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Who should take a stand against abusive child labor being used in Congo to dig out coltan?

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Who should take a stand against abusive child labor being used in Congo to dig out coltan?

The use of child labor anywhere is abysmal. And every God-fearing person on this planet should take a stand against it, but let us take the term taking a stand' and try to apply it to this particular case:

To Take A Stand On This Issue, One Individual Could:

- Be informed and to inform others? Yes, that certainly qualifies.

- Personally ban products with coltan as an ingredient or additive or whatever one call it? Yes, this qualifies as well. However, how many of us as individuals are really going to part with our cell-phones (mine is my home phone now, like so many Americans), laptop computers and game systems? Not many, I will be honest enough to say that.

- Lead a march on the capital in the Congo? Be realistic. We would all be shot to death.

- Lead a march on Washington? What can we possibly expect our own leaders to do about a situation in Africa? Do we realistically want our Country to take an active stance against a Nation for their policies on child labor laws? Perhaps. This is something that many Americans can get behind and should. But what effects would this have on our Nation? The ramifications could be like the stone in the pond. We simply cannot know.

We must, each and every one of us, truly think about this issue and talk it out as a whole. To do this, we must form one group and appoint a Leader for this group, a Secretary, a Treasurer, and all that that entails. Does anyone know if a group such as this does not already exist?

It does. In my research, I found a group that calls itself "Global Mission", a British Group that has headquarters in the United States and has taken a very active role in the mining industry in Africa and the Congo in general. They visit the mines regularly, meet with every level of officials there and often get one on one interviews with the miners themselves. This is from one of their papers published in PDF format from their site:

"Children working in the mines:
The Labour Code specifies in its introduction that the revision of earlier national labour legislation was inspired, among other things, by the ILO's conventions and recommendations. 134 In this context, some of the Labour Code's provisions on child labour explicitly reflect the DRC's commitments
under the ILO Convention concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour (Convention 182),


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Who should take a stand against abusive child labor being used in Congo to dig out coltan?

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Who should take a stand against abusive child labor being used in Congo to dig out coltan?

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