Nearly 5 Million Children Forced To Work In Zimbabwe

Nearly 5 million children in Zimbabwe between the age of five and 17 years are being forced to work in several sectors of the economy against their will, reveals survey report. The National Child Labour Survey was carried out by the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, the Central Statistics Office and the ILO to determine the nature and extent of child labour in Zimbabwe. The findings regarding the working status of children between five and 17 years revealed that of the 4.67 million children projected, 26% were paid labourers while 88% worked as unpaid family workers. The survey was the first one of its kind in Zimbabwe, which attempted to look at the overall magnitude of child labour in Zimbabwe. (Xinhua General News Service)