Catumbela - Angolan minister of Public Administration Labour and Social Security Teresa Rodrigues Dias Tuesday in Catumbela, coastal Benguela province, stressed the great determination of the country’s authorities to fight and reduce the impact of child labour in the country.
The minister highlighted the country’s determination to fight this evil while speaking to the press, on the sidelines of the 15th meeting of the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP).
The official said that the country, as a signatory of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) convention, has been working gradually to achieve the desired results.
“This process implies the use of large sums of money. So we have resorted to the support of the Presidency of the Republic”, she noted.
According to the minister, before the practical results, it is necessary to create legal conditions to eradicate child labour in Angola, that is why a multi-sector commission has been created.
“We had to see the structuring issues that are the training that we have, at the level of all areas, organs that can work in this perspective, in order to transmit to the society and to the minors themselves a message that the ILO recommends to its member states”, she clarified.
She added that to achieve this goal, it was necessary to work on a financial structure that allows training throughout the country.
“This year we are going to get into the more practical issues in the fight against child labour and there, obviously, we will take the most critical areas, such as working with the National Institute for Children and other bodies that are coordinated by the Ministry of Social Action, Family and Promotion of Women”, explained the official.
The minister made a point of stating that many people criticise child labour, but they “send children to wash their cars, and sometimes they don´t even pay”.
According to her, the General Inspection of Labour (IGT) has been working hard when it receives denouncements regarding forced labour under coordination with the Criminal Investigation Service (SIC) to fight these practices.
As for the complaints from Trade Unions in Benguela province towards the called modern slavery observed in some Asian fishing companies, Teresa Rodrigues Dias stated that work are underway with the National Union of Angolan Workers (UNTA) and General Center of Independent and Free Trade Unions of Angola (SGSILA).
“We have been aware, sometimes occasionally, sometimes through social networks, that there have been these practices involving companies that do not give their workers vacations or weekends, forcing them to work uninterruptedly until they achieve their goals," she said.
She stressed that “we want to take this opportunity to state that these acts are not only reprehensible, but criminal”.
The Minister made an appeal not only to wait for the action of the General Inspection of Labour (IGT), but also to have the practice of whistleblowing so that the situation can be taken together with SIC and the press.
“Our main goal should be having people and enough local resources so that permanent visits to offenders are taken, but we do not have yet this capacity”, concluded Teresa Dias.
