GUATEMALA CITY, July 4 (NNN-PRENSA LATINA) — More than 865,000 children in Guatemala work at home and on the streets without any remuneration, local media reported taking into account an official report presented here.
In Alta and Baja Verapaz, Chiquimula and Petén there are more cases of minors helping to load firewood or performing other activities considered dangerous, the newspaper Publinews detailed after a document prepared with data from the National Survey of Living Conditions (Encovi) 2023.
This situation (with 12.3 percent of the total involved) leads to exposure to extreme temperatures, smoke, dust and noise, for which they spend from 11 hours to 42 hours during the week, he noted.
Figures from the “Report on Child Labour in Guatemala” further show that 19.5 per cent of the country’s children are engaged in productive activities and 11.6 per cent in self-consumption crops.
The places with the highest prevalence are rural areas, indigenous communities and households in situations of poverty and extreme poverty, warned CentroAmerica official newspapera.
Regarding the situation, the Minister of Labor and Social Security, Miriam Roquel, owner of the Mintrab, explained that the analysis allows to guide the most effective prevention strategies.
He considered it important to recall that this Central American territory assumed significant international commitments in this area, while mentioning a 20 percent reduction in the phenomenon between 2014 and 2023.
This progress reflects the joint effort of multiple sectors, but it also confronts us with a challenge currently in force, said the headline. — NNN-PRENSA LATINA
