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1. EASY TOPIC 6.3: CHILD LABOUR AND HUMAN RIGHTS IN SOUTH SUDAN
By
Lisi Emmanuel Alex
Roll No.
018/HR/2018D
6.3: Case Study Report
Submitted to:
Indian Institute of Human Rights
In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Postgraduate Diploma in Human Rights
Juba, South Sudan
August 2020
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2. EASY TOPIC 6.3: CHILD LABOUR AND HUMAN RIGHTS IN SOUTH SUDAN
The perspective of Child Labor in South Sudan
This essay examines Child Labor in South Sudan and how it enormously violates child rights.
South Sudan is a multicultural nation whose Cultures, Norms, Activities, and Behaviors violate
child rights depending on the societal setup. The communities in South Sudan fall mainly into
two categories —farmers and cattle keepers. There is also a great community of urban dwellers
evolving in recent years that will be given due attention in this essay. These communities
exercise different types of child labor. Child labor is defined as “work that deprives children of
their childhood, their potential, and their dignity, and that is harmful to their physical and mental
development” (Understanding human rights —manual on human rights education 2012. P. 535)1
The Southern Sudan Child Act, 2008 categorically defines child labor as work undertaken by a
child that some way harms or exploits him or her, whether physically, mentally, morally, or by
preventing him or her from education. P.12 According to South Sudan Transitional Constitution
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Article 17 (4), a child is any person under the age of eighteen (18) years. P.13. and the Southern
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Sudan Child Act, 2008 states that a child means a human being under the age of eighteen years.
P.124
In September 2011, the government of South Sudan stepped up efforts to stop rampant child
labor in the country. The Ministry of Gender, Child, and Social Welfare in collaboration with the
International Labor Organization, and International Program on Elimination of Child Labor
conducted several workshops with the objective to develop a framework to tackle child labor in
the country. The major causes of child labor include poverty, early marriage, and alcoholism. The
ministry further called on South Sudanese to protect their children from violence, kidnapping,
injuries, diseases, sexual exploitation, child trafficking, abduction, and harmful socio-cultural
Understanding Human Rights — Manual on Human Rights Education 2012. EDITED BY WOLFGANG
1
BENEDEK, European Training and Research Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (ETC).
The Southern Sudan Child Act, 2008
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South Sudan's Transitional Constitution of 2011
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The Southern Sudan Child Act, 2008
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3. EASY TOPIC 6.3: CHILD LABOUR AND HUMAN RIGHTS IN SOUTH SUDAN
practices. The fight against child labor dates back to 1983 when the SPLA staged a fierce war
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against Khartoum government because of injustice and poor treatment of the natives of South
Sudan. Many children in all the parts of the then Southern Sudan were forcefully conscripted into
the army to fight. This couples with cultures which give children hard work beyond their age.
https://www.hrw.org/report/2015/12/14/we-can-die-too/recruitment-and-use-child-soldiers-south-
sudan
The cultural context of child labor in South Sudan
Based on the multicultural set up of South Sudan societies, children do not experience the same
forms of child labor. Basically, the Equatoria Region is predominantly farmers and hunters and
their children are raised differently compared to children for the Bahr el Ghazal and Upper Nile
regions. To understand child labor in the different regions, we have to investigate gender
involvement and it requires investigation of the major socio-economic reasons why children
work, Bérenger, Valérie, and Verdier-Chouchane, Audrey (2015) According to the poverty
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hypothesis, if the family lives in poverty, child labor may be viewed as a means to relax budget
constraints in the short run P. 10. In rural areas where subsistence farming and pastoralism are
labor-intensive, it is common that children under 15 years old assist their parents at work P15.
After South Sudan became an independent state in 2011, the year 2012 became the first year to
report on South Sudan’s effort to advance the elimination of the worst forms of child labor7
Child labor among farming communities - Agriculturalists in South Sudan
Children in South Sudan are engaged in the worst forms of child labor, including dangerous
activities in agriculture. Children working in agriculture may use dangerous tools, carry heavy
loads, and apply harmful pesticides according to 2012 findings on the worst forms of child labor
https://africanchildinfo.net/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=5433:south-sudan-effort-to-stop-
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child-labour-in-country-in-top-gear&Itemid=123…
Bérenger, Valérie and Verdier-Chouchane, Audrey (2015), Child Labour and Schooling in South Sudan and Sudan:
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Is There a Gender Preference?, Working Paper Series N° 230, African Development Bank, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.
2012 findings on the worst forms of child labor and united states department of labor’s bureau of international
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labor affairs
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4. EASY TOPIC 6.3: CHILD LABOUR AND HUMAN RIGHTS IN SOUTH SUDAN
in South Sudan P.1. Many farmers keep their children in the field the whole day cultivating,
weeding, and harvesting. This is worse especially during holidays when children are not in
school. On school days, children are made to do domestic work like digging for boys and
fetching water for girls before going to school. Although South Sudan has programs that target
child labor, the scope of these programs are insufficient to fully address the extent of the
problem, including in agriculture; this is according to 2013 findings on the worst forms of child
labor P.6. During harvesting, children spend many hours with the parents in the garden on the
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pretext that they are under training and at the end of the day; they carry heavy loads beyond their
powers hence retarding their normal growth. Between 2012 and 2013, the government suggested
an action plan to ensure that relevant child labor laws and regulations apply equally to children
working in paid and unpaid employment. P.6 but these good policies ended up on paper without
execution. Many farmers are hunters and they involve children in hunting. Through hunting,
children can get hurt or lose part of the bodies in the process. Bérenger, Valérie, and Verdier-
Chouchane, Audrey (2015), explains that part of the solution lies in the adoption of modern and
labor-saving agricultural technologies. Enhanced productivity in agriculture would release the
pressure on child labor P.22. The government could increase the scope of social programs to
reach more children at risk of child labor, including in agriculture according to 2014 findings on
the worst forms of child labor in South Sudan P.7. The 2015 findings on the worst forms of child
labor indicate that children aged 10 to 14 composed of 60.2% in agriculture, 1.6%in industry,
and 38.2% in other services P.1 The same statistic were released by 2016, 2017, and 2018
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finding on the worst forms of child labor and bureau of international labor affairs. This clearly
shows agriculture as the worse form of child labor in South Sudan.
Child labor among cattle keeping communities - Pastoralists
Pastoralists’ children in South Sudan are engaged in cattle herding. Children herding cattle
commonly work long hours and travel great distances. In addition, boys are abducted for forced
2013 findings on the worst forms of child labor and united states department of labor’s bureau of international
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labor affairs
2015 findings on the worst forms of child labor and bureau of international labor affairs
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5. EASY TOPIC 6.3: CHILD LABOUR AND HUMAN RIGHTS IN SOUTH SUDAN
labor in cattle herding and girls are abducted for forced labor in domestic service during inter-
tribal and cattle rustling disputes among cattle keepers like the Murle, Nuer, and Dinka
communities in the Jonglei, Upper Nile, Lakes, and the Warrap States, the 2012 findings on the
worst forms of child labor reveals P.1 Many children are involved in cattle raiding due to their
cultural norms that encourage people to raid cows from the neighbors to become rich, acquire
dowry, and gain fear for being warriors. Children who refuse to participate are considered
cowards and they cannot easily marry because they will lack dowry. In 2013, South Sudan made
a minimal advancement in efforts to eliminate the worst forms of child labor. Despite the
ongoing political and ethnic conflict, the Government of South Sudan provided training on child
rights to child protection officers. However, children in South Sudan continue to engage in child
labor P.1
Other aspects of child labor in South Sudan
Since the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) was formed in 1983, children were heavily
mobilized in all parts of the then Sudan to resist the oppressive Khartoum government. Some of
these children became what we now call the lost boys who are based abroad and the Red Army
who are within the current SPLA ranks. In the early 1980s, the SPLA recruited and trained boys
as young as 12 years. The child soldiers were called the Red Army. In 2013, the Red Army
Foundation (RAF) was formed, an organization dedicated to addressing social problems,
especially among its own former members and South Sudan's youth The SPLA also used
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children in military operations against armed groups allied to David Yau Yau and were accused
of recruiting children in the conflict that began on December 15, 2013. Other militia groups also
recruited children for armed conflict during the year. Additionally, gaps in legislation continue to
put children at risk, and child labor laws are not effectively enforced P.1 of 2013 findings on the
worst forms of child labor. In 2014, the government of South Sudan rectified the international
conventions on child labor, ILO C. 138 Minimum Age and ILO C. 182, Worst Forms of Child
Labor P.2. The communities have a culture of mobile rearing of cows. This deprives their
https://www.aljazeera.com/gallery/2018/10/30/child-soldiers-of-south-sudan/?gb=true
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6. EASY TOPIC 6.3: CHILD LABOUR AND HUMAN RIGHTS IN SOUTH SUDAN
children of their rights such as the right to education, the right to better medical service (health),
and the right to clean water.
The 2016 findings on the worst forms of child labor noted the SPLA recruitment of children in
the army is sometimes forceful. The children are recruited to fight the opposition group
supporting former Vice President Riek Machar P.1 the opposition groups, especially the SPLA-
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IO, used child soldiers for example the white army from the Lou Nuer to fight the government.
Lily Jones, August 19, 2020, noted that the civil war of 2013 and 2016 increased the number of
displaced persons vulnerable to recruitment by armed group or abduction for forms of child labor
including spies, messengers, child soldiers, and prostitutes. In 2016, the Government made
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efforts by removing child soldiers from the army to join the school and assisting in the
demobilization of child soldiers from the national army and armed groups. The report noted that
children in South Sudan are also engaged in other worst forms of child labor, including
commercial sexual exploitation, early marriage, and forced marriage. The government neither
brought to justice those who recruited or used children in armed conflict, nor held accountable
perpetrators of any other form of child labor. The government also failed to convene its National
Steering Committee on Child Labor, conduct any labor inspections, or accede to the UN CRC’s
two optional protocols P.1 of 2016 findings on the worst forms of child labor. In 2017 findings
on the worst forms of child labor, the government developed key mechanisms to coordinate
government efforts to combat child labor. The government formed a National Steering
Committee on Child Labor to coordinate efforts to combat the worst forms of child labor across
government ministries; led by the Ministry of Labor. However, the National Steering Committee
on Child Labor did not convene or coordinate activities to combat child labor in 2017.
The government also formed the National Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration
Commission (NDDRC) to oversee and coordinates the implementation of the Joint Action Plan
2016 findings on the worst forms of child labor and the bureau of international labor affairs
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https://borgenproject.org/child-labor-in-south-sudan/
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7. EASY TOPIC 6.3: CHILD LABOUR AND HUMAN RIGHTS IN SOUTH SUDAN
to Combat the Use of Child Soldiers and reintegrate children formerly engaged in armed conflict.
They were responsible for the negotiation of the release, screening, and registration of child
soldiers; reunification with family when possible; and educational placement or vocational
training. More than 200 children were released by armed groups in South Sudan in 2018,
supported by UNICEF. In 2017, the NDDRC carried out an age-assessment exercise in Pibor
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and Jonglei to verify the presence of children associated with the SPLA-IO (Taban Deng Gai).
The exercise identified 313 boys and the commission began preparing for their release, along
with children identified at other sites, to take place in 2018. P.6 UNICEF Division of
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Communication 2001 says that child labor is not a new problem, and there is a long history of
international efforts to combat it. The International Labor Organization (ILO), for example, in
1919 developed the first Minimum Age Convention that regulated the age at which children
could work. Then, in 1973, a more comprehensive Minimum Age Convention, Number 138, was
adopted, and it remains the fundamental standard. Although not new and always a thorny
problem, child labor has now become increasingly complex, assuming new forms as global
realities and relations have changed. Among the underlying causes, poverty and economic
disparities are, of course, critical factors P.215
Poverty and urbanization are some of the contributors to children suffering from the worst forms
of child labor in South Sudan. Children from poor families venture into the streets of major
towns in South Sudan to do risky work because there is nothing in the house to feed them. They
collect scraps and bottles for sale and at the end of each day; they take the money to support their
parents. This situation deprives the children of their rights to protection and health. Again, some
children work as conductors in commuting vehicles in Juba and earn a little daily income. These
children no longer aim to go to school because of their daily earnings. Such behaviors violate the
child’s right to education and it is unacceptable in South Sudan Child Act 2008. Poverty and the
https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/hundreds-children-released-armed-groups-south-
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sudan-unicef
2017 findings on the worst forms of child labor and bureau of international labor affairs
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BEYOND CHILD LABOUR, AFFIRMING RIGHTS by UNICEF Division of Communication 2001
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8. EASY TOPIC 6.3: CHILD LABOUR AND HUMAN RIGHTS IN SOUTH SUDAN
civil war are some of the other contributing factors that lead many children to drop out of school
and join the business of washing cars at parking yards and along the roads while others work as
hawkers. There are also a large number of children who became parents of young siblings
because they lost both parents during the 2013 and 2016 conflicts. They have to do risky jobs
from a very young age because they are left with no option. The 2015 Findings on the Worst
Forms of Child Labor categorized forced labor in cattle herding, domestic work, construction,
brick making, rock breaking, begging, shoe shining, car washing, delivery cart, and market
vending as the worst forms of child labor in the country P.2 Bérenger, Valérie and Verdier-
Chouchane, Audrey (2015), stated that ownership of assets such as land holdings, farms, or
business ownership increases child labor. Child labor is also influenced by other factors that
include the child’s characteristics and status in the household: age, gender, and birth order. It is
also dependent on parents’ and household head’s characteristics. Most families invest in the last
born children, sending older children to work to supplement the family’s resources (Birdsall,
1991). In particular, girls are expected to combine agricultural tasks that they learn with their
mother (Nkamleu and Kielland, 2006; de Lange, 2009) with domestic chores such as cooking,
fetching water and firewood, and caring for their siblings. In contrast, older boys tend to be
involved in activities such as cattle herding, etc. Child labor has been identified as an important
determinant of the persistence of poverty in South Sudan and should thus be eradicated.
The 2018 findings on the worst forms of child labor further noted construction, including
building and transporting materials, rock breaking, and making bricks as some of the leading
forms of child labor Children are also involved in mineral-rich areas and their work include
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gold mining, carrying soil, and panning. Poverty has made some young girls who lack support to
end up in the business of commercial sex work, including human trafficking and forced
recruitment of children by state and non-state armed groups for use in armed conflict. The Labor
Act, 2017 clearly warns that no person shall engage or permit the engagement of a child under
the age of eighteen years in any hazardous work, which constitutes the worst forms of child
2018 findings on the worst forms of child labor and bureau of international labor affairs
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9. EASY TOPIC 6.3: CHILD LABOUR AND HUMAN RIGHTS IN SOUTH SUDAN
labor. P.12. A large number of children are working in minefields in Central and Eastern
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Equatoria particularly in gold mining. In Kapeota, children sustain injuries, and the wounds are
infected which causes suffering, leading to other illnesses due to poor health, and eventually
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dropping out of school. In Juba, a significant number of children with their parents are quarrying
stones at Korok Mountain (Jebel Kujur) because this proves to be the easiest and simplest way to
earn a living yet the most hazardous associated with multiple risks. Lily Jones, August 19, 2020,
categorically explains that child labour is embedded in cultural traditions and social attitudes that
encourage work as a way to build character and, for girls, to become better at domestic work.
Furthermore, many children in South Sudan are expected to follow their parent’s career paths
and learn their trade from an early age, resulting in family sponsored child labor over child
education. This cultural embodiment is significant in farming communities, pastoralist
communities, and the urban dwellers in South Sudan.
All the worst forms of child labour are associated with poverty, conflict, and illiteracy and it puts
children at high risk of exploitation, abuse, and deprivation of their rights. Children in South
Sudan still experience all the forms of child labor and other risks that have been abolished in the
Convention on the Rights of the Child that came in to force on September 2, 1990, and the
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International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) Article 10 (3) .
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Sonia Bhalotra 2003 says that Africa has the highest incidence of child labor in the world. While
child labor has been declining in Asia and Latin America, economic decline, war, famine, and
HIV/AIDS have combined in preventing child labor’s significant decline in Africa. The
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incidence of child labor is higher in sub-Saharan Africa than in any other region in the world
(ILO, 1998) P.13 Some views of the interdisciplinary convention on child labor reveal child labor
LAWS OF SOUTH SUDAN, LABOUR ACT, 2017, Act No. 64
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https://www.foxnews.com/world/in-south-sudan-some-children-work-in-mines-to-survive
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Convention on the Rights of the Child
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International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
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OECD SOCIAL, EMPLOYMENT AND MIGRATION WORKING PAPERS NO. 4 Child Labor in
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Africa by Sonia Bhalotra
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10. EASY TOPIC 6.3: CHILD LABOUR AND HUMAN RIGHTS IN SOUTH SUDAN
is good for children P16 By adopting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the global
community has committed to ending child labor by 2025 and forced labor and human trafficking
by 2030. According to the latest global estimates, 152 million children are in child labor and 25
million adults and children are in forced labor 22
Although the government has established policies related to child labor, there are still existing
policy gaps that hinder efforts to address child labor, including funding and implementation of
relevant policies. In 2017, the government participated in programs that included the goal of
eliminating or preventing child labor. However, gaps exist in social programs, including the
adequacy to address the problem in all sectors. In order to implement key social programs to
address child labor, UNICEF Country Program (2016 - 2018) accrued $115.4 million for
UNICEF-funded program that is implemented by the government that aims to develop child
protection systems, with an emphasis on birth registration; developing a child-sensitive justice
system; providing basic social services to conflict-affected children and communities (including
demobilized children); and supporting the return, reintegration, and resettlement services for
children affected by armed conflict. P.6 The 2017 report concluded that although South Sudan
has programs that target child labor, the scope of these programs is insufficient to fully address
the extent of the problem, including in commercial sexual exploitation and child soldiering. The
reintegration and rehabilitation services provided to child soldiers are insufficient to meet the
existing needs.
On the global concern, the UNICEF Division of Communication 2001 explains that education is
the strongest tool to empower, strengthen, and protect children in multiple ways. It is, perhaps,
the single most effective solution and is therefore a cornerstone of UNICEF’s approach to
preventing child labor.
Ending child labor, forced labor and human trafficking in global supply chains, ILO, OECD, IOM,
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UNICEF - Geneva, 2019.
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11. EASY TOPIC 6.3: CHILD LABOUR AND HUMAN RIGHTS IN SOUTH SUDAN
Photos showing different child labor in Juba South Sudan
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This boy represents thousands of children who
have dropped out of school and become vehicle
conductors to support their parents with their
daily pay.
This little girl walks the entire day selling peanuts
to people along the streets, offices, and other
busy centers. In the evening she reports the
money to the parents who will decide on how to
use the money. This is her daily activity instead of
being cared for like a child.

12. EASY TOPIC 6.3: CHILD LABOUR AND HUMAN RIGHTS IN SOUTH SUDAN
!
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The young boy collects empty water and sodas
bottles from the streets and in dustbins so he will
sell to other people for reuse in selling cooking oil
and locally made juice. Poverty has made many
children move to the streets’ work because of
starving.
This photo shows a young girl moving along the
street with her bananas while the little boy in the
distance is moving in the opposite direction also
holds his goods for sale. The streets of Juba are
full of children experiencing different child labor.

13. EASY TOPIC 6.3: CHILD LABOUR AND HUMAN RIGHTS IN SOUTH SUDAN
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These boys are engaged in the business of shoe
shining. As they move, they keep playing along
the streets. They move from one place to another
looking for people to shine their shoes.
They face harassment, intimidation, mistreatment
and, abuse from other people they come in to
contact with.
A depressed girl sells fruits along the street in
Juba.