GABORONE, May 2 — Botswanan President Mokgweetsi Masisi on Sunday called on workers to make efforts to protect children’s rights and end child labour.
At an event celebrating Botswana’s working class in the northern town of Maun, Masisi said human rights are universal, interdependent and indivisible.
“Let us unite and raise our voices in promoting and protecting the rights of children at all cost,” he told workers who will attend the 5th Global Conference on the Elimination of Child Labor in South Africa.
On May 15-20, representatives from all over the world will hold plenaries, presentations and side events in the coastal city of Durban.
Children must be protected from the harrowing practices of labour exploitation, so as to ensure that they can live in an abuse-free environment, the president added.
Despite progress in many regions, at least 160 million children in Africa are still in child labour. The number is rising and the COVID-19 pandemic threatens to reverse years of progress, according to the International Labour Organization. (Xinhua)


