Kindernothilfe and Terre des Hommes support demands of working children
Duisburg/Brussels/Geneva, 05.04.2023 – A conference of a special kind starts on Easter Monday in Nairobi/Kenya: the African Children Summit. A conference attended by around 700 children from all over Africa, initiated and led by their peers. The summit brings children and young people together with key political decision-makers to share their experiences and recommendations on how to implement their rights. Among them are the Vice-Chair of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, Phillip D. Jaffé, and the UN Special Representative on Violence against Children, Najat Maalla. The aim of the summit is to empower children and create a space where they are seen, heard and engaged.
Among the guests is a group of working children from the Dialogue Works campaign, which is coordinated by Kindernothilfe and Terre des Hommes with financial support from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). Together with other working children, they adopted the Kigali Declaration at the Dialogue Works Global Gathering of Working Children and Youth in Rwanda in January this year – a compilation of their political demands that they now want to share with the whole world in Nairobi. A total of 63 children from 16 countries participated in the preparation of the declaration. In particular, they demand from political decision-makers to:
1. Take effective measures to combat poverty, in particular ensuring decent jobs, in order to meet basic needs
2. Prioritize education and give every child access to quality education and skills training
3. Protect them from labour exploitation, harsh conditions and risks, and allow children to do suitable dignified work
4. Listen to children, understand them and implement laws that respect their rights
5. Ensure protection against violence and discrimination
These measures aim to make policy decisions more realistic and context-specific, and to take into account and improve the living conditions of working children.
Press:
Kindernothilfe
Angelika Böhling, Press Officer
Phone: 0203 7789 230
Email: angelika.böhling@kindernothilfe.de
Terre des Hommes
Antje Ruhmann, Advocacy Officer
Phone: +49 541 7101 171
Email: a.ruhmann@tdh.de