Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am indeed delighted to join you all in observing the World Day Against Child Labour. This is an important occasion in which we reflect on the social injustices that children suffer and re-dedicate ourselves to the elimination of child labour. I take this opportunity to thank all those involved in organizing the celebration of this important day across our country. I am confident that this event will go a long way in mobilizing communities and individuals to play an active role in combating child labour.

As you are aware, any work that can harm the physical, mental, spiritual, moral and social development of children is regarded as child labour. Although such work is banned under the United Nations and the International Labour Organisation Conventions, child labour continues to be a major challenge across the world. Globally, an estimated 126 million children are engaged in harmful labour. In Sub-Saharan Africa alone, there are 48 million child workers, which implies that out of every three children, one child below the age of 15 works.

In Kenya, and although we have ratified and domesticated all relevant Conventions on child labour, we still continue to witness cases of child labour. Currently, about 1.9 million children are engaged in child labour in our country. It is important to note that 56 per cent of these children work in the agricultural sector, where they are subjected to harmful workloads and exposed to dangerous chemicals and machinery.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am glad to note that our Government is aware of this problem and has initiated serious measures towards eliminating child labour in the country. Besides ratifying International Conventions, the Government has developed a National Children Policy and a National Plan of Action that targets to eliminate child labour. In addition, the Employment Bill, currently before Parliament, has a section on child labour that sets punitive measures on perpetrators of child labour. I call upon Members of Parliament to pass the Bill as a priority in order to strengthen the campaign against child labour.

I wish to call upon Kenyans to support the Government in enforcing laws that protect children. In particular, I urge Kenyans to assist the Government in apprehending parents and employers who subject children under 18 years to harmful labour. As you are all aware, subjecting children below 18 years to abusive labour is prohibited under the law. Those parents and employers who engage in child labour are, therefore, breaking the law and should be prosecuted. In the spirit of community policing, I appeal to Kenyans to volunteer information on cases of child labour to law enforcement agencies. This will enable our Government to reach out and protect children in every corner of our country.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

We must bear in mind that child labour is fundamentally a problem of poverty. In most cases, poor families, especially those headed by single mothers, send children to work in order to meet their needs. In other cases, orphaned children fend for themselves by engaging in harmful labour. Our efforts in fighting child labour must, therefore, be matched by concrete measures to support vulnerable children and to empower families economically so that they can provide for their children.

In this regard, I am encouraged to note that our Government is committed to poverty eradication. Indeed, our Government has taken many initiatives to accelerate and broaden economic reforms, which have resulted in economic growth and the reduction of the number of people living under the poverty line. I am confident that these reforms will result in higher economic growth rates that will enable us to overcome the problems associated with poverty, among them child labour.

I urge all sections of our society to support the Government as it has shown a genuine commitment to economically empower all Kenyans. I also urge women, especially single mothers, to take advantage of the Two Billion Women Enterprise Fund, which the Government established recently, by borrowing money to start income generating enterprises. Returns from such enterprises will enable women to provide for their children without sending them to work.

As we all know, the total eradication of poverty will take time. In the meantime, therefore, I appeal to corporate entities, religious and charitable organisations as well as individual Kenyans to support the needy, especially orphans. I urge Kenyans to cultivate our traditional African values of being one another's keeper. In particular, I urge adult Kenyans to uphold family values and to treat every child as their own.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Besides labour in the agricultural sector, we must also pay attention to the incidence of child trafficking in the country. The incidence of child trafficking has been on the rise especially from rural areas to urban and coastal centers. Children are being taken away from their homes to work as labourers and especially for sexual exploitation. In the majority of cases, victims of trafficking are lured from their homes through promises of employment.

As you are all aware, child sexual exploitation as well as the kidnapping and abducting of persons is illegal as provided for in our Penal Code and the Children's Act. I appeal to all Kenyans to join hands in fighting human trafficking. In particular, I urge the Human Trafficking Unit within our police force to especially intensify policing on cases of trafficking children for sex tourism in our towns. On their part, I urge young girls, men and women not to accept promises of employment blindly. We must all take responsibility for our safety by making deliberate efforts to verify promises.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I wish to emphasize that education is one of the principal means of eliminating child labour. It is, however, sad to note that even with Free Primary Education, nearly one million children are either out of school or combine schooling and child labour. I call upon parents to ensure children go to school and do only light work that will not interfere with their education and personal development.

In conclusion, it is important to note that HIV/AIDS contributes to child labour. Many children work as household heads when their parents fall sick or die of HIV/AIDS. HIV/AIDS remains a serious challenge and we must spare no effort in protecting our children and ourselves. I take this opportunity to emphasise the need to protect girls who are most vulnerable to infection. I urge parents and teachers to ensure homes and schools are safe for girls by declaring zero tolerance to sexual exploitation. On their part, I remind girls that pre-marital sex has many dangers associated with it. The only way to remain safe is to abstain from sex until marriage and to keep sexual activity within marriage.

Thank you and God bless you all.