In Rwanda a joint research project conducted by government statistics offices says child labour has dropped by nearly four percent in the last five years.

The research, commissioned in July this year, shows that child labour had dropped from 9.6 in 2002 to 3 percent in 2007.

In Rwanda, child domestic service is widespread practice in urban areas.

Child domestic workers come from extremely poor families, have been abandoned or orphaned, or come from single parent families.

They are normally employed as house girls and boys, and have been abused in one way or another.

The Ministry of Public Services and Labour, said that a research conducted on child labour activities in the pilot district of Karongi showed that child labour is declining due to good governance policies against the practice.

A steering committee to study the problem has been instituted by the government, which has already warned those currently employing children as house boys and girls to send them back to school.