As far as social problems go, child labor may not be as present or as visible a problem as, say, London bridges. But child labor is There, just check the Corozal Free Zone where it's an everyday activity.
But though widely unchecked it isn't going unnoticed, today the labor department, with assistance from the International Labor Organization started a two-day workshop to tackle the problem of child labor. Leslie Bowrin the ILO's Regional Child Labor Project told us that while child labor may be symptomatic of the greater problem of poverty it is not going unnoticed; it is being addressed in very much the same manner as poverty itself.
Leslie Bowrin,
"While we address poverty issues, we cannot afford our children to suffer these negative experiences. We know that we are going to eradicate poverty overnight but do we leave our children in these circumstances while we work on the long-term plan. Our answer is no."
The workshop continues tomorrow at the National Development Foundation of Belize.
7NEWS was produced for broadcast by News Director Jules Vasquez
Edited for the internet by Keith Swift