Bolivia has passed a law authorizing
children to work from age 10, saying the rule is necessary due to realities in
the impoverished country where kids join the labor market prematurely.
The reduced legal limit has come under
fire from critics who said it opens the door to allowing more children to work
from a younger age.
The International Labor Organization is
investigating the law, amid fears it breached global rules.
Vice President Alvaro Garcia yesterday
signed the measure into law at the Quemado presidential palace in the absence
of President Evo Morales, who was traveling to Brazil.
"We have just passed a law we had
to develop because of the reality in Bolivia," Garcia said in a signing
ceremony attended by representatives of children's organizations.
"It would have been easy to pass a
law in line with international conventions but it would not apply because
Bolivia's reality has other needs and characteristics."
Under the new law, the minimum age for
employment is 14 years, though exceptions are granted under specific
circumstances for children to work from age 12 for an employer and from age 10
if self-employed.
Bolivia's previous labor code permitted
no exceptions to a minimum age of 14, which ILO rules allow developing
countries to adopt instead of the global limit of 15.
The new law was approved earlier this
month by parliament. Morales, a leftist, is a former subsistence farmer and
trade union activist.
Bolivians often work from an early age
out of necessity. Many of the youngsters are employed in agriculture or as
street hawkers.
By reducing the legal limit, lawmakers
hope to help eradicate the extreme poverty and other conditions that lead to
child labor from the South American country by 2025.
The law also sets a penalty of 30 years
in jail without pardon for adults causing violent infanticide.
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