(ZeroHedge) While the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has routinely strived to support people in extreme poverty by improving their health and economic mobility through various programs, the foundation may have gone off the deep end by bizarrely sponsoring an article that promotes child labor.
billionaire-funded ‘child labor is good’ takes has to be a new stage of capitalist dystopia pic.twitter.com/yfXOe6A1gJ
— Paul Gottinger (@PaulGottinger) November 6, 2020
The article in question was published in The Guardian’s “Global Development” section on Friday is titled “Child labour doesn’t have to be exploitation – it gave me life skills.”
Underneath the header, a logo of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is visible with text that says, “Global development is supported by” the foundation.
Written by Elizabeth Sibale, the deputy chief of party at global impact firm Palladium, praises her childhood experience in Malawi, doing hard work for her family – such as food prepping, carrying water, and babysitting her siblings – as an example of the hard work she did to mold her into the women she is today.
“However, where do you draw the line between what has internationally deemed a crime and a natural process of transferring skills? Is international concern on child rights relevant to Africa?” Sibale said.
She said, “contrary to popular belief, most child labourers are employed by their parents rather than in manufacturing or the formal economy.”
Adding that “in Africa, where many areas have no social security or social services to support the vulnerable, families are responsible for educating and training the next generation to become capable adults.”
