Zambian Government Launches New Program to Combat AIDS-Related Child Labor

On Wednesday, the government of Zambia introduced a new initiative aimed at fighting child labor caused by HIV/AIDS. Helping implement the three-year program will be the International Labor Organization's (ILO) International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor. "Many of the HIV/AIDS affected children enter into child labor and the program will try to cut this vicious cycle toward the sustainable development and poverty eradication in Zambia," said Louis Ndaba-Hagamye, ILO's director for Zambia. Street children -- especially those involved with sex work, illicit activities and informal labor -- are the program's targets. Statistics show that a large portion of Zambia's 600,000 working children are affected or infected by HIV.

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