Cambodian garment makers, ILO sign deal to abolish child labour

Cambodian garment makers, ILO sign deal to abolish child labour

PHNOM PENH, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- The International Labour Organization's Better Factories Cambodia (BFC) and the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) signed an agreement on Thursday to jointly eliminate child labour in the garment industry.

The deal was inked between BFC's acting program manager Janika Simon and GMAC's president Van Sou Ieng under the presence of Cambodian labour minister Ith Samheng.

"The agreement emphasizes collaboration between BFC and GMAC in the process of identifying and remediating any confirmed cases of child labour," said a joint statement. "When workers under the age of 15 are identified, they are offered access to suitable vocational training institutes and are paid the equivalent of their average monthly factory pay until they reach 15."

GMAC will ensure financial support for age confirmation and remediation costs from its member factories.

Ith Samheng said the deal clearly reflected GMAC's commitment to prevent and eliminate child labour in the garment industry.

"This agreement truly shows a joint effort to abolish child labour in the garment and footwear sector and to protect the brand name: Made in Cambodia," he said.

The garment and footwear sector, the country's largest foreign currency earner, comprises 960 factories with 620,000 workers, according to the ministry of labour.

The sector exported products in equivalent to 4.44 billion U.S. dollars in the first nine months of this year, accounting for 76 percent of the country's total export.

source:::http://www.globalpost.com