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Targeting the intolerable

The International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour

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What is Child Labour?

•  It is work that children should not be doing because they are too young to work, or – if they are old enough to work – because it is dangerous or otherwise unsuitable for them

•  Not all work done by children should be classified as child labour to be eliminated. Some types of work, e.g. earning pocket money during school holidays, can be beneficial to a child’s development

•  Whether or not particular forms of “work” can be called “child labour” depends on the child’s age, the type and hours of work performed and the conditions under which it is performed, as set out in the ILO Conventions

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Causes of Child Labour

•  Poverty •  Culture and tradition •  Barriers to education •  Market demand •  The effects of income shocks on households •  Lack of legislation and/or poor enforcement of

existing legislation

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Consequences of Child Labour •  Deprives them of schooling or requires them to assume

the multiple burden of schooling and work

•  Jeopardises their health and safety – high risk of illness and injury…even death

•  Affects their physical development (malnutrition, long working hours in bad conditions)

•  Exposes them to physical and psychological abuse and violence which all have long term consequences

•  Deprives them of their childhood and of their future

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Magnitude of the problem

Child labour in the world

215,000,000 Child labourers, 5-17 years old

115,000,000 Engaged in hazardous work, 5-17 years old

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Global trends in child labour (age group 5-17, million)

245.5

222.3

215.3 210 215 220 225 230 235 240 245 250

2000 2004 2008 Year

Mill

ion

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Global trends in child labour (age group 5-17, percentage)

16.0

13.6

14.2

13.0 13.5 14.0 14.5 15.0 15.5 16.0 16.5

2000 2004 2008 Year

%

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Global trends in hazardous work (age group 5-17, million)

170.5

128.4

115.3

100 110 120 130 140 150 160 170 180

2000 2004 2008 Year

Mill

ion

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Global trends in hazardous work (age group 5-17, percentage)

11.1

8.2 7.3

5 6 7 8 9

10 11 12

2000 2004 2008 Year

%

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Global trends in child labour, by sex (age group 5-17, million)

132.2 119.6

127.8 113.3

102.7

87.5

60 70 80 90

100 110 120 130 140

2000 2004 2008 Year

Mill

ion

Boys Girls

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Global trends in child labour by sex (age group 5-17, percentage)

16.8%

14.9% 15.6%

15.2%

13.5%

11.4%

10.0% 11.0% 12.0% 13.0% 14.0% 15.0% 16.0% 17.0% 18.0%

2000 2004 2008 Year

%

Boys Girls

12 12

Children in employment (aged group 5-14, million)

127

17

48

122

11

49

96

10

58

0 20 40 60 80

100 120 140

Asia and the Pacific Latin America and the Caribbean

Sub-Saharan Africa

Region

Mill

ion

2000 2004 2008

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Children in employment (aged group 5-14, percentage)

19.1 18.8 14.8; Asia and the

Pacific, 10.0

16.1

9.0; Latin America and the Caribbean

26.4 28.8 28.4; Sub-Saharan

Africa

0 5

10 15 20 25 30 35

2000 2004 2008 Year

%

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Magnitude of the problem

Sectoral distribution of working children, 2008

60.0%25.5%

7.0% 7.5%

AgricultureServicesIndustryNot Defined

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Practical Action

ILO Conventions and Declaration: ILO Minimum Age Convention No. 138, 1973

→ requires a national policy for the elimination of child labour

→ requires a specification of a minimum age

Ratified by: 156 of the 183 ILO member States

ILO Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention No. 182, 1999

→ requires governments to take immediate and effective measures to prohibit and eliminate the worst forms of child labour as a priority (art. 1)

Ratified by: 173 of the ILO member States

ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work

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The International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC)

•  Launched in 1992 •  Main objective: the progressive elimination of child labour •  To be achieved through strengthening the capacity of

countries to deal with the problem and promoting a worldwide movement to combat child labour

•  IPEC is now working in nearly 90 countries and benefitting millions of children

•  IPEC employs internationally recognized labour standards and technical cooperation projects towards achievement of its objective

•  Tripartite cooperation with governments, workers’ and employers’ organizations is the cornerstone of national action against child labour and IPEC interventions

Practical Action

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The International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC)

•  In countries all over the world, IPEC inspires, guides and supports national and regional initiatives to eliminate child labour

•  The basis of its action is the political will and commitment

of individual governments to address the problem •  IPEC operates a phased and multi-sectoral strategy which

motivates a broad alliance of partners to acknowledge and act against child labour

•  Sustainability is built in from the start through an emphasis

on in-country ownership.

Practical Action

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IPEC’s strategy: “top down” & “bottom up”

Practical Action

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Working together with goverments, trade unions and employers to improve legislation, support national plans of action on child labour and strengthen the capacities of key players at the policy, planning and intervention levels

Demonstrating viable strategies for the prevention of child labour, withdrawal of children from work, the rehabilitation of former child labourers and ensuring their access to education

Mainstreaming child labour issues into national and global development frameworks

Creating awareness at all levels and mobilising alliances and partnerships

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Practical Action

Projects supporting direct interventions for at-risk children, child labourers, their families and communities, including: •  Community mobilisation and awareness raising

•  Withdrawal and rehabilitation services •  Provision of education (formal and non- formal) and vocational training

•  Economic empowerment of targeted families

•  Local child labour monitoring, involving the local community in identifying child labourers and linking them to appropriate services

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Practical Action

Achieving the elimination of the worst forms of child labour by 2016 – the ILO’s three pronged strategy

•  Supporting national responses to child labour, in particular, through effective mainstreaming of child labour concerns in national development and policy framework

•  Deepening and strengthening the worldwide movement; and

•  Promoting further integration of child labour concerns within overall ILO policies

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Practical Action

The 2010 ILO Global Report: Accelerating action against child labour

•  Child labour continues to decline, but progress is too slow and too uneven

•  Significant acceleration and upscaling of action is needed to achieve the 2016 goal

•  Critical policy areas: education, social protection, decent work for adults

The Hague 2010 Global Child Labour Conference – Roadmap adopted setting out priority actions for ways to accelerate action and to increase collaboration to achieve the 2016 goal