By Alba Lucia Zapata | Director
Our organization reaches many regions in Colombia. In one of the most densely populated cities in the country, Medellin, we have found some of the worst cases of child labor in major marketplaces, where produce, meat and grains are sold in bulk at retail prices. Children as young as 7 years old are often employed to move grain sacks or heavy boxes of vegetables. They’re also found carrying messages and money from one stand to the next and looking out for cars in the often dangerous parking lots.
In these specific and problematic places, such as the Plaza Minorista, our organization has devised strategies to turn them into Child Labor Free Territories (CLFT). This includes extensive efforts to create awareness of the risks and consequences of employing children within the community of merchants, peddlers, marketplace employees and security guards, thus discouraging them from bringing children into their work environment. During this process a series of pictures depicting everyday life at the marketplace and the Child Labor Free Territories awareness process, were taken to create a calendar that would serve as a reminder for the community to uphold their promise to not employ children.
After finishing the first phase of the strategy in March, the CLFT 2014–2015 calendar was given to the marketplace’s community. To receive the calendar, partakers –merchants, peddlers, marketplace employees and security guards-, were part of a “reach-for-the-star” activity, where they answered questions related to their knowledge and perception about child labor in the retail marketplace.
Furthermore, we organized a community breakfast with the managers and some marketplace leaders where we shared the results of the first phase of the child labor eradication program. We also encouraged a dialogue with the attendees so they could share their perspectives about the topic and propositions for the second phase of the intervention.
This event was part of a process to turn the marketplace into a child labor free zone a reward for a community that has manifested their support for our organization’s work and the prospect of a better and safer workplace for all.
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By Camila Urbina | Communicator
By Camila Urbina | Communicator
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