More work needed to help victims of child labour –Hamilton

Amid the fight against child labour in Guyana, Labour Minister Joesph Hamilton has said that more work must be done by stakeholders, particularly as it relates to the rehabilitation and fostering of children that have been exposed to Child labour.
The Labour Minister made this call on Monday during a two-day training programme hosted by the Human Service and Social Security Ministry in collaboration with the Ministry of Labour. The training, titled “Partnering to Keep Children Safe,” is being held at the Regency Hotel and represents a collaborative initiative between both Ministries.
During his presentation, Hamilton said that whilst stakeholders have made significant strides in the fight against child labour there are still some areas that need improvement.

“One of the things I think this seminar must answer, because there is a question that is out there that we have to answer. What do we do with a child or children? We have not answered that question yet. We have answered we must collaborate. We have answered we must do regular inspections from all sides. We have answered what is our different roles, individually and collectively.”
In this regard the Minister made a call to action to stakeholders at the training session to develop systems that will help children who were victims of child labour.
“This seminar should report a plan of action to myself and my colleague, Minister. How? You must tell us how and I hope we answer it this year, so that in 2025, we can have it implemented. When we remove a 14-year-old boy from a coconut plantation in Pomeroon, who is the healthiest of the children of a single mother who has five kids. We have to answer the question, what do we do with him? We have to be prepared, in every region, that that child must find him or herself in some place, not just to be taken care of, in a place where they can receive training and development.”

Also present at the training programme was Human Service and Social Security Minister Dr Vindhya Persaud, who highlighted the importance of authorities distinguishing between child labour and common chores.
“In this part of the world, when we consider what is child labour, we should look at the Caribbean culture and the Guyanese culture. We are not like other parts of the world where children do not do chores, children do not help, children do not do some things. So a distinction needs to be made, and that is where education is very pivotal in that distinction. How do we recognise and differentiate child labour and exploitation of children’s work from what people call chores?”
Additionally, he also advocated for improved data management systems; she noted that many times reports are utilising outdated data. The Minister added that even in some cases data is sometimes manipulated and generalised.
“But then it speaks to a deeper problem. Where is the data stored? Are we collecting the data in the kind of format that we can easily access that data? That’s the first thing. Are we collecting the data in the form that it can be analysed and generate reports that are current? So we need to make sure that there’s congruence of data, that the same data, whether you look at labour, human services, police force, education, it’s the same data we’re looking at.
And I want to again reiterate, anecdotal references or speaking to one person or having a small population sample and that becomes the generalisation and that is the bedrock of what you’re reporting is ridiculous. And we keep seeing it over and over.”
Meanwhile the two-day workshop is designed to empower attendees with updated strategies and tools essential for safeguarding the nation’s children. Topics covered during the sessions include abuse prevention, case management, family support, and effective collaboration with community partners.