With 200,000 children working, Labor announces guidelines

SANTO DOMINGO. – Around 200,000 youngsters work in child labor conditions in Dominican Republic, accordions to a Labor Ministry study disclosed Monday, which aims to specify the number, children and pre-18 adolescents subjected to the practice.

The report stresses that guidelines will be issued to continue the multi-sector policies to eradicate the problem.

The study ranks Dominican Republic among the countries in the region which have most advanced in the fight against child labor, it said, although the authorities have yet to obtain the Letter of Route, or the tool in which the country’s strategy is specified and which seeks eradication.

Labor minister Francisco Domínguez said the lower numbers stem from its efforts shared between the various government agencies, business groups, NGOs, and Dominican society, with the support of international entities, such as the IEO and UNICEF.

Dominguez said the study not only shows a considerable drop in the percentage of child labor in the country, but the fact that 89% of those children share the work with their studies and said that’s exactly why Labor is going to launch an awareness campaign for their parents, tutors and employers.