IRAQ: Focus on child labour

[UpInArms]

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IRIN/427d7283036b65f3ca9fb51e39a48b6b.htm

BAGHDAD, 9 May (IRIN) - Eleven-year-old Mahmoud al-Obaidi walks seven km every morning to get to work at a carpentry factory in Baghdad so he can save his bus fares.

Al-Obaidi is the only male in his family of four, as his father disappeared five years ago and he works to support his family. On average he spends nearly 10 hours a day in the factory earning a living.

"I didn't have a choice. Work was the only option. I cannot deny that I would like to be at a school, learning like other children. But I know the responsibility that I have to carry," al-Obaidi told IRIN, as he walked to work.

<snip>

"The lack of security and political uncertainties have left economic activities stunted and social safety nets disrupted, while unemployment and poverty have deepened. Under these circumstances, more children and youths have been driven to work or beg on the streets, or toil at various labour sites, often under hazardous conditions, in order to supplement dwindling family incomes," a spokeswoman for UNICEF, Ban Dhayi, told IRIN from the Jordanian capital, Amman.

...more...

[shoelace414]

1. Freedom is on the march

[Cobalt Violet]

2. Sounds like just what the republicans wanted.

[expatriot]

3. Iraq has joined its rightful place in the free (trade) world! /sarcasm nt

[Roland99]

4. You guys are seeing this all wrong

The boy's father disappeared *five* years ago. It's all Clinton's fault.

This boy should rejoice that he now has the freedom of being liberated from oppression that he may work to support his family.

Heck, a good American works three jobs! What's this boy crying for?


:sarcasm:

[Barrett808]

5. Iraq: Focus on child labour

Eleven-year-old Mahmoud al-Obaidi walks seven km every morning to get to work at a carpentry factory in Baghdad so he can save his bus fares.

Al-Obaidi is the only male in his family of four, as his father disappeared five years ago and he works to support his family. On average he spends nearly 10 hours a day in the factory earning a living.

"I didn't have a choice. Work was the only option. I cannot deny that I would like to be at a school, learning like other children. But I know the responsibility that I have to carry," al-Obaidi told IRIN, as he walked to work.

He boy is only one of thousands of Iraqi children forced by poverty to work at an early age.

(more)

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IRIN/427d7283036b65f3ca9fb51e39a48b6b.htm

[merwin]

6. The obvious question is: There are still schools left?

[KalicoKitty]

8. New schools in Iraq; Meanwhile our shools are crumbling!

http://www.rebuilding-iraq.net/pdf/bhe_good_start1.htm




Renovation and construction of hospitals, schools and other public building in Iraq


Building or improving nearly 1,400 structures located all over Iraq by December, 2005.


The to-do list includes rehabilitating approximately 1,200 schools, constructing 16 new schools, building 150 primary healthcare centers, renovating 19 hospitals and rehabilitating six public buildings.

Since ramping up in March of this year, the BHE Sector has begun renovations on more than 200 schools, five Ministry buildings and five hospitals, as well as started construction on 12 new schools.
Not to be overlooked is the completion of the General Secretariat Annex (GSA) in Baghdad, the BHE Sector’s most recently-renovated building. The three-story, 140,000 square foot building was renovated in record time.

Other high-profile projects include a pediatric hospital in Basrah and a teaching hospital in Najaf. To the delight of local Iraqis, renovations on the teaching hospital have already begun, and a portion of the hospital is tentatively scheduled to reopen around mid-December of this year.

[AlGore-08.com]

7. Dupe

eom