As reported on Colombia Reports, the Minister for Labour of Colombia signed an agreement to end child labour in the country. The agreement is also aimed at the improvement of training and education opportunities for children and youths.
The agreement, which was supported by 50 legal mining companies in the country seeks not only to educate and train the future workers of the sector but to eradicate child labor, which today amounts to 13% of the national employment total. According to the minister 8.6% of child workers are between five and 14-years old, while 27.7% are between 15 and 17-years-old, with 16.6% males and 8.9% females in this sector, […].
According to Diaz [the executive director of the Colombian Chamber of Mining, Cesar Diaz] Chile and Peru have a great shortage of skilled labor in the mining sector and workers are imported from other countries to meet the demands, training as provided by the agreement should ensure that this doesn’t happen in Colombia, said the director.