[07/March/2010]

SANA'A, March. 07 (Saba)- Training workshop for occupational, safety and health's inspectors from the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor and its offices in governorates of Aden, Taiz, Hodieda and Hajjah began on Sunday.

The five-day long workshop, which is being organized by Combating Child Labor Unit in the ministry in cooperation with International Labor Organization (ILO) and CHF, aims at giving 35 labor inspectors knowledge and skills on health and safety inspection for child laborers and those under 18 years.

Participants, who came from targeted governorates and the Capital Sana'a, will be given a list on works children are forbidden to do.

Opening the workshop, Undersecretary of Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor Abdu Al-Hakimi highlighted the role played by labor inspectors in field of occupational safety and health, namely on child laborers working in dangerous work.

He affirmed that poverty is the first enemy to families who force children to go to work and then leave schools. He admitted that the ministry and its offices across the country lacks of specialists in field occupational and health safety expect only a doctor in Lahj.

He argued the participating inspectors to make use of the workshop and from the Jordanian ILO's expert Amin al-Woraidan to come out with skills and knowledge helping them in their field work.

For his part ILO's Representative and National Coordinator Yemen Raidan Al-Saqqaf indicated that the organization has been working in Yemen since 20000 with social partners and the government to combat child labor.

This workshop is another intervention towards strengthening the institutional capacity to combat child labor through labor inspections, he added.

"We value our partnership with government, CHF and social partners and we look forward to more cooperation in the future to advance decent work for all," he further said.

CHF's Director in Yemen talked about importance of the Occupational Safety and Health Program in combating child labor in Yemen, especially in heavy populated areas where child labor is widespread.

She affirmed significant of exchanging experience between participants as the workshop is the first of its kind being held in Yemen on combating child labor.

According to formal statistics carried out in 2000, there are 420 thousands child laborers in Yemen.

MA/MA