Summary
Before the Covid-19 pandemic, countries around the globe had made remarkable progress in reducing child labor. According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), the number of children in child labor decreased by approximately 94 million between 2000 and 2016, representing a drop of 38 percent. But as the pandemic caused massive school closures and unprecedented loss of jobs and income for millions of families, many children have entered the workforce to help their families survive, while others have been forced to work longer hours or enter more precarious and exploitative situations. Some have become their families’ primary breadwinners after losing a caregiver to Covid-19. Some despair of ever going back to school.
CORNERSTONE POTTERY FARM
Owned by husband-and-wife tandem EJ and Eva Espiritu, this shop in Silang, Cavite creates food-safe stoneware and ceramics such as dinnerware, tea sets, mugs, chimes, oil burners and sculptures. “Our glazes are lead-free,” says Eva who, together with her ceramic engineer husband, started the business in 1996 for an exporter. In 2001 however, they began producing for the local market. Four years later, EJ started his studio pottery while Eva continued to be on top of the design and marketing.
Made by the traditional process of casting and hand-forming, each Cornerstone item is painstakingly created with much accuracy, time and effort. The clay preparation alone is crucial as wrong proportions or formulations can make or break a batch. “In casting, we prepare a mixture of powdered clay, water and a dispersing agent; in hand-forming, we mix a sold wet clay with other types of clay. The sturdiness of the clay body must withstand the following baking tempe
Across the world, more than 700 million people live in extreme poverty. That is nearly 9 per cent of global population, struggling to fulfill the most basic needs of health and education, with little or no access to clean water and sanitation.
Economic fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic could increase the issue by as much as half a billion people. This would be the first time that poverty has increased globally in 30 years, a startling fact published by the United Nations University (UNU) World Institute for Development Economics Research earlier this year.
David Davies, CEO and founder of Australian startup AgUnity, notes that the challenges are multifold.