The speaker at the British Chamber of Commerce’s lunch event last Friday was Mimi Jakobsen, ex Minister in several Danish Governments, former leader of the CD Party and present General Secretary of Save the Children Denmark.
Mimi Jakobsen highlighted the effects of child labour which result in a lack of education, health damage, physical abuse and psychological abuse for economic exploitation. Save the Children categorises certain types of child labour as totally unacceptable, whereas other types of child labour could be accepted provided that the risks and hazards are removed. The most acceptable category of child labour is defined as where it is combined with education
Save the Children Denmark’s General Secretary, Mimi Jakobsen, with Mariano A. Davies, the Chairman of the British Chamber of Commerce in Denmark.
As Mimi Jakobsen emphasised, companies must take responsibility for developing a long term child labour preventative strategy and build partnerships with organisations that secure better education, vocational training as well as health and social improvement projects. Mimi Jakobsen pointed out that statistics have shown that children with a minimum of four years of education in areas where child labour is rife are able to double their income in comparison to those without any such basic education. Furthermore, their children do even better.
Save the Children is an officially recognised international NGO that receives substantial support from national governments. Nevertheless, most of its support comes from companies and private persons. Without this aid, it would not be able to carry out the many educational, health and social welfare projects it supports throughout the world.
Read Mimi's full powerpoint presentation. |