COMMISSION SEEKS DISAGGREGATED DATA IN DRAFT CHILD LABOUR POLICY

The National Gender and Equality Commission (NGEC) has asked that child labour data be disaggregated by sex, age, disability and location in the draft national policy on the elimination of child labour. 

The Commission’s Nakuru Regional Office made the recommendation at a public participation forum on the Draft National Policy on the Elimination of Child Labour, convened by the State Department for Labour and Skills Development at the Kenya Red Cross Society Hall in Nakuru. 

The forum brought together government agencies, civil society organisations and community representatives, drawn from state and non-state actors and from members of the public, to review the draft and provide input ahead of its finalisation.

NTERSECTING RISK 

The Commission used the platform to argue for a policy framework that responds directly to the intersecting vulnerabilities that raise a child’s risk of exploitation. 

The Commission’s position is that child labour is not experienced uniformly, and that a child’s vulnerability is shaped by the intersection of disability, poverty, gender,location, displacement, family circumstances and other compounding factors. A policy that does not account for these differences risks overlooking the children most exposed to harm.

WHAT WAS PROPOSED 

The Commission recommended that child labour data be systematically disaggregated by sex, age, disability, county and sub-county, urban or rural location, socio-economic status and other relevant vulnerability characteristics. 

Without that level of detail, the Commission said, interventions risk being too broad to reach the children who need protection most, because protection cannot extend to children the system does not count. 

The Commission said disaggregated data enables targeted interventions, better resource allocation and accountability in tracking progress towards eliminating child labour in all its forms.

 The draft policy is being prepared by the State Department for Labour and Skills Development. The Nakuru forum formed part of the public participation preceding its finalisation.