In Colombia, 796,000 children and adolescents work and many of them work in artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM). On June 12th, 2018 was the World Day Against Child Labour which the Alliance for Responsible Mining (ARM) wants to commemorate by presenting the “Guide for Child Labor-free Mining” (available in spanish).

This guide, created within the framework of the Somos Tesoro project and in collaboration with Minminas, Mintrabajo, ICBF and Fondo Acción, contains everything that a Colombian artisanal and small-scale miner must know about child labor.

The guide’s content was developed by combining the experience and knowledge of the entities involved and the results of a perception study on child labor carried out by ARM in 8 municipalities of Antioquia and Boyacá, where more than 300 miners participated.

Therefore, we present a didactic guide, written in a simple language, which explains: what rights children, adolescents and their families have and why they exist; the scope of the child labor problem in Colombia and, particularly, in mining; how to report and identify the risks of child labor in artisanal and small-scale mining; what actions the ICBF, Mintrabajo and Minminas are taking in case of encountering child labor; what the corresponding sanctions are; what social programs are offered by public and private institutions aimed at mitigating the effects of the problem in the territories; and finally how to apply for protected adolescent work authorizations.

We hope that this didactic tool serves as a reference point and that it provides all the necessary tools, so that miners can prevent and eradicate child labor both in mining activities and in their families.

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