A/HRC/13/32
particularly difficult to tackle and reduce. These include the large numbers of girls and boys
starting to work at an early age, the hazardous nature of the work, lack of regulation, the
lack of visibility of their work, the denial of education and the effects of poverty, as well as
ingrained attitudes and perceptions about the role of children in rural areas.25 According to
the International Labour Organization (ILO), any sustainable solution to child labour
problems in agriculture will require national Governments, international organizations,
donor agencies and civil society organizations to give priority to agriculture and rural
development, so that farmers are able to obtain fair prices for their products. National
governments, international organizations, donor agencies and civil society organizations
should pay special attention to the elimination of hazardous child labour in their work
related to agricultural policy. The elimination of child labour also requires dealing with
issues affecting adult agricultural workers, since child labour is linked to adult poverty.
Policy coherence on child labour must centre on the concept of promoting decent work.
Poverty reduction strategies at the country level should support the elimination of child
labour.
F.
Discrimination against refugees
1.
Malnutrition in refugee camps
38.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and
the World Food Programme (WFP) (which is ensuring access to food in camps) are
confronted with a dramatic problem: a lack of financial means to ensure adequate food for
refugees and internally displaced persons. Important efforts are being made by Europe, the
United States and other developed countries to provide assistance and food aid in
emergencies. However, despite the unrelenting commitment of WFP, there are serious
funding shortfalls for some of its emergency programmes, threatening the lives of millions
of people in Africa.
39.
The problem is by no means new (A/HRC/4/30 and A/HRC/7/5). But it has become
dramatically worse with the explosion of world market prices for staple foods: rice, maize
and wheat in particular. In some camps managed by UNHCR, over 80 per cent of all
children under 10 years of age suffer from anaemia and are incapable of following UNHCR
school programmes.
2.
Hunger Refugees
40.
In recent decades, millions of people have crossed international borders and many
have tried to reach developed countries to escape pervasive hunger, especially people living
in sub-Saharan Africa (see A/HRC/7/5).
41.
Most people fleeing from hunger are refused entry and protection in other countries
because they do not qualify as refugees in the traditional and legal sense. Most of them are
detained and held in processing or detention centers, before being forcibly repatriated to
their own countries. European Governments have created an institution called Frontex, with
patrol boats, aeroplanes and helicopters from Spain, Italy, Finland and Portugal operating
along the borders of Mauritania, Senegal and Cape Verde to intercept boats and return them
immediately to shore.
25
See “For agriculture without child labour: the harvest for the future”, International Partnership for
Cooperation on Child Labour in Agriculture, at
http://www.ilo.org/ipec/areas/Agriculture/International_Partnersgip_IPCLA/lang--en/index.htm
11
Select target paragraph3
Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents