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The right to education is a non-negotiable!
General Agriculture and Plantation Workers Union of Zimbabwe (GAPWUZ)
October 24, 2008

At GAPWUZ, we represent one of the poorest groups in the country. With the economic difficulties, the farming communities are increasingly failing to send their children to school. So in the end many of these children are ending up in the fields as child laborers and the situation is getting worse as the poverty levels mount by the day. With the labour shortage gripping the agriculture sector, many employers are, sadly, employing children to work in the farms.

The HIV/ AIDS scourge has also increased the number of child headed families and in the end these children have to drop out of school and go to work in order to sustain their livelihoods. It is against the background that we are calling for the participation of all the stakeholders, policy makers, government, trade unions, NGOs, and the communities to mobilize a collective effort to stop this scourge which we believe is as bad as many forms of child abuse. Therefore the Africa Tour against child labour 2008 is a crucial initiative that will supplement efforts and pave way for the mobilization of resources to stop child labour.

At GAPWUZ we take this chance to express our solidarity with the Africa Tour 2008 Zimbabwe coordinators, the Coalition Against Child Labour in Zimbabwe (CACLAZ) and all the stakeholders who are fighting against this social ill. We welcome the visiting Africa Tour 2008 delegation and look forward to a week of sharing ideas and experience about how we can effectively eliminate child labour and make sure we send all our future leaders - the children to school. Let us all work together to help children realize their dreams because they are our tomorrow leaders.

Visit the GAPWUZ fact sheet

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