Luanda, Sept. 12, 2024 (Lusa) - The United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) on Thursday expressed concern at the reduction in the budget to eradicate child labour in Angola, which fell by 40% in the 2024 state budget compared to the 2023 budget.
In its analysis of the 2024 state budget allocated to child protection, released today, the UN agency in Angola considers the reduction in the budget allocation for Angola's National Action Plan for the Eradication of Child Labour (PANETI) to be ‘worrying’.
According to Unicef, the plan has seen a 40% reduction in its budget, from three billion kwanzas (€2.9 million) in 2023 to less than two billion kwanzas (€1.9 million) in 2024.
This reduction "is worrying not only because of the amount, but because of the importance of the plan and the inspection and monitoring activities at national level," stressed Unicef, pointing out that child labour continues to be the target of denunciations, especially in the provinces of Bié, Luanda and Zaire.
The impact of child labour on children and young people "is to maintain the cycle of poverty and prevent the child from having access to education and learning opportunities, and it can also damage health and expose them to physical, sexual and emotional violence," it said.
For the United Nations agency, it is essential to maintain the levels of investment in PANETI 2021-2025, noting that a national child protection system is defined by actions to prevent and respond to exploitation, abuse, neglect and harmful practices and violence against children.
Between January and May, Angola's National Children's Institute (INAC) recorded 2,484 cases of exploitation of minors for child labour, mainly in agriculture, street vending and diamond mining.
Speaking to the Lusa news agency in June, the director of INAC, Paulo Kalesi, said that child labour in Angola occurs mainly in the informal sector of the economy, as well as on farms, in warehouses, on public roads - such as street vending - and in fishing.
The state budget for 2024 allocates around 19.1 billion kwanzas (€18.6 million) to the central bodies that have defined actions and programmes dedicated to child protection, with INAC, the body responsible for implementing the executive's policies on children, seeing an increase in its allocation of 2.9 billion kwanzas (€2.8 million).
According to Unicef's analysis, the allocation earmarked for child protection in 2024 represents 0.18% of the state budget, resulting from all direct and indirect actions for this purpose, so the agency recommends gradually increasing the amount to at least 1%.
At this session, the UN agency also presented analyses of the 2024 state budget in the sectors of social protection, water and basic sanitation, inclusion and disability, gender, education, health and nutrition.
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