President Bachelet launches “Crecer Felices” (Growing Up Happy) strategy to eradicate child labor
In line with her promise to the children of Chile, the President of Chile, Michelle Bachelet, this morning received from the hands of the Employment and Social Security Minister, Ximena Rincón, the policy “Crecer Felices, Estrategia Nacional para la Erradicación del Trabajo Infantil y Protección del Adolescentes Trabajador 2015-2025” (Growing Up Happy, a National Strategy for the Eradication of Child Labor and Protection of Working Teenagers 2015-2025).
The president was accompanied at the launch by Sadi Melo, the Mayor of the El Bosque district of Santiago, where the event took place, and by the Social Development Minister, Marcos Barraza.
In her address about the importance of the strategy, the President said, “today we are celebrating World Day Against Child Labor. And we are celebrating with this strategy, which will put the fight against child labor back among the priorities of the State of Chile.”
She added, “as a country we cannot go on saying that we are progressing towards becoming developed if we do not address this issue, not least because it is a huge factor for perpetuating inequality; because a child who has to work is at a disadvantage.”
President Bachelet stressed that “we want children to go to school, to have fun with their families, to play, to dream, to build social and family bonds which will be the basis of their lives in the future.”
She continued by noting that “the logic of decent labor, the prevention and eradication of child labor, is important for two reasons: firstly the protection of children’s rights and secondly because it results in less qualified workers.”
“A year ago we promised that Chile would be the first country in Latin America to eradicate child labor,” the President said, adding that “this is the object of the strategy presented here today. A strategy that is intended to offer a coordinated, long-term response to this very complicated situation.”
She placed special emphasis on the fact that “this also means addressing in parallel the causes of child labor. Namely: poverty, lack of opportunities and poor respect for education.”