Governments around the world should protect the health of millions of artisanal gold miners working with mercury, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch submitted recommendations to governments ahead of negotiations for an international, legally binding convention on mercury.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen’s proposed ban on sending domestic workers to Malaysia should be accompanied by a major overhaul in protections for these workers. On October 14, 2011, Hun Sen promised an opposition lawmaker, Mu Sochua, to halt migration in the wake of repeated complaints of abuse during recruitment in Cambodia and employment in Malaysia.

MTV Exit paired up with the British band Radiohead to create this music video on child labor. Strikingly simple, "All I need" portrays a day in the life of two boys who occupy very different worlds, comparing them side by side with a split screen. The similarities between them make their radically different circumstances all the more apparent.

Cambodia’s revised regulation on labor migration, approved by Prime Minister Hun Sen on August 17, 2011, falls far short of minimum protections needed to safeguard migrant domestic workers. The regulation omits or only has vague protections for workers and does not adequately address such problems as debt bondage, illegal recruitment of underage workers, and forced confinement by recruitment agencies in Cambodia.

While trafficked laborers are sometimes detained by force, in many cases this isn't even necessary. Once in a foreign land, unable to speak the language, with no idea of where they or how to find help and often having handed over their passports to their employers, these people are unable to leave their circumstances.

A Phnom Penh Post article outlined the issue with current cases where half a dozen men swam ashore to escape a cruel captain that shot deckhands for fun. Those that became sick were also thrown overboard rather than bear the cost and effort of treating them.

"My friend was raped, and when her case went to the district magistrate the perpetrator paid the judge. The case was dismissed as the judge decided the rape was consensual,” says Srey.

Study after study reveals that all over the world, education is the single most effective catalyst for reducing poverty. Though there are seemingly countless reason for gaps in education access in the developing world, our work in India and Cambodia has shown us repeatedly that transportation is often the single largest gap and—thankfully—one of the simplest to fill.

The SMART team was responsible for rescuing two of the grade 12 girls we met from Thailand. They also operated a mobile library, administered first aid, made referrals to health centers, and showed a video - using the battery of their vehicle for electricity!

(Nairobi) – Mali’s new action plan to combat child labor creates a huge opportunity to improve the lives of over two million Malian children working in harmful conditions, Human Rights Watch said today. The Malian government adopted the National Action Plan for the Elimination of Child Labor in Mali on the eve of the World Day Against Child Labor, June 12, 2011.
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