UNDER the theme, “Social Justice for All; End Child Labour,” the Ministry of Labour held a prize giving ceremony for the Child Art Competition in observance of World Day Against Child Labour, June 12, 2023, where eight of 42 children received prizes, and others received certificates.

Minister of Labour Joseph Hamilton, during his address at the ceremony on Wednesday, said that the elimination of child labour, in all of its forms, is one of the Ministry’s top priorities.

“As you are aware, the Ministry of Labour was established as a separate Ministry in 2020 when the PPP/C government took office. This is [in] recognition of the importance of labour in our development agenda and an indication of the government’s commitment to deal efficiently and effectively with issues connected to the labour ecosystem,” he said.

Noting that the International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) statistics estimate that one in every 10 children of all children worldwide is engaged in child labour, he said that this is concerning.

He related conscious efforts must be taken to ensure that policies and programme initiatives are effective so that the commitment to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end child labour in all of its forms by 2025 is achieved.

“I wish to remind employers that they have a responsibility to prevent and eliminate this scourge in society and to ensure that the necessary due diligence in their business processes and supply chain is done to discourage involvement of child labour in the business systems,” Minister Hamilton stated.

Chief Labour Officer (CLO), Dhaneshwar Deonarine, explained that World Day Against Child Labour, which was first launched by the ILO in 2002, brings governments together with workers and employer organisations as well as civil society to highlight the plight of the children involved in work and what can be done to help them.

He noted that the Ministry would usually host activities to raise awareness on the issues of child labour for the entire month of June. However, the Art competition was one of the new initiatives for 2023.

The Child Art Competition was first advertised on May 31, 2023, and submissions closed on June 12, 2023. The competition was open to children between the ages of eight and 16.

Some guidelines applied were that the entry should portray the theme; the submissions could either have been a drawing or a painting; and an explanation of the drawing or painting in no more than 100 words was needed.

CLO Deonarine said that three independent qualified judges received and judged 42 entries.

The entries were judged based on description, which is observational evidence and informed opinion, based on fact and detail; analysis, application of the evident technical elements and arrangement of the work; interpretation and evaluation, the narrative of the artwork in relation to the project; the organization of ideas in sequence; and originality.

The eight winners are Joannah Manauf in first place, Subrina Peters in second, Quesana Wright in third, then Aneesah Mullah, Safiyyah Smith, Belinda Mohan, Sumaiya Amin and Sunil Nedd.

Debbie Persaud, the Marketing Manager of Impressions which sponsored the competition, explained that they believe that the art competition provides a platform for the showcasing of talent, self-development and fostering the growth of healthy relationships for young Guyanese artists.

Persaud explained that the term child labour according to the website of the UN is defined as a word that deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity and that is harmful to physical and mental development.

“It refers to work that is mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous which interferes with children’s access to education, obliging them to leave school prematurely, or requiring them to attempt to combine school attendance with excessively long head work,” she related.