The Crossroads: Reasons behind Child Labor in Sudan
Created | Updated Jul 11, 2007
Abstract
This paper hosts an argument between two opposing opinions in the issue of child labor in Sudan. Throughout the context of the paper the author reveals the different opinions and their credibility. The author then integrates his own perception of the issue and states some recommendations to solve the problem.
Introduction
The issue of child labor is a very sensitive and a much disputed topic. The controversy over the issue of child labor is not a modern trend, rather than an old quarrel among involved parties on the morality, the origin and the consequences of the issue. In addition, there is no crystal clear agreed upon definition for child labor and under what circumstances a child is considered a part of the appalling issue? Thus the issue of child labor has long been a disturbing issue for the governments while international bodies and entities continue exerting pressure on those governments to eliminate the unhealthy phenomenon. However, the largest obstacle in studying child labor is to figure out some answers to the following questions: what are the reasons behind child labor? Which of these reasons play the most critical role in spreading child labor? Why children work in the first place? Two camps exist the first believes that child labor is due to poverty only, while the other camp believes that some other reasons are involved.
Background Information
Child labor refers to: ``work that impedes children's access to education and is harmful to their physical, mental, moral, developmental, and social well-being'' (Schmitz, KimJin, & Larson 2004). So according to the definition what is meant by child labor is not the house work imposed on him/her by his/her parents. Child labor means work that might affect the child negatively in the future, work that might disable the child physically, mentally, or morally in the future. Child labor has been in Sudan for centuries by now. Children in Sudan work in carpet weaving, tailoring, washing cars, polishing shoes, servants and even as soldiers in the army. Child soldiers are considered a branch of child labor it is estimated that hundred thousands of children were involved in thirty-three armed conflicts worldwide (as cited in Schmitz, KimJin, & Larson, 2004, p.7). Child soldiers were used during the civil war in Sudan, which is the longest war in recent history and as the two opposing armies - The Sudanese government army, and the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) - ran out of resources, they resorted to recruiting children as soldiers in order to fuel there everlasting dreadful war, according to the Human Rights Watch ``these children serve not only in service roles but also in combat. They are at time forced to commit atrocities against family and neighbors, separating them further from a potential future in those environments'' (Schmitz, KimJin, & Larson, 2004, p.7).
Another misunderstood aspect of child labor is that child labor means paid work, but actually child labor can be paid or unpaid work, voluntarily or compulsory (Schmitz, KimJin, & Larson 2004, p.1). The dilemma of child labor is that western countries or international bodies concerned with the issue can not stop child labor in an instant. Previously, they were efforts to ban the sales of products manufactured by children, but such a measure may lead to lay off the kids who need money desperately or even worse forcing them to work in other more painful and terrifying forms of child labor (Schmitz, KimJin, & Larson, 2004). That's why the issue of child labor is a complex issue than can not be resolved in matter of days. it needs proper planning and delicate measures so as to come up with workable solutions that might help in eradicating the issue.
Economy
Economy plays the biggest role in determining child labor. In her article, Unraveling child labor and labor legislation featured in the Journal of International Affairs , Madiha Murshed, a researcher in the field of child labor approaches the topic from a total economical point of view. Murshed focuses on the economical factor and how it may propagate the issue of child labor. Murshed posed `` what is the mechanism within households that induces families to send children to work? ``And `` why do employers demand child laborers ?'' (Murshed, 2001). In seeking the answer Murshed goes on to interpret the phenomenon using classical economic approaches in terms of supply and demand using Becker's Theory of Allocation of Time. According to this theory ``a household makes decisions on the number of children to have... the time of household members is optimally allocated to serve the perceived needs of the household'' (Murshed, 2001).
Murshed explains the other side of the dilemma, employers tend to seek child labors because ``there are certain advantages to employing children'' (Murshed, 2001). Omar also agrees with Murshed on the theory of supply and demand ``Demand of child labor play a critical role in determining the involvement of children in hazardous work'' (Omar, 2001, p.4).
Murshed and Omar agree that economy plays a vital role is children dropping school and heading to work which constitutes the child labor phenomenon. Both authors share the feeling that economy plays a vital factor in deciding whether to send a child to work or not. Also, both authors agree on the supply and demand theory and the role it plays in child labor phenomenon. Other observes for the issue claim that ``poverty is the major precipitating factor'' (Schmitz, Traver, Larson 2004).
Social factors
Amna Omar, in her article on Socio-economic and Demographic Determinants of Child Labor in Northern Sudan elaborates on the research and survey she conducted on the causes of child labor in Sudan. Social reasons can not be overlooked according to Omar. Along with the economical approach Omar's study investigated some socio-economic factors, for instance, unemployment, rising cost of living, and rural and urban differentials. Also, she illustrated that the ``parents' educational, occupational and income status are inversely related to the probability of the child being used as a source of income'' (Omar, 2001, p.5).
She supports her findings by conducting a survey that shows the distribution of child labor in Sudan depending on some characteristics like the child sex, age, urban or rural residence, school attendance, and in which region of Sudan the child dwells. Some remarkable findings were concluded by Omar at the end of her research. Beside finding out that poverty is the main reason of child labor in Sudan, the study also proved that a lot of children tend to work because ``they have no place in the schools'' (Omar, 2001, p.21). The nature of the African family foster child labor for:
African families who lack social security especially in the case of disease and old age it is still reasonable to have more than two children: as youngsters they are vulnerable laborers in household work, cultivation, and herding, as adults they are expected to support the family through work, financial contributions, food, and consumer goods (Grawert, 1998, p. 59).
In Sudan and most of African communities people tend to work because of the number of children they have. So fertility is another reason for child labor. A household sponsor might be able to provide his family with funds as long as it is a small family. But once the number of members within the family increases dramatically the guardian might find himself incapable of funding the basic needs of his/her family members. As a consequence the family might opt to send one of their children or even more in order to support the rest of the family and this what happened to one of my relatives in east of Sudan.
I agree with Omar in her findings, socio-economic factors along with economy and poverty altogether helped child labor. Fertility, the structure of an African family, and even unemployment all contributed to child labor somehow.
Unemployment may lead to families sending their children to work for supporting the income of the household. I will illustrate with this story that I would like to convey it happened in the 1980s. I remember at that time I was in Sudan in my summer vacation, there was a neighbor who lives door to door in front of us. He was nicknamed ``The Sheikh'' for being religious, praying on time, and helping the neighbors. He was a wealthy. But, during a military rebel that brought a new regime in Sudan all ``The Sheikh'' money and properties were confiscated. Sadly, he had to send two of his children who were 15 years old at that time in order to work and support his huge family. Therefore, unemployment might force parents to send their children to work with the intention of contributing to the household income. The worrying fact is that unemployment rate are increasing annually in Sudan, hopefully child labor opportunities will not.
War
The civil war in Sudan left depressing traces. Not only did it literally ruin the country's economy but also under the name of war the Sudanese children were abused and forced into awful types of child labor. The National Military Service (NMS) which is the umbrella under which the Sudanese government assembled its army breached the Convention of the Rights of Child and the Sudanese law by recruiting children in their armed forces even if they are not 18 years old or above according to Human Rights Watch (HRW) (1995). The National Military Service launched frequent raids on the civilians especially in Nubia and Dongola who had conflicts with the Arabic tribes, claims the HRW (1995). As a result of the raids a number of children were forced into the military service in a very young age. The Human Rights Watch conveys: ``In one case, we found out that a ten year-old Dinka boy had been drafted into Mundari tribal militia by government forces in 1991 and kept in service until he escaped in 1995'' (1995).
The Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) had it share in exploiting children. Reported by the HRW, the SPLA had lured thousands of southern children to join their armed forces by allegedly promising them an education in their camps on the Ethiopian borders (1995). The children had to walk hundred of kilometers to Ethiopian refugee camps in order to receive an education or so was the promise. The SPLA recruited these children and threw them in action whenever possible especially when the SPLA confronted the NMS on the Ethiopian borders (1995).
Forcing children to volunteer in the armies whether by the government represented by the NMS or the rebellions represented by the SPLA was not the only outcome of the civil war in Sudan. The Human Rights Watch (1995) believes that children encountered other types of child labor away from action. The Human Rights Watch goes on to claim ``Some children have been captured in military raids on their villages and taken into household slavery by their captors'' (1995). These children were forced into child labor either by threatening them of punishment. I remember when I was living in Sudan I saw a lot of children similar to these, mostly young Nubian children boys and girls. I reckon that I once asked about a 12 years old girl that used to work in one of my uncle's acquaintances house. I asked my uncle why such a young girl work and wear herself out. He did not look to me into the eyes but said: ``Some people in life do not have a choice, they are forced'' now I know what he meant.
Education
The educational system has collapsed in Sudan. The war contributed to the incident but also other factors promoted the demise of the Sudanese educational system like the continuous unplanned reforms in the educational system by the governments in charge (Willis). The falls of the education system made a lot of children drop out of school and seek a work voluntarily. Nevertheless, the involvement of education in the child labor dilemma is minor. Not to mention that the fall of education is part of the exhausted and war torn economy.
Education in itself is the essence of life. A Portuguese proverb states: ``Live to learn and you will learn to live''. But, nowadays education is not as cheap as it used to be centuries before that might be the reason why the government can not afford a decent education system. If the government could reform its educational system in more effective ways maybe that will in reducing the number of children who dropped school, as more children will join schools to complete their education.
Economical or Social
The debate on the child labor is a long and an overwhelming one. Some observers believe that poverty is the main reason for child labor in Sudan. That is obviously true but we can not claim that poverty is the only reason for child labor, if it was then how can we interpret the child labor in rich wealthy countries for instance the United States? According to the Child Labor Coalition (CLC) which is a US based organization intended to put and end to child labor in US and internationally, Child labor exists in the United States , they work in farms as harvesters (n.d.). Thus, it would be unfair to claim that poverty and economy are the sole reasons for child labor - although we can not argue that they are the major reasons- but we should not overlook other minor reasons that spread child labor. Personally, I believe that social factor in combination of poverty lead to the phenomenon known as child labor. As Omar earlier illuminated child labor might be a result of fertility, unemployment, and other social factors.
The civil war is also neglected and some people believe that the war did not contribute to child labor rather than weakening the economy which in turn resulted in child labor. That's what I used to believe myself but as I came across my resources I found out that on the contrary, using cited resources from the Human Rights Watch, the war and the involved fighting parties in particular were drawn in drafting children into their war campaigns by force, which propagated child labor directly without the involvement of economy or poverty. Children who were drafted were not necessarily poor. It just happened that they were in the wrong place and the wrong time. To be precise child labor in Sudan specifically was affected by the civil war as one of the major causes of child labor in the previous years.
What to do?
Swift measures should be taken to dislocate child labor from the heart of the Sudanese community. This should be done in a careful and planned manner not to add more on the shoulders of suffering children. The Sudanese government along with its alliances - including the SPLA after signing the peace agreement - should start with themselves. All children still serving as soldiers should be freed by the government militias and should undergo a well-structured rehabilitation program, this program must help the children to join school and to get back on their feet.
The international bodies like the United Nation, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch are ought to help the Sudanese government in resolving the problem, rather than only criticizing the government. These organizations should lend a hand to the Sudanese government either by funding rehabilitation programs, inform the government and the personnel in charge on effective ways based on their experience, or even involving in resolving the issue in situ.
Moreover, the government should emphasize the quality of education so the schools can retain their students and prevent them from dropping out of school and head to the labor force. In addition, the media should raise the awareness among the families on controlling the fertility rate. These families should be aware on the consequences of raising a large number of kids and how it eventually infiltrates the economic stability of the family.
Finally, all the civil organizations, activists, international entities and media should come together and fight the employers who hire child in their trades, together they should be able to force the employer to forge a better environment for the children who work for them as a temporarily solution until these children join the education system once again.
Conclusion
Initially we started the research in quest for answers for the proposed questions. What are the reasons for child labor? Which one is more critical? And how can it be resolved? I personally think - as I demonstrated throughout my research - that the reasons for child labor are irreparable and interconnected. Poverty, education, unemployment, fertility ...etc and other reasons that I might failed to cover in my research contributed all to the issue, and thus the solution for the problem should consider all the previous factors.
Individual solutions are futile, what it takes to take matter in our hands is to group all the involving parties who long for a solution for the crisis in a one formidable force that will take smart yet effective procedures to eliminated child labor from Sudan then the face of earth.
Poverty apparently is the most dominant factor and that hardest to be solved. Optimistically, after the exploration of oil in profitable amounts the Sudanese economy will prosper and poverty will be reduced to a limit that it no longer a major cause for child labor. Will that be the case? All we can do is to sit down and wait.
References
Child Labor Coalition. (n.d.). Groups promote Meaningful Action in U.S. A gainst Worst
Forms of Child Labor. Retrieved May 2 nd , 2006 from:
http://www.stopchildlabor.org/USchildlabor/childlaborUS.htm
Grawert E. (1998). Making a Living in Rural Sudan. Wiltshire: Antony Rowe Ltd.
Human Rights Watch Online. (1995). Retrieved May 2 nd , 2006 from:
http://www.hrw.org/reports/1995/Sudan.htm
Murshed, M. (2001). Unraveling child labor and labor legislation. Journal of
International Affairs, Vol. 55. Retrieved March 30 th , 2006 from Proquest Online Database.
Omar A. (2001). Socio-economic and Demographic Determinants of Child Labor in
Northern Sudan. Economic Research Forum. Retrieved March 30 th , 2006 from:
http://www.erf.org.eg/html/Amna_Omar.pdf
Schmitz C., Traver E., & Larson D. (2004). Child Labor: A Global View. Greenwood
Publishing Group, Inc.
Willis, J. (n.d.). General Education in Sudan. University of Durham, UK.
Retrieved May 5 th , 2006 from:
http://www.dur.ac.uk/justin.willis/Education.htm
This paper hosts an argument between two opposing opinions in the issue of child labor in Sudan. Throughout the context of the paper the author reveals the different opinions and their credibility. The author then integrates his own perception of the issue and states some recommendations to solve the problem.
Introduction
The issue of child labor is a very sensitive and a much disputed topic. The controversy over the issue of child labor is not a modern trend, rather than an old quarrel among involved parties on the morality, the origin and the consequences of the issue. In addition, there is no crystal clear agreed upon definition for child labor and under what circumstances a child is considered a part of the appalling issue? Thus the issue of child labor has long been a disturbing issue for the governments while international bodies and entities continue exerting pressure on those governments to eliminate the unhealthy phenomenon. However, the largest obstacle in studying child labor is to figure out some answers to the following questions: what are the reasons behind child labor? Which of these reasons play the most critical role in spreading child labor? Why children work in the first place? Two camps exist the first believes that child labor is due to poverty only, while the other camp believes that some other reasons are involved.
Background Information
Child labor refers to: ``work that impedes children's access to education and is harmful to their physical, mental, moral, developmental, and social well-being'' (Schmitz, KimJin, & Larson 2004). So according to the definition what is meant by child labor is not the house work imposed on him/her by his/her parents. Child labor means work that might affect the child negatively in the future, work that might disable the child physically, mentally, or morally in the future. Child labor has been in Sudan for centuries by now. Children in Sudan work in carpet weaving, tailoring, washing cars, polishing shoes, servants and even as soldiers in the army. Child soldiers are considered a branch of child labor it is estimated that hundred thousands of children were involved in thirty-three armed conflicts worldwide (as cited in Schmitz, KimJin, & Larson, 2004, p.7). Child soldiers were used during the civil war in Sudan, which is the longest war in recent history and as the two opposing armies - The Sudanese government army, and the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) - ran out of resources, they resorted to recruiting children as soldiers in order to fuel there everlasting dreadful war, according to the Human Rights Watch ``these children serve not only in service roles but also in combat. They are at time forced to commit atrocities against family and neighbors, separating them further from a potential future in those environments'' (Schmitz, KimJin, & Larson, 2004, p.7).
Another misunderstood aspect of child labor is that child labor means paid work, but actually child labor can be paid or unpaid work, voluntarily or compulsory (Schmitz, KimJin, & Larson 2004, p.1). The dilemma of child labor is that western countries or international bodies concerned with the issue can not stop child labor in an instant. Previously, they were efforts to ban the sales of products manufactured by children, but such a measure may lead to lay off the kids who need money desperately or even worse forcing them to work in other more painful and terrifying forms of child labor (Schmitz, KimJin, & Larson, 2004). That's why the issue of child labor is a complex issue than can not be resolved in matter of days. it needs proper planning and delicate measures so as to come up with workable solutions that might help in eradicating the issue.
Economy
Economy plays the biggest role in determining child labor. In her article, Unraveling child labor and labor legislation featured in the Journal of International Affairs , Madiha Murshed, a researcher in the field of child labor approaches the topic from a total economical point of view. Murshed focuses on the economical factor and how it may propagate the issue of child labor. Murshed posed `` what is the mechanism within households that induces families to send children to work? ``And `` why do employers demand child laborers ?'' (Murshed, 2001). In seeking the answer Murshed goes on to interpret the phenomenon using classical economic approaches in terms of supply and demand using Becker's Theory of Allocation of Time. According to this theory ``a household makes decisions on the number of children to have... the time of household members is optimally allocated to serve the perceived needs of the household'' (Murshed, 2001).
Murshed explains the other side of the dilemma, employers tend to seek child labors because ``there are certain advantages to employing children'' (Murshed, 2001). Omar also agrees with Murshed on the theory of supply and demand ``Demand of child labor play a critical role in determining the involvement of children in hazardous work'' (Omar, 2001, p.4).
Murshed and Omar agree that economy plays a vital role is children dropping school and heading to work which constitutes the child labor phenomenon. Both authors share the feeling that economy plays a vital factor in deciding whether to send a child to work or not. Also, both authors agree on the supply and demand theory and the role it plays in child labor phenomenon. Other observes for the issue claim that ``poverty is the major precipitating factor'' (Schmitz, Traver, Larson 2004).
Social factors
Amna Omar, in her article on Socio-economic and Demographic Determinants of Child Labor in Northern Sudan elaborates on the research and survey she conducted on the causes of child labor in Sudan. Social reasons can not be overlooked according to Omar. Along with the economical approach Omar's study investigated some socio-economic factors, for instance, unemployment, rising cost of living, and rural and urban differentials. Also, she illustrated that the ``parents' educational, occupational and income status are inversely related to the probability of the child being used as a source of income'' (Omar, 2001, p.5).
She supports her findings by conducting a survey that shows the distribution of child labor in Sudan depending on some characteristics like the child sex, age, urban or rural residence, school attendance, and in which region of Sudan the child dwells. Some remarkable findings were concluded by Omar at the end of her research. Beside finding out that poverty is the main reason of child labor in Sudan, the study also proved that a lot of children tend to work because ``they have no place in the schools'' (Omar, 2001, p.21). The nature of the African family foster child labor for:
African families who lack social security especially in the case of disease and old age it is still reasonable to have more than two children: as youngsters they are vulnerable laborers in household work, cultivation, and herding, as adults they are expected to support the family through work, financial contributions, food, and consumer goods (Grawert, 1998, p. 59).
In Sudan and most of African communities people tend to work because of the number of children they have. So fertility is another reason for child labor. A household sponsor might be able to provide his family with funds as long as it is a small family. But once the number of members within the family increases dramatically the guardian might find himself incapable of funding the basic needs of his/her family members. As a consequence the family might opt to send one of their children or even more in order to support the rest of the family and this what happened to one of my relatives in east of Sudan.
I agree with Omar in her findings, socio-economic factors along with economy and poverty altogether helped child labor. Fertility, the structure of an African family, and even unemployment all contributed to child labor somehow.
Unemployment may lead to families sending their children to work for supporting the income of the household. I will illustrate with this story that I would like to convey it happened in the 1980s. I remember at that time I was in Sudan in my summer vacation, there was a neighbor who lives door to door in front of us. He was nicknamed ``The Sheikh'' for being religious, praying on time, and helping the neighbors. He was a wealthy. But, during a military rebel that brought a new regime in Sudan all ``The Sheikh'' money and properties were confiscated. Sadly, he had to send two of his children who were 15 years old at that time in order to work and support his huge family. Therefore, unemployment might force parents to send their children to work with the intention of contributing to the household income. The worrying fact is that unemployment rate are increasing annually in Sudan, hopefully child labor opportunities will not.
War
The civil war in Sudan left depressing traces. Not only did it literally ruin the country's economy but also under the name of war the Sudanese children were abused and forced into awful types of child labor. The National Military Service (NMS) which is the umbrella under which the Sudanese government assembled its army breached the Convention of the Rights of Child and the Sudanese law by recruiting children in their armed forces even if they are not 18 years old or above according to Human Rights Watch (HRW) (1995). The National Military Service launched frequent raids on the civilians especially in Nubia and Dongola who had conflicts with the Arabic tribes, claims the HRW (1995). As a result of the raids a number of children were forced into the military service in a very young age. The Human Rights Watch conveys: ``In one case, we found out that a ten year-old Dinka boy had been drafted into Mundari tribal militia by government forces in 1991 and kept in service until he escaped in 1995'' (1995).
The Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) had it share in exploiting children. Reported by the HRW, the SPLA had lured thousands of southern children to join their armed forces by allegedly promising them an education in their camps on the Ethiopian borders (1995). The children had to walk hundred of kilometers to Ethiopian refugee camps in order to receive an education or so was the promise. The SPLA recruited these children and threw them in action whenever possible especially when the SPLA confronted the NMS on the Ethiopian borders (1995).
Forcing children to volunteer in the armies whether by the government represented by the NMS or the rebellions represented by the SPLA was not the only outcome of the civil war in Sudan. The Human Rights Watch (1995) believes that children encountered other types of child labor away from action. The Human Rights Watch goes on to claim ``Some children have been captured in military raids on their villages and taken into household slavery by their captors'' (1995). These children were forced into child labor either by threatening them of punishment. I remember when I was living in Sudan I saw a lot of children similar to these, mostly young Nubian children boys and girls. I reckon that I once asked about a 12 years old girl that used to work in one of my uncle's acquaintances house. I asked my uncle why such a young girl work and wear herself out. He did not look to me into the eyes but said: ``Some people in life do not have a choice, they are forced'' now I know what he meant.
Education
The educational system has collapsed in Sudan. The war contributed to the incident but also other factors promoted the demise of the Sudanese educational system like the continuous unplanned reforms in the educational system by the governments in charge (Willis). The falls of the education system made a lot of children drop out of school and seek a work voluntarily. Nevertheless, the involvement of education in the child labor dilemma is minor. Not to mention that the fall of education is part of the exhausted and war torn economy.
Education in itself is the essence of life. A Portuguese proverb states: ``Live to learn and you will learn to live''. But, nowadays education is not as cheap as it used to be centuries before that might be the reason why the government can not afford a decent education system. If the government could reform its educational system in more effective ways maybe that will in reducing the number of children who dropped school, as more children will join schools to complete their education.
Economical or Social
The debate on the child labor is a long and an overwhelming one. Some observers believe that poverty is the main reason for child labor in Sudan. That is obviously true but we can not claim that poverty is the only reason for child labor, if it was then how can we interpret the child labor in rich wealthy countries for instance the United States? According to the Child Labor Coalition (CLC) which is a US based organization intended to put and end to child labor in US and internationally, Child labor exists in the United States , they work in farms as harvesters (n.d.). Thus, it would be unfair to claim that poverty and economy are the sole reasons for child labor - although we can not argue that they are the major reasons- but we should not overlook other minor reasons that spread child labor. Personally, I believe that social factor in combination of poverty lead to the phenomenon known as child labor. As Omar earlier illuminated child labor might be a result of fertility, unemployment, and other social factors.
The civil war is also neglected and some people believe that the war did not contribute to child labor rather than weakening the economy which in turn resulted in child labor. That's what I used to believe myself but as I came across my resources I found out that on the contrary, using cited resources from the Human Rights Watch, the war and the involved fighting parties in particular were drawn in drafting children into their war campaigns by force, which propagated child labor directly without the involvement of economy or poverty. Children who were drafted were not necessarily poor. It just happened that they were in the wrong place and the wrong time. To be precise child labor in Sudan specifically was affected by the civil war as one of the major causes of child labor in the previous years.
What to do?
Swift measures should be taken to dislocate child labor from the heart of the Sudanese community. This should be done in a careful and planned manner not to add more on the shoulders of suffering children. The Sudanese government along with its alliances - including the SPLA after signing the peace agreement - should start with themselves. All children still serving as soldiers should be freed by the government militias and should undergo a well-structured rehabilitation program, this program must help the children to join school and to get back on their feet.
The international bodies like the United Nation, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch are ought to help the Sudanese government in resolving the problem, rather than only criticizing the government. These organizations should lend a hand to the Sudanese government either by funding rehabilitation programs, inform the government and the personnel in charge on effective ways based on their experience, or even involving in resolving the issue in situ.
Moreover, the government should emphasize the quality of education so the schools can retain their students and prevent them from dropping out of school and head to the labor force. In addition, the media should raise the awareness among the families on controlling the fertility rate. These families should be aware on the consequences of raising a large number of kids and how it eventually infiltrates the economic stability of the family.
Finally, all the civil organizations, activists, international entities and media should come together and fight the employers who hire child in their trades, together they should be able to force the employer to forge a better environment for the children who work for them as a temporarily solution until these children join the education system once again.
Conclusion
Initially we started the research in quest for answers for the proposed questions. What are the reasons for child labor? Which one is more critical? And how can it be resolved? I personally think - as I demonstrated throughout my research - that the reasons for child labor are irreparable and interconnected. Poverty, education, unemployment, fertility ...etc and other reasons that I might failed to cover in my research contributed all to the issue, and thus the solution for the problem should consider all the previous factors.
Individual solutions are futile, what it takes to take matter in our hands is to group all the involving parties who long for a solution for the crisis in a one formidable force that will take smart yet effective procedures to eliminated child labor from Sudan then the face of earth.
Poverty apparently is the most dominant factor and that hardest to be solved. Optimistically, after the exploration of oil in profitable amounts the Sudanese economy will prosper and poverty will be reduced to a limit that it no longer a major cause for child labor. Will that be the case? All we can do is to sit down and wait.
References
Child Labor Coalition. (n.d.). Groups promote Meaningful Action in U.S. A gainst Worst
Forms of Child Labor. Retrieved May 2 nd , 2006 from:
http://www.stopchildlabor.org/USchildlabor/childlaborUS.htm
Grawert E. (1998). Making a Living in Rural Sudan. Wiltshire: Antony Rowe Ltd.
Human Rights Watch Online. (1995). Retrieved May 2 nd , 2006 from:
http://www.hrw.org/reports/1995/Sudan.htm
Murshed, M. (2001). Unraveling child labor and labor legislation. Journal of
International Affairs, Vol. 55. Retrieved March 30 th , 2006 from Proquest Online Database.
Omar A. (2001). Socio-economic and Demographic Determinants of Child Labor in
Northern Sudan. Economic Research Forum. Retrieved March 30 th , 2006 from:
http://www.erf.org.eg/html/Amna_Omar.pdf
Schmitz C., Traver E., & Larson D. (2004). Child Labor: A Global View. Greenwood
Publishing Group, Inc.
Willis, J. (n.d.). General Education in Sudan. University of Durham, UK.
Retrieved May 5 th , 2006 from:
http://www.dur.ac.uk/justin.willis/Education.htm
