1995. B-14.
Spigles, Steven. "World Politics in a New Era" Part I. Contending
Theories of Development: North – South Economic relations. Fort Worth:
Harcourt College Publisher, 1995. 347.
Online. Internet. April 30. 1998.
UNICEF. An agreement in Bangladesh. "A set of UNICEF issue and
background papers at the International Conference on Child Labor, Oslo,
27-30 October 1997." Online. Internet. April 10. 1998.
http://gopher.unicef.org/00/.cefdata/.sowc97/panel12.txt. UNICEF. The State of the World’s Children 1997. Online. Internet. May 28. 1998.
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