MINISTER of Labour and Social Security Brenda Tambatamba has disclosed that an estimated 430,000 children in Zambia are engaged in child Labour, a staggering figure that emphasises the urgent need to protect the nation’s youth from exploitation.
Tambatamba revealed that the said number represents 6.9 percent of children aged between five to seven.
Speaking during the commemoration of World Day against child Labour in Kaoma district, Tambatamba drew attention to the disproportionately high incidence of child Labour among girls in Zambia, revealing that they comprise 63.4 percent of total child Labour population, a situation which begs for for targeted solutions to protect the rights and welfare of girls.
She stated that approximately 7.8 percent of children aged 5 to 14 were engaged in work as of 2023 and 7.1 percent of children were both working and attending school.
The minister exposed the depth of child labour in Zambia, emphasising its pervasiveness across various sectors particularly agriculture, mining, trading, and household activities.
“Children in some instances, are forced to abandon their education in order to engage in difficult physical labour including the harvesting of tobacco and cotton, caterpillar picking, and gold mining,” she said.
Tambatamba also touched on the exploitation of children in the trading sector, citing examples of young children peddling goods in bars and along highways in Lusaka.
The minister further noted that government has made significant strides in its efforts to tackle child labour as it has withdrawn more than 4,000 children from child labour, increased budgetary provisions, established a National Steering Committee on child labour, and introduced free education from primary to secondary school.
Tambatamba underscored the multifaceted approach required to effectively combat child labour, stressing the importance of addressing the root causes, including poverty and lack of access to quality education.
“In addition to our interventions to combat child labour, we have also revised the education curriculum, strengthened legislation, and implemented programmes to support vulnerable families including the Social Cash Transfer Programme, the Cash for Work Programme, and the Skills Bursary Fund under the Constituency Development Fund,” she said.
Tambatamba reaffirmed the government’s unwavering dedication to combating child labour by leveraging existing laws, policies, and programmes, detailing the legislative and policy tools available to support this effort.
She further underscored the critical role of key stakeholders in the fight against child labour, imploring businesses to adopt responsible labour practices that aim to eliminate child labour in their supply chains, civil society organisations to advocate for children’s rights, individuals to raise awareness, report cases of of the act, and support organisations working to address this issue.
This year’s child Labour was being commemorated under the theme; “Progress is clear but therefore, there is more to do: Let’s speed up efforts!”.
By Sharon Zulu
Kalemba June 13, 2025
