Child Labor down in Costa Rica

Since last year, the percentage of children working in Costa Rica has decreased significantly from 10.9% to 8.7% according to a statement released yesterday by the U.N. Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

Studies show that that one factor contributing to this change is payments made to families on the condition that they keep their children in the education system rather than at work. The statistics showing the decline in Costa Rican child labor were released at an international meeting in San Jose entitled “Programs of Conditional Monetary Transfers and their Impact on the Prevention and Elimination of Child Labor from a Rights Perspective.”

UNICEF regional representative Marcela Massnatta stated that respecting childrens’ rights was one of the objectives of the program. “It’s important that projects recognize … the rights of children and adolescents, recognizing them as deserving of rights and not just passive receivers of benefits and assistance,” she explained.

Hamid Tabatabai, representative of the International Program for the Eradication of Child Labor in Switzerland and experts from countries including Chile, Colombia, Argentina, Bolivia, Panama, El Salvador, Honduras, the Dominican Republic, Paraguay, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil and Mexico participated in the event.

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