Children at Work: Child Labour Practices in Africa

Summary: In this accessible treatment of child labour in Africa, straightforward prose is enriched throughout with photographs that give a human face to the issues involved.

The authors draw on sources ranging from scholarly studies to children's own voices. After providing a general background to the topic, debunking myths in the process, they describe the work typically done by African children in the home, as apprentices, and in commercial labour markets. They also present a clearheaded discussion of the worst, exploitive kinds of child labour. The book ends with a discussion of the effects of work on children, suggesting a variety of concrete, realistic approaches to minimising negative consequences.

Anne Kielland consults with the World Bank, NGOs, and corporations in the area of child protection. Her pioneering work includes large-scale studies of the labour migration of children in West Africa and the role of children in household risk management.

Maurizia Tovo is on the staff of the World Bank, where she is a social protection specialist for West Africa and coordinates the Orphans and Vulnerable Children Thematic Group.

CONTENTS:

• Child Labour in Africa: Where to Start?
• CHILDREN AT WORK.
• Child Labour in and Around the Household.
• Child Labour as Apprenticeship Arrangement.
• Child Labour in the Commercial Labor Market.
• The Worst Forms of Child Labour.
• CONSEQUENCES AND CURES.
• Consequences.
• Possible Cures.
• Conclusion.