ABSTRACT

The prevention of child labor in Cameroon is the subject of this thesis. It is important to note that children between the ages of five and 18 engage in child labor largely in rural areas (where these cases of child labor are typically carried out in enormous cocoa plantations) and occasionally in urban areas. It is widely acknowledged that despite attempts made by the Cameroon legislative framework to stop child labor in Cameroon, the issue still exists. Therefore, the main goal of this research is to determine why child labor continues to exist despite the efforts made by the Cameroonian legal systems to eradicate it. This thesis only uses doctrinal research methods, which are best suited for legal study. Both primary and secondary data are used in the doctrinal research methodology. At the conclusion of this study, it is found that poverty is one of the main reasons why children work. In order to help avoid childbirth, this thesis concluded by arguing that the government should subsidize both the material and financial requirements of low-income families.

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

• BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

Child labour is a common practice worldwide; particularly in the developing countries.^[1]According to historians the concept of childhood did not emerge until the seventeenth century. Moreover, it is estimated that until approximately the nineteenth century children were treated like property or chattel but were valued by their families for contributions through their work.^[2]

World-wide about 250 million children between the ages of 5 and 14 years work. Of these, 120 million work full-time and some 50-60 million works in hazardous circumstances, according to the International Labour Organization^[3].

Africa has a long history of children employed in agricultural and domestic work prior to the nineteenth century. Those in rural communities often worked on household farms to secure sustenance and gain valuable skills. They were also sold into slavery or worked as servants to settle their parents’ debts in times of need.^[4]

Historically, there were no formal schools; instead, children were informally schooled informally by their family and kin from a very early age. As such, the growth of colonial rule in Africa, from 1650 to 1950, by powers such as Britain, France, Belgium and Germany encouraged and continued the practice of child labour. Millions of children worked in colonial agricultural plantations, mines and domestic service industries^[5].

During the 19^th and early 20^th centuries, many children aged 5-14 from poorer families still worked in Europe, the United States and various colonies of European powers. They mainly worked in agriculture, factories, and mining and in services such as news boys, with some working night shifts lasting 12 hours.^[6]

Equally during colonialism in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the primary goal was the exploitation of African mineral and agricultural resources. Consequently the Europeans sought a cheap labour force and children were able to provide it.^[7] In addition to working in the fields and mines, children were employed as domestic servants and trade assistants. In most developing countries today, many children are force to work as a result of their level of poverty.^[8]

In the colonial era, Cameroonian children were involved in weaving in 1919.^[9] Large numbers of children worked in agriculture and domestic situations in America, Europe and every other human society, throughout history, prior to the 1950s. Scholars suggest that this work especially in rural area was a form of schooling and vocational education, where children learned the arts and skills from their parents, and as adults continued to work in the same occupation.^[10]

With the rise of household income, availability of schools and passage of child labour laws, led to a fall in child labour. Globally, the incidence of child labour decreased from 25% to 10% between 1960 and 2003, according to the World Bank.^[11] Empirical research shows that the economic recession in Cameroon in the mid-1980s led to an increase in child labour.^[12]

The use of child labour in the early phases of the industrialization in many countries attracted special attention for several reasons: child labour hampers the growth of human resources, reduces the individual’s educational achievements as well as the quality of the education system.^[13] Child labour is common in households where poverty is inherited from one generation to another. However, the minimum age by which children should work varies from country to country and is sometimes dependent on the type of work that children do^[14]. The most common expression used is the one similar to “child work”.^[15]

With the increasing desire to protect children, the Convention on the Rights of the Child hereinafter referred to as (CRC) was adopted by the United Nations in 1989. It was the only international human rights Convention that came into force one year after adoption^[16]. African leaders adopted their own version of the CRC; the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child adopted in July 1990 and went into force in November 1990.^[17] The International Labour Organization has equally been instrumental through the adoption of Convention 182 on the Prohibition and Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour in 1999 to make child labour and related exploitations illegal. These international instruments bestow on states the duty to combat child labour by ratifying conventions to combat such practices. States assume obligations to prevent children from being victims of child labour by enacting legislations, adopting policies to protect children. Cameroon is not left behind.

In Cameroon child labour is being practiced in the form of enslavery. Begging in Cameroon is alarming whereby we find children both male and female ranging from ages of about 6 and above either begging or selling groundnuts, bananas, a pot of fried meat, pear, sweets running helter skelter behind road users and vehicles persuading them to buy. ^[18]

Cameroon has ratified a good number of international conventions protecting rights the rights of children such as the CRC and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (hereinafter referred to as ACRWC). Ratified treaties and international laws take precedence over national laws according to Article 45 of the 1996 Constitution.^[19]The ILO through the adoption of Convention 182 on prohibits all forms of child labour, commercial sexual exploitation and any work that is by nature harmful to the health, safety or morals of children.^[20]

The legal framework for combating child labour in Cameroon is found in law No 2005/015 29 December on Combating Slavery and Child Trafficking, Decree No 97/079 of 25 April 1997 is to the effect that children should not be subjected to torture. The government also attempts to combat the worst forms of child labour through the labour code created by Law No 92/007of of 14 August 1992.^[21]

Like the rest of the world, the abolition of slave trade did not end slavery in children in Cameroon. According to the 2008 government statistics on child labour, 88.2% of children were employed in the agricultural sector, either on some family subsistence plots or on tea, banana, rubber and palm oil plantations.^[22] Some of these children found in the urban areas work as street vendors (selling goods such as tissues and water), car washers, luggage carriers, and domestic servants.

In 2018, Cameroon made a moderate advancement in efforts to eliminate the worst forms of child labour by doubling the number of labour inspectors who in turn removed more than 300 children from situations of exploitation, and provided them with social services. She also hired more than 3,000 teachers and expanded the scope of school feeding program which aims to benefit 81,500 children in the Adamawa, East, North and the Northwest regions.^[23]

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Child labour is very common in Cameroon and the practice has been declining in other parts of the world, economic decline, war, famine and HIV/AIDS have combined to prevent this in Cameroon.

Children are often victims of ill treatment, negative social and cultural practices, sexual abuse and all forms of economic hazardous exploitations including commercial sexual exploitation^[24].  They are brought to urban areas by their guardians who promise to take care and provide for their wellbeing. Rather, they are turned to slaves, working with little or no pay. Children are even kidnapped and trafficked to urban areas for selfish purposes. While some are forced to beg on the streets and get involved in illegal use of drugs^[25].

 There are set of international legal standards designed to protect children from harmful and dangerous effects of child labour^[26]. The international community has established a global consensus against child labour through a series of widely-ratified conventions. However, there is bound to be violations of human rights for all no matter their nature, occurrence because the international standards, although established suffer practical weaknesses, weak enforcement mechanisms. The UN conversion on the right of the child 1989 (CRC), the African charter on the rights and welfare of the child 1990. NGO’s are playing an increasing role in stimulating public concern about child labour. Therefore, all efforts to eradicate child labour have been hampered not only by practical deficiency inherent in the enforcement provisions of the United Nations and ILO conventions and weak enforcement mechanisms as there is lack of enforcement of labour restrictions as manifested in variation in minimum age restriction in different types of employment.

In Cameroon, child labour is considered a cultural norm; the global community is demanding an end to an unacceptable practice in Cameroon with the help of the international Labour Organisation (ILO), The National Commission for Human Rights and Freedoms which is an enforcement mechanism of violations of children rights, but this commission is not independent from the Government and has non-binding decisions as such; deterring child labour becomes a problem.

Cameroon has a good legal frame work for combating child labour. This we can see in the provisions of the Labour Code, Penal Code, The criminal Procedure code and various Legislative acts to this effect. That notwithstanding Cameroon is a signatory and has ratified various conventions and treaties which protect children. However child labour is still a major problem in Cameroon because of lack of enforcement of laws and effective government policies to stop such practices. That is why in Cameroon today children below the age of 14 years are street vendors in various streets of Buea to be précised, used by their parents, foster parents and guardians to make a living out of the children’s labour. The streets of molyko, Mile-17 car park, and check point market is crowded with children selling and even during school hours. Such activities expose children to dangers such as being kidnapped, prostitution.

The government has not acceded to the United Nations Convention on the Sale of Children, Child prostitution and Child pornography. In addition, it has not prohibited the use of children in illicit activities, including in the production and trafficking of drugs.^[27]Children generally work in households while others are subjected to harsh labour in farms causing them ill health. They also perform dangerous tasks in cocoa production.

1.3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS.

1.3.1 General research question

How effective is Cameroon’s compliance with International Law in combatting child labour?

1.3.2 Specific research questions

• What is child labour, its nature, causes and forms?
• How effective is the institution and policies for combatting child labour in Cameroon?
• To what extent is Cameroon compliant with institutions and policies put in place for combatting child labour?
• What policy recommendations can be made?

1.3 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

• General objective

The purpose of this work is to identify factors promoting child labour and to assess the effectiveness of the laws combatting child labour in Cameroon in view of proposing solutions.

• Specific Objectives

          The specific objectives are:

• To analyze the nature, causes and forms of child labour
• To critically assess the institutions and policies for combating child labour in Cameroon.
• To investigate Cameroon’s compliance with institutions and policies for combatting child labour.
• To make policy recommendations
  • RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The study employs the qualitative research methodology appropriate in law, adopting a content analysis of both primary and secondary sources of information.

The primary source comprise of national laws protecting children as well as international Conventions, Declarations, Charters and Official Publications. While the secondary sources will cover textbooks, journals, newspaper articles and computerized sources of information and information from Non-Governmental Organization NGOs, interviews. 

 The outcome of this research is influenced by the effective use of qualitative research in analyzing the primary and secondary sources of information. We collected materials from textbooks, newspaper articles where causes, forms of child labour are being examined. In addition, international and national instruments, policies and institutions combatting child labour are analyzed since the study is based on child labour. Equally, computerized sources of information, reports and journals are other secondary sources that have been utilized for same.

For a smooth running of the work and to better understand the nature of child labour, effects and causes, a qualitative research method is used by way of interviews conducted on victims of child labour. This is significant as a wide range of recommendations in this study should be able to affect current government reforms for combatting child labour in Cameroon. Thus, a guide to government actions.

The study however, consulted international legal instruments, policies and declarations which are analyzed to address the challenges of child labour, forced labour and violations of children’s rights. Equally, analyzing the Cameroonian legal framework regarding institutions and policies in compliance to international standards.

1.6 LITERATURE REVIEW

In relation to the international standard for combating child labour, Silk and Makonnen^[28] assess the role of international human rights law in ending child labour. He observes that all over the world, children are weaving carpets, cutting and polishing precious stones, assembling shoes, cutting and sewing garments, mining for diamonds, gold, silver, and tin, cutting sugar cane, harvesting fruit, coffee, and other crops, manufacturing toys, sporting goods and appliances, and working as domestic servants, street vendors, herders, migrant workers, and prostitutes.^[29] These children often work long hours with dangerous tools and machines and are exposed to hazardous chemicals, polluted air, and infectious diseases. They are denied the education that is their right and deprived of prospects for even minimally prosperous and healthy lives. To him, the economic exploitation of children has generated an expanding set of international legal standards designed to protect children from the harmful and dangerous effects of child labour.^[30] These standards, although well-established suffers from many of the same practical weaknesses that have limited the effectiveness of international human rights law generally. This dilemma which he describes as strong legal norms but weak enforcement mechanisms has contributed to a recent rise in private action to prevent child labour. These private initiatives utilize the standards embedded in international law and may, in turn, contribute to an evolution that will ultimately transform principles into effective, enforceable, legal norms.^[31]