Martin Kobler, Chief of MONUSCO welcomes the Congolese Government’s commitment to fight child recruitment and forced labor

Kinshasa, 12 June 2015 – “I hail the efforts undertaken by the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo to fight child labor and urge national and international institutions to redouble efforts to ensure that national policies on child labor are fully implemented”, declared Martin Kobler.

During the period from 2010 to 2015 in the DRC, MONUSCO documented more than 5,000 cases of child recruitment by armed groups. All or nearly all of them were subjected to hard labor including, for some, forced labor in exploiting raw materials.

“I strongly condemn the recruitment of boys and girls by
armed groups to carry out domestic work or to work in mines and call for
collective awareness and concerted actions to improve and extend social
protection and outreach to groups of vulnerable children, through setting up
national social security systems adapted to children’s needs. I would also like
to take this opportunity to congratulate the FARDC on their continued
painstaking work to ensure that no children are present within their ranks,
highlighted Martin Kobler.

Note to editors:

The theme identified for the world day against child labor
for the year 2015 is: “NO to child labor - YES to quality education”.

In the world, a large number of children are used to carry
out domestic work, whether remunerated by an employer. These children are
particularly vulnerable to sexual exploitation and forced labor which they are
subjected to, which is indeed the cause of premature death, traumatic
disabilities and deep psychological problems. Their work is often unknown to
the general public. They may find themselves isolated, working far from their
family home. The ill-treatments inflicted to these children in the domestic
work are recurrent.