African Movement of Working Children and Youth

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

African Movement of Working Children and Youth (AMWCY) is a labour organization that tries to support the rights of African child workers. AMWCY was founded 1994 in Dakar, Senegal and in a meeting in Côte d'Ivoire.

When western governments try to alleviate child labor by banning it, AMWCY tries to organize the child workers to improve their own living conditions. They support education, literacy, health care, freedom of expression and work safety and resist child trafficking and exploitation. Its representatives meet annually and keep contact with international organizations.

AMWCY claims 12 priority rights:

• The right to be taught a trade
• The right to stay in the village (not to migrate)
• The right to work in a safe environment
• The right to light and limited work
• The right to rest when sick
• The right to be listened to
• The right to healthcare
• The right to learn to read and to write
• The right to play
• The right to self expression and to form organizations
• The right to equitable legal aid, in case of difficulty.

AMWCY has gained the support of ECOWAS. Save the Children, ILO and UNESCO and it have branches in 20 countries, including Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Chad,Democratic Republic of Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, Rwanda and Togo. It is composed of 400 local groups.

[edit] External links

• Information on AMWCY