TANZANIA: Children's Rights in the UN Special Procedures' Reports

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Summary: This report extracts mentions of children's rights issues in the reports of the UN Special Procedures. This does not include reports of child specific Special Procedures, such as the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, which are available as separate reports.

Please note that the language may have been edited in places for the purpose of clarity

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Report by the Special Rapporteur on toxic wastes

Visit undertaken from 21-30 January 2008

Report A/HRC/9/22/Add.2

Issues raised:

Child miners: The Special Rapporteur was concerned about the number of women and children he saw during his visits to the ASM areas. There are no current statistics on the ratio of women and children among miners. He is deeply concerned th
at the children may be skipping school to help their parents in the mining business. (Paragraph 38).
Health: Some of the obstacles hindering the economic and social well-being of women and children in mining communities include poverty, ignorance and traditional norms. Many of the women and children are unaware of the health and safety hazards that are associated with artisanal and small-scale mining, such as mercury poisoning in the long term, amongst others. (Paragraph 39).

Child labour: Child labour in mining and in other forms of work is rooted in poverty. Children often work in artisanal and small-scale mining to help the family and supplement total household income in order to buy basic goods and food. In Tanzania, child labour in the mining sites is common from the age of 10. The Special Rapporteur saw children working and playing with their bare hands with toxic mercury, a particularly dangerous state of affairs as they are vulnerable to physical and chemical hazards. Mercury can cause severe damage to the developing brain, especially for an unborn child. (Paragraph 41).

While the Special Rapporteur understands that families are often left with little choice than to send their children out to work to ensure survival, he notes that child labour only reinforces the cycle of poverty. Since the children are working in the mining areas, they are unable to attend school and are therefore not receiving education. The Special Rapporteur is particularly concerned that children as young as 10 are being exposed to dangerous chemicals and wastes. (Paragraph 42).
The Special Rapporteur was also informed that there are many children involved in the extraction of gemstones, because they are often small enough to work underground in snake-like burrows in order to extract gemst ones such as tanzanite and diamonds. (Paragraph 44).
The Special Rapporteur would like to remind the Government of Tanzania of its obligations under International Labour Organization (ILO) Conventions No. 138 (1973), on the Minimum Age for Admission to Employment and No.182 (1999) on the Worst Forms of Child Labour. Children working in mines constitute one of the worst forms of child labour. The Special Rapporteur would like to call on the Government to step up its efforts to eliminate child labour and particularly its worst forms. (Paragraph 44).

 

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Requested visits

Accepted

Independent Expert on the question of human rights and extreme poverty

Requested

  • IE on foreign debt (requested in 2006, 2007, 2008)
  • SR on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions (requested in 2008)
  • SR on extreme poverty (request sent on 30 May)

 


Organisation: 
Child Rights International Network

Please note that these reports are hosted by CRIN as a resource for Child Rights campaigners, researchers and other interested parties. Unless otherwise stated, they are not the work of CRIN and their inclusion in our database does not necessarily signify endorsement or agreement with their content by CRIN.