Malawi'’s agricultural sector is critical to its economy, employing around 77% of the population and accounting for 23% of gross domestic product (GDP). The majority of workers in agriculture are smallholder farmers, many of whom cultivate less than one hectare of land. Despite its importance, the sector faces significant challenges, …
The shrimp and turtle case brought up by the US against some developing nations highlights the tremendous influence civil society can wield to monitor environmental governance in other countries. It all started in 1989 when the US Congress passed a law to prohibit the import of shrimp harvested in ways …
It was yet another trade fight and just another instance of the US bulldozing its way to achieve its own purpose. But this time the fight ensued across the border with its neighbour, Canada. Utilising the conflict resolution norms stated in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the US …
Some of the chaos outside seemed to permeate into the Convention Center. It was just another day before attention shifted from the protests outside to the proceedings of the meet, and differences between political groups within the wto began to emerge. There were three main groupings: the us, the European …
The issue that surfaced first at the protest meetings outside the Seattle Convention Center and was touted by many as being the reason for the collapse of the talks was transparency within the World Trade Organization (WTO). The seriousness of the issue became apparent when even delegates at the Seattle …
Anyone familiar with the seemingly endless trade wars between the US and the European Union (EU) would not be surprised about their 1998 battle over the beef trade. It started in the 1980s, when the EU first placed a domestic ban on the use of hormones in cattle breeding. The …
Over half the children in Nepal are working as child labourers. Seventy-one per cent of them work as bonded labourers in rural areas while 52 per cent work as domestic help in urban areas. This was revealed by Renu Rajbhandari, president of the Women Rehabilitation Centre (WRC). She also said …
ONE CHILD in three is not registered at birth, leaving them without proof of identity or age that may deny them education, healthcare and even nationality, according to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). The UNICEF says that a birth certificate is required for vaccination in at least 20 countries …
The us will provide an additional amount of us $500,000 to support the implementation of the second phase of the plan to eliminate child labour in garment industries of Bangladesh, said Andrew James Samet, us deputy under secretary. The amount will be spent over the next two years to support …
imports of goods made by forced or indentured child labourers may be banned if a bill is passed in us. The bill sponsors say that the trade ban will affect the imports of rugs and carpets from Pakistan and India, where children as young as four years old are sold …
Six years after the International Labour Organizatio6 (ILO) launched the International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC), reliabloata are still lacking. A recent ILO estimate places the number of child workers across the world at 73 million. With most nations not even recognising the problem - only 19 …
THIS is a development report based on a major study with intensive field work carried out mainly in the neighbouring Nepal's Sindhuli district - the culmination of 2 years' work. The report draws also In many on similar work labour conducted Gambia. In add - tion, the report, which was …
The Gujarat government has embarked on an ambitious project to put an end to child labour in the state. Developed by the Gandhi Labour Institute, Ahmedabad, the project involves a Rs 27-crore phased action plan which will cover about 5,000 children engaged in hazardous work. The plan's focus areas will …
The Damocles' sword of an import ban by the US has forced Bangladesh's garment industry sources to sack all child labour by October instead of phasing them out over the next 2 years, as planned initially. However, human rights activists are apprehensive about the decision to lay off child labour …
The recent shooting of a 12-year-old carpetweaver in Pakistan has been attributed to child labour racketeers. "We know his death was a conspiracy by the carpet mafia," maintains Ehsan Ullah Khan, chairperson of the Bonded Labour Liberation Front. Young Iqbal Masih had recently become a crusader against child labour. Last …
IQBAL Masih's assassination cannot be condoned. His crime: he dared to speak out against child labour. The 12-year-old boy was riddled with bullets on April 16, Easter Sunday, while cycling through his village near Lahore in Pakistan. Born into the fate of millions of children around the world, especially South …
National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) chairperson Ranganath Mishra has asserted that environmental violations such as pollution and fouling up the atmosphere are tantamount to denial of the fundamental rights of people. The assertion marks the commission's slow but steady expansion of its area of operation and jurisdiction. Responding to a …
THE united stand of the labour ministers of the nonaligned and other developing countries to denounce the post-Uruguay round attempt to introduce a social clause to link up international trade with labour standards, although commendable, is still a political riddle. This Delhi Declaration's seemingly aggressive stance, following from the 5th …
The centre proposes to set up a national child labour elimination authority to implement schemes to abolish child labour in hazardous industries by AD 2000. Over the next 6 years, Rs 850 crore scheme will be implemented in states of Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat where a …
JAFAR Imam, 14, was a daily wage labourer in Hauz Qazi, Delhi, who refused to work 12 hours a day for a scrimpy allowance of Rs 350 a month. For this "transgression", he was burnt to death by his employer in July, becoming yet another victim of a malaise that …
GERMAN concern for child labour has hit carpet manufacturers in Nepal. A Panos report says that approximately 35 per cent of their export orders have fallen through and 100,000 sq metres of carpet meant for export lie in stores as a fallout of an adverse German television programme. On April …
