The Minister of Labour and Social Security, Donald Buchanan, (right) passes a copy of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to Willi Momm, director of the International Labour Organisation's (ILO) Caribbean Office. The memorandum was signed yesterday in Kingston. JAMAICA IS to get US$1.2 million in financial and technical assistance from the International Labour Organisation (ILO) over the next three years to fight the "worst forms" of child labour.
The government and the ILO signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in Kingston at the Ministry of Labour and Social Security yesterday. Donald Buchanan, the Minister, signed on behalf of the government and director of the Caribbean Office Willi Momm for the ILO.
"By entering into this Memorandum of Understanding with the ILO, the Government of Jamaica is sending a clear signal to the national and international community that it is committed to the fight against child labour," said Mr. Buchanan.
Under the agreement, the Ministry will work closely with the International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour to co-ordinate programmes to protect children from economic exploitation and from performing any work that is likely to be harmful to their health, physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development or that interferes with their education.
The government and the ILO are to collaborate on a plan to carry out a survey to analyse the current child labour situation in the country to get enough data to establish and implement national policies and programmes to rid the country of the "worst forms" of child labour, which include the involvement of children in the sex trade and the use of children as drug mules.
Mr. Momm said over the next three years, the ILO and government would also help needy children. He commended Jamaica for being the first Caribbean country to commit itself to adopting a strategy to prevent child labour and for being instrumental in shaping the Caribbean position on child labour.
