努力减少柬埔寨童工数量

AS IT IS 2015-06-26 Group Works to Reduce Child Labor¹ in Cambodia 努力减少柬埔寨童工数量

Earlier this year, a United Nations report found that 10 percent of Cambodian children between the ages of seven and 14 are working. That is one of the highest rates in Southeast Asia. The report said one in four Cambodians aged² 7 to 14 are forced to drop out of school to help their families. UN officials say the child labor rate in Cambodia has dropped over the past 10 years. But the country has a lot more to do to keep a greater number of children in school.

One story begins at a factory in Cambodia. The factory manufactures bricks for building projects.

Outside the building, 15-year-old Pheap and her mother, Chrup, are turning pieces of dirt. Pheap has worked at the factory for one year. She was taken out of school after two years to support her father, who was sick. Some of the money she earned went to her 10-year-old sister and baby brother.

Pheap and her mother each earn $80 a month. They work eight hours a day, seven days a week. Pheap says working in the factory helps her mother provide for their family. It also helps support her brother and sister.

About 430,000 Cambodians under 18 years-of-age are employed. Half of them work in what the International Labor Organization calls the worst forms of child labor. They include agriculture, salt production, housework, fishing and brick-making.

Veng Heang is Director of the Child Labor Department in Cambodia. He says the number of child workers has been nearly cut in half since 1999. He says the country wants to lower that number to 375,000 by the end of the year.

“Not only in 2015, but after 2015 – we have to work very carefully on quality of education, food security, and especially income generation for the poor.”

Targeting areas like agriculture and fisheries has helped reduce the number of child laborers³. In the future, making sure Cambodian children stay in school will be important.

World Vision is a non-profit group. It seeks to reduce child labor by offering assistance for both education and for household livelihoods⁴. The group operates a four-year project called EXCEL. The project receives financial support from the U.S. Department of Labor.

World Vision says its EXCEL program in Cambodia has already helped 20,000 children. The group's Imelda Ochavillo says Cambodians are becoming less tolerant of child labor. But she says more is needed to solve this complex issue.

“If you want to reduce it significantly we should have very comprehensive interventions⁵ that would include continuous poverty alleviation⁶, provision of alternative sources of income, decent employment for youth, and education should be made accessible.”

She says child labor is usually not a major issue for children under age 12. Most remain in their villages and attend school. But it is between the ages of 12 and 17 that child labor becomes an issue.

Pheap dreams of finding a job in a clothing factory. That could double her wages. Her mother Chrup wants more for her, too. She says she does not want her daughter to work in the brick factory.

But a better future for Chrup’s family is far from guaranteed. The local school will not admit her other 10-year-old daughter. The girl is needed to look after her baby brother anyway. However, without an education, it is hard to find a way out of poverty.

Words in This Story

generation – n. the act of creating something; to produce a result

livelihood(s) – n. a way of earning money; making a living

tolerant – adj. willing to accept something or someone

alleviation – n. the process of lessening the effect of something; (often) to reduce something

1 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

2 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

3 laborers   

n.体力劳动者，工人( laborer的名词复数 )；（熟练工人的）辅助工

参考例句：

• Laborers were trained to handle 50-ton compactors and giant cranes. 工人们接受操作五十吨压土机和巨型起重机的训练。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Wage-labour rests exclusively on competition between the laborers. 雇佣劳动完全是建立在工人的自相竞争之上的。 来自英汉非文学 - 共产党宣言

4 livelihoods   

生计，谋生之道( livelihood的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• First came the earliest individualistic pioneers who depended on hunting and fishing for their livelihoods. 走在最前面的是早期的个人主义先驱者，他们靠狩猎捕鱼为生。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• With little influence over policies, their traditional livelihoods are threatened. 因为马赛族人对政策的影响力太小，他们的传统生计受到了威胁。

5 interventions   

n.介入，干涉，干预( intervention的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Economic analysis of government interventions deserves detailed discussion. 政府对经济的干预应该给予充分的论述。 来自辞典例句
• The judge's frequent interventions made a mockery of justice. 法官的屡屡干预是对正义的践踏。 来自互联网

6 alleviation   

n. 减轻，缓和，解痛物

参考例句：

• These were the circumstances and the hopes which gradually brought alleviation to Sir Thomas's pain. 这些情况及其希望逐渐缓解了托马斯爵士的痛苦。
• The cost reduction achieved in this way will benefit patients and the society in burden alleviation. 集中招标采购降低的采购成本要让利于患者，减轻社会负担。 来自英汉 - 翻译样例 - 口语