From March 27 to 31 in Brazil, the Pan-Amazonian Seminar on Social Protection was held, organized by the Ministry of Social and Agrarian Development (MDSA), the World Bank and UNESCO. This event aimed to bring together representatives of countries of the Amazon bloc to exchange experiences and knowledge on social protection in the region and find a response to the challenges for the development of Amazonian communities, among them, the prevention and eradication of child labor. The countries that attended were Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana and Peru.

The panel “Protection of children and adolescents in the Amazon” had the participation of María Olave, official of the ILO and of the Technical Secretariat of the  Regional Initiative Latin America and the Caribbean free of child labor (IR) , who pointed out that preventing child labor in the region will help the development of the Amazon and its communities. For this, it was mentioned that the first step for any intervention is the recognition and understanding of the socio-economic situation of families and the characteristics of child labor in the Amazon.

According to the Technical Secretariat of the IR, children and adolescents living in the Amazon are more exposed to hazardous child labor and its worst forms. Also, their participation in unpaid family work is accepted by many cultures, however, this can expose them to dangers, separate them from the educational system and hinder their optimal social and economic development. In addition, it should be noted that in the Amazon there are cases that link the irregular migration of children and adolescents with child labor and that they are often invisible to the authorities.

For this reason, the IR considers the participation and involvement of Amazonian communities to be key and the inclusion of an intercultural approach in the construction of strategies and actions for the prevention and eradication of child labor and the development of the Amazon. It also indicates that for an effective response it is necessary to identify children and adolescents in child labor and also those who are at risk.

In this way, the seminar has made it possible to expand, through dialogue between governments and social movements, the knowledge and vision regarding the Amazonian realities and their demands, as well as child labor in the region. This will help improve public services and adapt them to the particularities of the areas to achieve the expected development.

To learn more about the Panamazonic Social Protection Seminar, go to:  http://www.mds.gov.br/seminario-pan-amazonico-de-proteccion-social/