It is 6am in Biryogo, one of the busiest suburbs of Kigali. Fourteen-year-old Assumani Zirimwabagabo carries a bag in which he has collected metal scrap. This is his source of livelihood. Zirimwabagabo’s left palm has blotches. He says the metals have injured him over time. The kid claims he found himself on the street after his sister failed to raise money for rent.“Since then, I live on the street where I make ends meet by collecting scrap for sale,” he said, adding that he was 11 when he became a street kid.Zirimwabagabo has never been to school as the sister could not get him scholastic material, despite the available Nine-Year Basic Education programme option. Like Assumani, Jean Luc Habanabakize, 15, says he has been hussling with life for four years following the death of his mother.“I get worried of the night chill,” Zirimwabagabo says.The children said it would be good if they got support to join school.Anti-child labour NGOs, government officials and other stakeholders have embarked on plans of eliminating child labour by 2017, with government, this month, launching a policy that will see millions of francs sunk into empowering families of street children.Anna Mugabo, the director-general of labour and employment in the Ministry of Public Service and Labour, said they are aware of poverty as cause of street life, adding that financial support will be given to children.‘The strategy is clear; we need more programmes to empower families and support them so that children subjected to child labour are enrolled in technical and vocational schools and formal education,” she said.The Executive Secretary of National Commission for Children, Zaina Nyiramatama, said to end child labour, family must be at the centre stage.“We are currently working on empowering families. Otherwise, if a family is stuck in poverty and bickering, the children may end up on the streets to fend for themselves,” Nyiramatama said.The new anti-child labour policy is expected to cost $5.3 million. Key activities planned range from identifying children involved in child labour and in hazardous work to reintegrate them in formal education and technical and vocational schools.The International Labour Organisation (ILO) estimates that about 15.5 million children are engaged in domestic work, paid or non-paid.The 2010 ILO report says most of these children are female, at 72 per cent, with 5.5 million children involved in dangerous activities and human slavery.
