Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
think the alarm over the increase of the phenomenon from January until today seems excessive,” Agenzia Fides was told by sources from Don Bosco Radio, the main Catholic radio of Madagascar, commenting on a recent report issued by the International Labor Office (ILO) of UNICEF (the UN entity for children) and the National Institute of Statistics (INSTAT). According to the report, the serious political crisis in which the island has found itself since January has intensely led to the impoverishment of the population, which has been forced to make its own children work in order to increase family income. According to the report, since the beginning of the year, child labor in Madagascar has increased by 25%. There are 1,800,000 children and teenagers ages 5-17 who work.
“It is undeniable that the political crisis has had a negative impact on the children,” Fides sources said. “Don Bosco Radio has noted this fact with a series of services, especially on psychological trauma suffered by children and adolescents during the fighting in the streets in recent months. These services led to Don Bosco Radio winning a prize from UNICEF for media sources that have addressed the issue.”
“However, this does not imply that the issue of child labor has boomed as a result of the political crisis, because this is a structural fact of life in the country, especially in the campaigns where efforts are made to convince parents to send there children to school, and I am speaking from direct experience,” Fides sources said. “The report, for example, makes reference to children working in rock caves. But for years now, entire families, women and children included, have been working in the caves. In short, I am not trying to belittle the problem, but it seems that there is an excessive atmosphere of alarm in linking it to the political situation.”
The political crisis in Madagascar broke out at the beginning of the year, when the former mayor of the capital (Antananarivo), Andry Rajoelina, organized a series of popular protests against the then President Marc Ravalomanana, accusing him of corruption, of restricting areas of public debate in the media, and of not promoting an efficient economic policy. On March 17, Ravalomanana handed over his presidential powers to a military directive, which later handed them over to the High Authority of Transition led by Rajoelina. The passing of powers was not recognized by the African Union and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), which suspended Madagascar from its membership. In spite of the Maputo Accords (Mozambique), signed in August by the 4 main political movements in the country, the situation remains uncertain (see Fides 21/9/2009).
“On an economic level, a part from tourism and businesses owned by the former President Ravalomanana, no business has closed down. Unemployment has risen, but not dramatically, at least for the time being. Certainly the majority of Madagascar's people live in humble conditions, but this was the case even before the crisis. The food prices have increase, although many say that this could be the work of speculators who withhold rice to make prices go up, perhaps even with a political motivation, to make it look like th Transition Authority's fault. We know that the last rice harvest was abundant, but in the stores it is scarce. We have tried to ask for an explanation from those responsible, but without obtaining any convincing answers,” Fides sources concluded. (LM) (Agenzia Fides 23/9/2009)
