More than 600 cases of child labor exploitation were reported in Colombia in the first half of 2011.
Miguel Buitago, the manager of the Colombian Family Welfare Institute, said in an interview with Caracol Radio, “We have nearly 1,200 children in attention for having been found working. According to DANE, in Colombia there are more than a million children working.”
Buitago called for mayors in all departments of Colombia to conduct a report on the number of child workers in each region.
The Colombian Family Welfare Institute (ICBF), which has raised nearly $350,000 USD for children exploited in the workforce, led a parade on Thursday to inform more people about issues surrounding child labor.
Isabel Cristina Patiño Mejia, the director of ICBF in Antioquia, said, “Events like this should serve to strengthen our institutional responsibilities in fulfilling our mission. It is for this reason that the ICBF calls on the institutions and organizations that are part of the Interagency Committee for the Prevention of Child Labour to make efforts to consolidate actions, so that our children are (…) not working exposed to health problems and becoming victims of mistreatment, exploitation and sexual abuse.”
