Over half the children and adolescents who entered the federal government’s Program for the Eradication of Child Labor (Peti) abandoned activities related to agriculture and sidewalk commerce.

43.59% of a total of 568,608 beneficiaries came from agriculture, and 12.06%, from sidewalk commerce.

These data may be found in a pioneer study of the characteristics of Peti beneficiaries, released today by the Ministry of Social Development and Hunger Alleviation (MDS).

According to the survey, 247,871 children worked in the agricultural sector, and 68,558 were street vendors.

The third largest quantity was engaged in domestic labor (38,972 or 6.85%), followed by trash sorting (36,236 or 6.4%), and the food sector (4,433 or 4.3%).

Children were also removed from the areas of shining shoes, fishing, brickyards, porters, watching and cleaning cars, charcoal kilns, and mining.

The research was carried out between December, 2004, and April, 2005, with information from 2,011 municipalities, representing 72% of the municipalities in which the program is operating and 61% of the children and adolescents who are receiving assistance.

The data that were gathered will be used to facilitate the inclusion of all of the government’s social programs in a single register.

At present, the Peti is helping 930,824 children and adolescents between the ages of 7 and 15.

The program withdraws youngsters from unhealthy, dangerous, strenuous, or degrading activities and offers them a stipend of US$ 16.12 (40 reais) in urban zones and US$ 10.07 (25 reais) in rural areas.

The program also provides cultural and athletic activities during the period when the children are not at school by transferring US$ 4.03 (R$ 10) per Peti beneficiary to municipalities in urban zones and US$ 8.06 (R$ 20) in rural areas.

The government plans to extend coverage to a million youngsters by the end of the year.

Agência Brasil

Between 1995 and 2003, the number of working children and adolescents between the ages of 5 and 15 fell 47.5% in Brazil.

According to the National Household Sample Survey (Pnad 2003/IBGE), child labor in this age group decreased from 5.1 million to 2.7 million.

According to the study, the biggest reduction in child labor during the period occurred in Rio de Janeiro, where the number declined from 115 thousand to 38.7 thousand (66.4%).

Mato Grosso do Sul came in second. The Program for the Erradication of Child Labor began in 1996 in that state and the number of working children dropped from 68.6 thousand to 24.3 thousand (64.5%).

The only state in which there was an increase during this period was Roraima, where the number rose 117%, from 1,874 to 4,068.

The Northeast was the region in which the highest child labor index was registered: 11.2% of the children and adolescents in this region work.

The lowest index is in the Southeast, where 4.4% work, less than the national average of 7.5%.

ABr

The World Day Against Child Labor 2005, celebrated next June 12th, will focus on child labor in mines.

The International Labor Organization (ILO) chose this theme because it is considered one of the worst types of children exploitation.

In Brazil, however, the mobilization’s focal point will be the fight against all types of child labor.

According to a 2001 study of the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), approximately 5.5 million children and teenagers, ages 5 through 17, are victims of child labor. Of this total, 33.5% work over 40 hours per week.

Activities are diverse, ranging from domestic work to drug trafficking. The IBGE’s research indicates that 43.4% of the victims work on agricultural activities, and 80% are in the economy’s informal sector.

ILO’s data demonstrate that the number of work-related accidents and diseases involving children and teenagers is high.

In 1997, a total of 4,314 compensations were granted for people younger than 18, because of work-related accidents.

Agência Brasil

Starting today, the fight against child labor will count on the assistance of workers in the Brazilian public health system, known as the Unified Health System (SUS, Sistema Àšnico de Saúde).

Brazil’s Ministry of Health presented SUS workers in Brasí­lia today with the Child Labor Routine Manual, which will be launched officially on a nationwide basis on June 9.

The act is one of the events scheduled to take place around the country through June 12, when World Day Against Child Labor is commemorated.

Maria da Graça Hoefel, a workers’ health technician in the Ministry of Health, explains that one of the forms of child labor that is most common and most difficult to combat is domestic labor.

“A large number of girls in urban areas work as domestics, and since the work is invisible, its dimensions are unknown.”

Brazilian legislation prohibits boys and girls under the age of 14 from working. Between 14 and 15, they are only allowed to work as apprentices, provided that the work is not dangerous, unhealthy, strenuous, or at night.

From the age of 16 on, young people can work as apprentices or formal employees with the assurance of all labor and social security rights.

Brazil is considered an international example in the battle against exploitation of children.

Through the Program for the Erradication of Child Labor (Peti), the government grants a monthly stipend that ranges from US$ 10.40 (25 reais) in rural areas to US$ 16.65 (40 reais) in urban areas to boys and girls removed from child labor.

The program also offers cultural and athletic activities during the period when they are not attending school.

At present, 930,824 children and adolescents between the ages of seven and 15 are being benefitted.

The government intends to reach a million boys and girls by the end of the year.

Agência Brasil