DRC Mines Minister Antoinette N’samba’s fierce fight against child labor in mines
The Minister of Mines, Antoinette N’Samba Kalambayi, opened Thursday, September 08, 2022, in the conference room of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a workshop to present the monitoring and remediation system for child labor in mines. This workshop, which brought together experts, technical and financial partners, will enable participants to strengthen strategies and tools to fight against child labor in artisanal mining sites, with the aim of eradicating child labor children in mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
In her opening address, the boss of the mines Antoinette ‘Samba Kalambayi recalled the policy of the President of the Republic, Félix-Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo on the protection of children. She recalled once again, the commitment of the DRC by signing the conventions of the United Nations and the International Labor Organization on the rights of children.
And to continue, the Government of the Republic cannot tolerate those children, instead of being at school and with their families, are subjected to work on mining sites.
To do this, the Government of the DRC, with the support of partners, is committed to preserving the future of children and of the country by eliminating child labor in mining sites.
Faced with this imperative, an operational plan has been set up in terms of national and sectoral strategies to combat child labor in artisanal mines for the 2017-2025 horizon in the DRC, this remains the priority.
To this end, the Minister of Mines Antoinette ‘Samba Kalambayi invites all the actors concerned in the fight against child labor in artisanal mines to pool efforts and strategies to achieve the results of zero children in the mines by the year 2025.
Present at the opening ceremony of this workshop, the representative of the ILO Country Director, Mrs. Josée-Blandine Ongotto, for her part welcomed the efforts of the DRC government in the fight against child labor in artisanal mines and keeps to the promises of the Government of the DRC with regard to the evaluation and revision of the national LTE and WFCL action plan as well as the creation of a monitoring and remediation system for child
labor in the mines artisanal.
The Secretary General of the Ministry of Mines and President of the Interministerial Commission responsible for monitoring the issue of child labor in artisanal mines, Jacques Ramazani Lutuba for his part, this workshop will strengthen the fight against child labor in mining sites. and asked for the success of this fight that a collaborative structure be set up for the cooperation of efforts between state and local structures, technical and financial partners.
