Children forced to work in South Sudan

KADUGLI, Sudan - Every evening, the market in Kadugli, state capital of Southern Kordofan, bustles with activity as women set up their tea shops. Abdi, barely 10 years old, is in one, rinsing glasses. "It is my first day here," he told IRIN, doing a job that will last late into the night.

Many children are being forced to work as the state, which was badly affected by Sudan's 21 years of conflict, grapples with reconstruction challenges. The state is mainly inhabited by the Nuba (central highland tribes) and Baggara (the Hawazma and Misseriya).

A lack of development has also led to discontent. "Signs of insecurity are widespread in the western area where grievances about lack of access to services and employment and the blockage of pastoralist movement towards the South have led a number of Misseriya youth to resort to armed violence," Sara Pantuliano, research fellow at the Humanitarian Policy Group of the Overseas Development Institute, a London-based think-tank, told IRIN.

"This environment of conflicts, post-conflicts and humanitarian emergencies amplifies the risks of violence and exploitation for all children," Natalie McCauley, child protection specialist at the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) in the Kordofan States, told IRIN.

"There are also very few education options for children and young people who have left or not attended school," McCauley said. "The difficulty of getting food, fuel, and water pushes women and girls into ‘survival sex' and many children have to work to survive."

Backwards move?

"Most returnees feel like they are going backwards," said Andrea Naletto of the Norwegian Refugee Council's education programme in Kadugli, which provides literacy, numeracy, life skills and vocational training for internally displaced and returnee youth.

Most of the former refugees are returning from Kakuma, a refugee camp in north-western Kenya, which has more to offer in terms of education and skills training and jobs.

Skilled workers are also not eager to return. "Who in their right mind would leave Kakuma for Kadugli to work for free?" asked Naletto. Many schools in the state rely on volunteer workers.

Zainab Balandia, director of RUYA, a local children's NGO, said some of the working children were separated returnees. "Those who are not able to go to school come to the towns," Balandia said. "For the street-children, the best place to be is at the market where they can get food."

At least 25 percent of returnees to the state are between one and four and 34 percent are of school age (five to 17 years), according to the International Organisation for Migration.

"Even very young children are on the streets; this is a real problem," Balandia said, adding that sometimes the children are beaten and imprisoned. "Sometimes they work and end up getting no pay."

Hawa Tia, a divorced mother of three, told IRIN she had sent her son to work as a shoe cleaner. "He would come home from the market after two or three days to bring me some money," said Tia, a charcoal seller.

Her son has since returned home after being rescued by social workers but it is only a matter of time before he returns to the streets. "The money he used to bring home was a big help," she said.

Few options

According to Ali Daffallah Ali, director of Mubadiroon, a local NGO working in war-affected communities, returnee families have little to offer the children. The few schools available are also unwilling to enrol children from the streets because of "discipline concerns".

In November 2008 the state passed a law making children younger than 12 no longer criminally responsible and also providing for increased protection for street- and working children. Before 2008, areas such as Abyei, Al Fula, Babanusa, Meiram and Muglad, west of the state, had no social welfare representation.

A project by the social welfare ministry, the Child Welfare Council and UNICEF is also helping to reduce the numbers of street-children in Kadugli and has reunited 900 children with their families, while about 3,200 others access assistance through social welfare officers, said UNICEF's McCauley.

"The initiative is benefiting many vulnerable children but there is still a need for the strengthening of social welfare systems as well as awareness creation and enforcement of the new Child Law," she said.

Source: IRIN