MAPUTO, June 12 (Xinhua) -- The Mozambican government said Tuesday in Maputo that about 1.5 million children and juveniles aged between 7 and 17 in the country are exposed to hazardous work, mostly in the informal sectors.
Jafar Buana, City Director of the Ministry of Labor, Employment and Social Security of Maputo revealed that the numbers of children involved in hazardous work that the government keeps track of are extremely high, reaching 74.4 percent at the national level.
"The action will be done at the sectoral level, because the involvement of children is distributed in sectors, with the largest number of children in the informal sectors and the illegal mining," said Buana during a school presentation about works considered dangerous for children on the outskirts of Maputo.
Buana said that in Mozambique children have hazardous jobs that can affect their health, safety and morality, mainly from sectors such as agriculture, mining industry, informal commerce and transportation.
Izilda Maibaze, an official from the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Affairs, said measures have already been taken to remove children from dangerous working condition, in coordinated with various civil society organizations.
"The children are taken to facilities where they are recuperated and later they will be reintegrated into their families," said Maibaze, adding that some children are reluctant to leave.
According to the presentation, sub-Saharan Africa is the region with the highest number of children involved in child labor worldwide.
