Agenzia Fides

Santo Domingo (Agenzia Fides) - More than 300 000 children in the Dominican Republic are forced to work as adults to survive and to be able tonourish themselves. In a recent meeting, the representative of the local Ministry of Labour said that the 305 000 Dominican children involved in this situation corresponds to 12% of the population within the age group between 5 and 17. The organization also denounced the existence of networks in the country devoted to the exploitation of child labor, and the fact that society as a whole is aware of. Many children work as bricklayers in large buildings of Santo Domingo, and the provinces which has the highest rate of child labor are Barahona, Pedernales and Duarte. The authorities have assured however, that they seek to achieve, with the necessary urgency, the goal set in the region, initially to eradicate the worst forms of child labor by 2015 and by 2020 all of the phenomenon in general, as established by Hemisferica sobre Trabajo Decente. The organization will include a system of social networks for complaints and registration of child workers, with the aim of identifying cases quickly. (AP) (Agenzia Fides 26/01/2012)