Child labour rife in Senegal

2008-08-26 12:06

Dakar - More than a third of Senegalese children aged five to 17 work regularly, mostly as unpaid family labourers in rural areas, the country's national statistics agency reported on Monday.

Of the country's 3.7 million children in that age range, more than 1.3 million have worked regularly over the past year, according to a survey of nearly 4 000 houses by the Dakar-based National Agency for Statistics and Demography.

"The high volume of child workers ... can be inferred by household poverty levels, but also by the inability of the formal education system to adapt" and offer adequate opportunities for these children, the study's authors wrote.

More than eight out of 10 children work for free in family-run occupations such as agriculture, livestock rearing, forestry or fisheries.

The rest are employed in urban-based sectors including restaurants and manufacturing, with many working in the capital Dakar.

Others are in equally difficult circumstances, as street children and beggars, the agency said.

- AFP