Events
Published on November 29, 2019

Berlin: “Listen to our Voices and respect our rights!”

written by Lea Kulakow

On the occasion of the 30 Years anniversary of the UN-Child Rights Convention the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Delevopment invited two Time to Talk!-Delegates to speak about their lives as child workers.

Katherina (14) from Peru and Jed (17) from the Philippines were selected by their local CAC groups to represent not only the committee but also all 500 Time to Talk! members from 18 countries worldwide.

Speech about working children realities

In an emotional and inspiring speech Katherina and Jed told about their lives as working children. They called on politicians to do more to end the poverty that is forcing many children into exploitative and dangerous jobs. “Our parents are working hard and we children are trying to help them. Nevertheless, the family income to survive is not enough! We are committed to a fair income for our parents, “said Jed. Katherina from Peru added: “We need child-friendly schools that adapt to our needs. Our life can not be combined with the rigid school plans! Working children, children in conflicts, children with disabilities have different needs and conditions. ”

Decision on Time to Talk! Delegates

Katherina and Jed were chosen as delegates in a participative process. All children within the campaign were given the chance to send an application including answering questions like, what do you want to share with political stakeholders? Why are you a good representative for Time to Talk!? Based on several factors like language, region, gender, experience with Time to Talk! and permissions of the parents Katherina and Jed were nominated by their children committee and together with them they prepared messages they want to send to Germany. Messages were collected from all 500 CAC members and the two Delegates were able to hand over the recommendation paper to Dr. Gerd Müller, German Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development.

The campaign initiated by Kindernothilfe and terre des hommes aims to support children´s participation in politics and society in order to work together to develop sustainable and well-functioning solutions for child labor.