world of work · the worldwide movement against child labour. in the 15th year of the ilo’s...

WORLD OF WORK, NO. 61, DECEMBER 2007

World of Work magazine is published threetimes a year by the Department of Com-munication and Public Information of the ILO in Geneva. Also published in Arabic, Chinese, Czech, Danish, Finnish,French, Hindi, Japanese, Norwegian, Spanishand Swedish.

EDITOR

May Hofman ÖjermarkSPANISH EDITION

In collaboration with the ILO Office, MadridPRODUCTION MANAGER

Kiran Mehra-KerpelmanPRODUCTION ASSISTANT

Corine LuchiniPHOTO EDITOR

Marcel CrozetART DIRECTION

MDP, ILO TurinCOVER DESIGN

Gill ButtonEDITORIAL BOARD

Thomas Netter (Chair), Charlotte Beauchamp,Lauren Elsaesser, May Hofman Öjermark,Kiran Mehra-Kerpelman, Corinne Perthuis,Hans von Rohland

This magazine is not an official document ofthe International Labour Organization. Theopinions expressed do not necessarily reflectthe views of the ILO. The designationsemployed do not imply the expression of anyopinion whatsoever on the part of the ILOconcerning the legal status of any country, areaor territory, or of its authorities, or concerningthe delimitation of its frontiers.Reference to names of firms and commercialproducts and processes does not imply theirendorsement by the ILO, and any failure tomention a particular firm, commercial prod-uct or process is not a sign of disapproval.Texts and photographs may be freely repro-duced with mention of source (except photoagency photographs). Written notification isappreciated.

All correspondence should be addressed tothe ILO Department of Communication andPublic Information, CH-1211 Geneva 22,Switzerland.Tel: +4122/799-7912Fax: +4122/799-8577Email: [email protected]/communication

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As this issue of World of Work goes to press,

the 300th Session of ILO Governing Body is in

progress. What was the first meeting like, in

November 1919? When US President Franklin

D. Roosevelt addressed the International Labour

Conference in November 1941, in the middle of

the Second World War, he recalled:

“Apparently someone had fallen down on the

job of making the necessary physical arrange-

ments...I had to find office space in the Navy

Building, as well as supplies and typewriters...

“In those days the ILO was still a dream. To

many it was a wild dream. Who had ever heard

of Governments getting together to raise the

standards of labour on an international plane?

Wilder still was the idea that the people them-

selves who were directly affected – the workers

and the employers of the various countries –

should have a hand with Government in deter-

mining these labour standards...now, twenty-

two years have passed. The ILO has been tried

and tested...”

A major task of that first meeting was to elect

the first Director of the International Labour

Office. It was thought that the Directorship

would go either to Arthur Fontaine or to Harold

Butler. Edward Phelan takes up the story:

“The meeting opened calmly and even casu-

ally, though it was soon to become dramatic.

Only twenty-one members of the Governing

Body were present, as no provision had as yet

been made for deputies or substitutes, but they

included practically all the outstanding mem-

bers of the Conference – Fontaine, a little aloof,

with the bearded dignity of a gentle and slightly

fatigued Olympian; Delevingne, alert as a ter-

rier; Mayor des Planches, gentler even than

Fontaine, with a courtliness of another age; Car-

lier, with a long, square-cut, white beard and a

royal appearance...; Jouhaux, who combined a

thunderous voice and a buccaneer appearance

with an acute political intelligence...”

It was suggested that a provisional Director

might be appointed until the next meeting, but

“Jouhaux was on his feet at once, and there was

a note of menace and determination in his great

thundering voice. Things were going too slowly.

Were the promises to the workers not to be

kept?...A provisional Director?...Let the Govern-

ing Body do its duty and make a definite

appointment at once!”

After an adjournment, it was agreed that the

Governing Body should immediately elect a

Chairman and a Director. When Arthur

Fontaine was elected permanent Chairman, “by

that decision he was eliminated from the list of

possible Directors. [His] tenure of the Chair-

manship of the Governing Body lasted for ten

years, and he filled that office with the highest

ability and distinction.

“When Jouhaux demanded that they should

now appoint the permanent Director, Dele-

vingne made a further attempt to stem the tide:

the matter was one of the most important deci-

sions the Governing Body would have to take:

they had had no time to consider it: they had no

names before them.

“ ‘If you have no candidate, we have,’ inter-

rupted the impulsive Mr.Guérin, and the atmos-

phere became immediately more electric.

It was thus that Albert Thomas made his first

appearance in the International Labour Organ-

ization. No great man surely ever made such an

unexpected and dramatic entry upon what was

to prove so great a stage,” writes Phelan.

And the rest, as they say, is history.

The 1919 Session of the ILO Governing Body

Arthur Fontaine, first Chairman ofthe Governing Body

The Washington Navy Building, where the first meeting of theILO Governing Body took place on 27 November 1919

WORLD OF WORK, NO. 61, DECEMBER 2007 3

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Future harvests without child labour

A load too heavy:Child labour in mining and quarrying

Starting a new journey:From child labour to education and training

SIMPOC: Crunching the numbers

India against child labour

CIARIS: New technology in the service of

social inclusion

Pull-out centrefold: Turin course calendar 2008

China at work: Meeting the challenge of globalization

and decent work Photo report

C O V E R S T O R Y

The end of child labour:Millions of voices, one common hope

Created in 1919, the International Labour Organization (ILO) brings together governments, employers and workers of its 181 member States in commonaction to improve social protection and conditions of life and work throughout the world. The International Labour Office, in Geneva, is the permanentSecretariat of the Organization.

G E N E R A L A R T I C L E SF E A T U R E S

The end of child labour: Millions of voices, one common hope

Planet Work

• The world responds to child labour

News

• ILO Governing Body concludes 300th Session

• Lisbon Forum on Decent Work for a

Fair Globalization

• New ILO report highlights how action in

the world of work can help reduce maternal deaths

• International Day of Disabled Persons 2007

• Labour and social aspects of global

production systems

• Union education in the twenty-first century

• Groundbreaking work wins Manpower Institute’s

2007 Human Resources Prize

• Resource guide on youth employment

Around the Continents

Media Shelf

In less than a decade, the ILO has achieved aremarkable goal. Since adopting the WorstForms of Child Labour Convention in 1999, theworld stands on the threshold of what was onceinconceivable – the elimination of child labourin its worst forms. In a special series of articles,World of Work reviews the progress and pro-cesses that have brought us to this tipping point,and examines the challenges that remain.

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F E A T U R E D B O O K

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4 WORLD OF WORK, NO. 61, DECEMBER 2007

CHILD LABOUR

C O V E R S T O R Y

The end of child labourMillions of voices, one common hope

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The past decade has seen an unprecedentedconvergence of thought and action withinthe worldwide movement against childlabour. In the 15th year of the ILO’s Inter-

national Programme for the Elimination of ChildLabour (IPEC), World of Work looks at its achieve-ments and its vision for future action. Alec Fyfe,IPEC Senior Child Labour Specialist, contributedto this article.

GENEVA – When hundreds of children takingpart in the Global March against child labourmounted the stage at the International LabourConference on 2 June 1998 after an arduous jour-ney that had crossed more than 100 countries, littledid they know that within less than a decade thesounds of their voices would be heard around theworld.

Less than ten years on, more than 90 per cent ofthe ILO’s 181 member States have ratified Conven-tion No. 82 against the worst forms of child labour

– the fastest ratification rate in the ILO’s 88-yearhistory. What is more, the International Pro-gramme on the Elimination of Child Labour(IPEC) is today the ILO’s largest technical cooper-ation programme, working in 88 countries, with190 active field projects in 55 of them, an annualexpenditure of US$60 million and 450 staff, 90 percent of them in the field.

“The voices of those children echoed through-out the debate that began in 1998 and resulted inConvention No. 182 in 1999,” says Michele Jankan-ish, IPEC Director and one of the key actors in thedevelopment of Convention No. 182 back then.“Those children also set a tremendous precedent,speaking to delegates who would decide on a stan-dard that would alter not only their lives, but thoseof millions of their peers.”

“ ‘We’re hurting and you can help us’ was theirmessage,” she said in a recent interview for this spe-cial issue of World of Work. “It made us all realizewho we were working for and what we had to do.”

5WORLD OF WORK, NO. 61, DECEMBER 2007

The standing ovation afforded the marchers thatday by thousands of tripartite delegates has had itsown echoes in the years since then. Acting to elim-inate what Global March organizer Kailash Sat-yarthi called a “black spot on the face of humanity,one that must be removed”, governments, workersand employers have united to fight the worst formsof child labour worldwide.

Since 1999, the ILO has seen:●● More than 160 of its member States ratify Conven-

tion No. 182;●● The emergence of a worldwide movement against

child labour that has achieved an unprecedentedconsensus that globalization should not be fuelled bychildren making cheap goods that find their way intothe retail stores of rich countries;

●● The near universal acknowledgement that the exist-ence of child labour – especially in its worst forms –is not an economic advantage but a waste of precioushuman resources and a dam blocking the realizationof the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs);

●● The launch of Time Bound Programmes for theElimination of the Worst Forms of Child labour in23 countries with the goal of eliminating the worstforms of child labour by the year 2016.

One million voices, one common concernHow did this remarkable movement come into

being? Twenty years ago these developments wouldhave been unimaginable. At the end of the 1980s,the ILO had only one dedicated official and onefield project dealing with child labour. The Inter-national Year of the Child (IYC) in 1979 stimulatedinterest in the child labour problem; the take-up ofthe Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989)injected a new perspective into internationaldebates, and by the late 1990s the tide had turned.At conferences in the Netherlands, Colombia andNorway in 1997, government, labour, employerand civil society leaders raised the volume of callsfor an end to child labour, and other UN agencies,UNICEF and the World Bank embraced this con-sensus.

Those voices – and the chants and slogans of thechildren at the International Labour Conference in1998 – began to be heard worldwide. More than amillion children have been removed from childlabour, either by their families, their governments,or the agreement of trade unions and employersand found a new life going to school.

But according to ILO estimates published in2006, more than 200 million child labourers aged5-17 years are still working. The number in haz-

ardous work, which accounts for the bulk of theworst forms of child labour, is estimated at 126million. Most working children (69 per cent) areinvolved in agriculture, compared with only 9 percent in industry. Globally, the Asian-Pacific regionaccounts for the largest number of child workers –122 million in total, followed by sub-SaharanAfrica (49.3 million) and Latin America and theCaribbean (5.7 million).

However, for the first time the ILO has also noteda positive trend with 20 million fewer working chil-dren in the 5-14 year core age group from 2000 to2004 and a particular reduction of children’sinvolvement in hazardous work. Overall, LatinAmerica and the Caribbean saw the greatest declinein children’s work. Though child labour persists ona very large scale, this is welcome news.

A convergence of thought and strategic actionIndeed, the past decade has seen an unpreced-

ented convergence of thought and action withinthe worldwide movement against child labour. Inthe new millennium, the elimination of childlabour is increasingly being viewed as one of themore fundamental global commitments to tacklingpoverty and promoting universal human rights.

Convention No. 182 on the Worst Forms ofChild Labour has catalysed much needed focus andstrategic action. It pulled the previous modern ILOMinimum Age Convention – No. 138 of 1973 –along in its wake. Since 1999, ratifications of thetwo fundamental ILO Conventions on child labourhave moved up in tandem, with Convention No.182 surpassing within a few short years the Mini-mum Age Convention that is 25 years its senior.

Today, this emerging global consensus embracesthe need to:●● Prioritize the worst forms●● Respond to the especially vulnerable, including girls●● Recognize the importance of poverty as a causal

factor but not as an excuse for inaction●● Mainstream child labour into global development

and human rights frameworks, particularly Edu-cation for All (EFA)

●● Prioritize Africa as the greatest development chal-lengeThis consensus has seen greater activism from

an ever-expanding set of actors at all levels. More-over, the donor community has provided increasedresources, particularly for the ILO. The ILO,through IPEC, has had unprecedented resourcesand developed a range of technical tools to supportits constituents in their child labour efforts.

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Still, many challenges lie ahead. The worldwidemovement today is too diffuse and fragmented,risking duplication and conflicting objectives.While each World Day Against Child Labourreveals an enormous outpouring in countriesaround the world, there is a sense that the globalmomentum generated at the end of the 1990s hasnot been sustained. Ten years after the Oslo Con-ference it is time to take stock and refocus on arenewed global strategy and a more integratedinternational effort.

The way aheadA number of initiatives are pointing the way

towards greater inter-agency cooperation. Thelaunch in 2000 of the Understanding Children’sWork (UCW) project, in which the ILO plays a keyrole alongside UNICEF and the World Bank, pavedthe way for stronger inter-agency collaboration andthe development of common perspectives on datacollection. Following from this the Global TaskForce (GTF) on Child Labour and Education forAll (EFA) has, since 2005, brought together ILO,UNESCO, UNICEF, the World Bank, UNDP, Edu-cation International and the Global March withgovernment representation as well to promotegreater coherence between these linked twin goals.There are other opportunities to apply this emerg-ing model to other areas such as agriculture andhealth.

Employers’ and workers’ organizations are indis-pensable to the success of the worldwide move-ment, as constituents of the ILO, and as mass mem-bership organizations that link the local with theglobal and act as pressure groups – lobbying gov-ernments to live up to their obligations underinternational law (see sidebar on page 7). However,both employers’ and workers’ organizations face

critical challenges in realizing their full potential aspart of the worldwide movement, not least how topenetrate the informal economy where most childlabour is found. There is still much work to be doneby the social partners to develop and put in placecoherent strategies that respond to their compara-tive advantages and avoid duplication with otheractors, such as NGOs. Forming alliances with otherlike-minded civil society actors remains a consider-able challenge for both employers’ and workers’organizations.

The challenge in the coming years will be torevive the momentum of the worldwide movementaround a common vision, goals and strategies.Developments making for consensus, set outabove, provide a framework and grounds for opti-mism that the challenge can be met. However, thiswill not be achieved through “business as usual” –particularly given the ambitious target set by theOrganization of eliminating all the worst forms ofchild labour by 2016 – but will require acceleratedprogress.

“The marchers in 1998 held so much promiseand hope,” says Ms. Jankanish. “A lot has happenedsince then, but now is the time to redouble ourefforts. The last 10 per cent – the last part of ourown ILO march to abolish child labour – willundoubtedly be the hardest part.”

FURTHER READING

Fyfe, A. 2007. The worldwidemovement against childlabour: Progress and futuredirections (Geneva, ILO).ILO. 2006. The end of childlabour: Within reach. GlobalReport under the Follow-up tothe ILO Declaration on Fun-damental Principles andRights at Work (Geneva, ILO).

>>

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EMPLOYERS, WORKERS AND CHILD LABOUR

“The ILO’s tripartite constituency are naturalleaders in sustaining consciousness of childlabour, keeping it on the agenda, and buildingalliances for its elimination, nationally andglobally.”

– ILO Director-General Juan Somavia,speaking at the International Labour Confer-ence, 9 June 2006

A critical role“...since the founding of the ILO, employers’and workers’ organizations have been thehistoric pioneers in promoting the fundamen-tal principles, including that related to childlabour... the Employers continue to play acritical role in national and global efforts tocombat child labour. Employers’ organiza-tions can, on the one hand, help to ensurethat their member enterprises are aware ofand understand their obligations as regardschild labour. On the other hand, nationalemployers’ organizations have the potentialto help in the collection of data on the inci-dence of this type of labour in the variousindustrial sectors, and to influence the devel-opment of appropriate national policies onchild labour elimination. Finally, they can alsopartner with trade unions and other naturalpartners in the design of relevant responses,particularly vocational skills and training forworking children, and to promote publicawareness on the harmful effects of childlabour and the rights of children...

“...over 70 per cent of all working childrenare in the agricultural and mining sectors.Because of this, these two sectors shouldnow become the focus of the fight againstchild labour in the future.”

– Mr. Ashraf W. Tabani, Employer, Paki-stan, speaking on behalf of the Employers’group at the International Labour Confer-ence, 9 June 2006

“...this is the most profound and definitive,the most focused range of action so far takenby the international tripartite community andits social partners.”

– Mr. J.W.B. Botha, Employers’ delegate,South Africa; Employer Vice-Chairperson ofthe Committee on Child Labour, speaking at

the International Labour Conference in 1999on the adoption of the Worst Forms of ChildLabour Convention (No. 182)

Keeping our promises“Convention No. 182 is a shining product of

the ILO’s tripartism and mandate. True, we’vehad constantly to reaffirm that it comple-ments, not replaces, Convention No. 138 onminimum age – indeed, refocusing thedebate massively increased the latter’s ratifi-cation rate too. Now the holistic approachcarries increasing consensus: the two Con-ventions together, indivisibly linked with uni-versal basic education, in an integratedwhole of fundamental rights underpinningDecent Work.

“Sir Leroy Trotman, Workers’ spokesper-son in 1998/1999, now Workers’ Group Chair,said then that trade unions must not sit back,believing the job was finished with adoptionof the Convention – everyone bore furtherresponsibilities. Indeed, Global Unions areever clearer: we must campaign for imple-mentation of the Conventions and do whatonly we can: organize better in the sectorswhere child labour persists.

“IPEC Director Michele Jankanish and Ireminisced recently about a decade’s coop-eration: in developing Convention No. 182;our efforts to promote ratification and imple-mentation; the work of the Global March

against Child Labour – the world’s largesttrade union/NGO alliance, which marched inGeneva in 1998 with hundreds of childrendemanding absolute priority for the elimina-tion of the worst forms of child labour. TimNoonan (ICFTU), Ros Noonan (EducationInternational) and I represented the Workersin the Convention drafting committee. Today,I’m our IPEC spokesperson and ITUC repre-sentative in the Global March Council.Michele and I agreed: no achievement in ourworking lives quite matches ConventionNo. 182 – a sentiment undoubtedly shared bymany ILO officials and tripartite delegatesinvolved.

“Though proud of what has beenachieved, we still have far to go to reach ourgoal: every child in school and every adult indecent work. As we negotiate UN reform, weremember it was tripartite social dialoguethat won those gains. And we must neverforget: the world’s children expect us to keepour promises.”

– Mr. Simon Steyne, ILO Governing BodyWorkers’ Group Spokesperson, IPEC Inter-national Steering Committee; ITUC Repre-sentative, International Council of the GlobalMarch against Child Labour; Senior Interna-tional Officer, Trades Union Congress, writ-ten statement November 2007

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CHILD LABOUR

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MOVING FAST: A

GENEVA – As the 90th anniversary of the ILOapproaches, so does the 10th of the adop-tion of Convention No. 182 on the worstforms of child labour. Child labour hasalways been a primary issue for the ILO, butonly in the past 15 years or so has it becomeone of the biggest, and most successfulcampaigns of the Organization. World ofWork asked Michele Jankanish, Director ofthe International Programme for the Elimi-nation of Child Labour and one of the keyactors in developing Convention No. 182,about IPEC’s vision for the future.

We say that we are within a decade of elim-inating child labour in its worst forms. Howrealistic is this expectation?

Michele Jankanish: First, it is a moralimperative that we move as fast as we can.If you think about it, 2016 is an unbearableamount of time for the millions of childrenwho are risking life and limb and losing outon the education that will provide them andtheir families with a decent future.

When the International Labour Confer-ence adopted Convention No. 182 in 1999, itsaid that the exploitation of children in theworst forms of child labour was intolerable.It required immediate measures as a matterof urgency to put a stop to it. Setting a targetkeeps a focus on the urgency of this com-mitment.

“Realism” is of course relative. The mostambitious objectives have proven to beentirely feasible when pursued with single-minded determination. On the other hand,the most modest goals can be unrealistic ifthey are not taken seriously. The questionoften boils down to whether the politicalmuscle can be put behind the objective,which is a function of how hard one tries.

In addition, the trends we identified in theGlobal Report in 2006 indicated optimism fora 2016 target. A lot has to happen, of course,and it will be more difficult in some placesthan others. A strategy for each region, tak-ing account of its special challenges, mustbe followed. There is a special focus on sub-Saharan Africa given its slow progress andthe impact of HIV and AIDS and countriesemerging from conflict.

When working toward the target, we alsocount on the fact that the necessary knowl-edge and tools are largely available. As tothe resources required, ILO studies haveshown that eliminating child labour is ahugely beneficial investment, with benefitsthat exceed costs severalfold. Most of thecosts would be for providing educationalopportunities, which the international com-munity already pledged at the World Educa-tion Forum in Dakar in 2000. The additional

resources required to pursue the no-worst-forms-of-child-labour-by-2016 goal are mod-est by comparison and Article 8 of Conven-tion No. 182 says countries that ratify willhelp each other. There is no good reason anymore for procrastination, if there ever wasone. It can be done; so let’s do it.

What is needed to make universal ratifica-tion of Convention No. 182 a reality, whichwould be a first in the history of the ILO, andwhat does it say about the international viewon this issue?

Michele Jankanish: Oslo brought interna-tional attention and commitment, followedsoon thereafter by adoption of ConventionNo. 182 on the worst forms of child labour.The momentum continued as country aftercountry ratified Convention No. 182, showinga fast-paced response to the ratificationcampaign. We have reached 165 ratifica-tions, but now must walk that last difficultmile. The Governing Body has not waveredsince adoption of Convention No. 182 indirecting us to work toward universal ratifi-cation. We call upon ILO constituents to con-tinue their advocacy and assistance for uni-versal ratification.

The Convention said to the world that all

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MORAL IMPERATIVE

those who ratified it were not only con-cerned with protecting their own childrenfrom the worst forms of child labour, but thatno child in any country, no matter the level ofdevelopment, should be subject to thisscourge. Having said that, the reality of con-tinuing extreme poverty, exclusion and dis-crimination, and lack of access to qualityeducation, made it clear that desire alonewas not enough. Countries needed to beassisted so that the burden of lack of suffi-cient policies, resources and political willwould not be borne by the world’s children.

In fact, Article 8 is the concrete expres-sion of this international solidarity where

member States commit themselves to assisteach other in making this a child-labour-freeworld – especially the urgent elimination ofthe worst forms of child labour. Assistancecan be support for social and economicdevelopment, poverty eradication pro-grammes, universal education, mobilizingresources, targeted interventions and pro-viding technical and mutual legal assist-ance.

In general, we can cite many accomplish-ments in terms of ratifications and so forth.Do you believe, however, that our work hasin fact created the kind of social attitudesand changing cultures required to makechild labour a thing of the past?

Michele Jankanish: We have come a longway. Fortunately, we have moved from thedays of denial, diversion and derision. Suchattitudes have thankfully been replaced byand large by a more open and engagedworld view. There are still pockets of igno-rance about the true impact of generationsof young people caught in the trap of childlabour and the resulting underutilization ofthe precious human resource. Even someparents don’t appreciate or distinguishbetween work that could be normal for chil-

dren (helping out, learning, preparing foradulthood) and activity that is a denial of thebasic rights of the child and the right to befree from exploitation.

When we look at the events on World DayAgainst Child Labour each year, for example,we can see the enormous outpouring incommunities around the world against childlabour and testimony to changing attitudesand cultural norms regarding child labour.As I travel, I witness first hand this changingawareness and hear and see story afterstory of new awareness and appreciation forthe need to act against child labour. Thework of the ILO and others on the ground ismaking a difference every day in taking chil-dren out of child labour and in getting themthe education that they deserve. Childrenthemselves tell me their new dreams thatnow seem within their reach. The stories areheartwarming and heartwrenching.

The formal commitment to changing atti-tudes and cultures is also seen in the on-going adoption of policies and legislation toeliminate child labour. This is critical tosecure the foundation for the elimination ofchild labour even when individuals maywaver.

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F U T U R E H A R V E S T S

G E N E R A L A R T I C L E S

Future harvests

The vast majority of the world’s workingchildren are not toiling in factories andsweatshops or working as domestics orstreet vendors in urban areas. They are

working on farms and plantations, often from sun-up to sundown, planting and harvesting crops,spraying pesticides and tending livestock. PeterHurst of the IPEC Programme describes IPECaction in reducing child labour in agriculture.

GENEVA – For many, the thought of growingup on a farm evokes images of an idyllic childhoodwith girls and boys working alongside their parentsor grandparents in the fresh air and being taughtthe values and satisfaction of work. The reality,however, is often altogether different. Around theworld today, millions of children are harshlyexploited on farms and plantations of all types andsizes, toiling in poor to appalling conditions andperforming dangerous jobs with little or no pay.Many of these children carry out work that endan-gers their safety, health and even lives, and deprivesthem of an education.

When children are forced to work long hours inthe fields, their ability to attend school or skillstraining is limited, preventing them from gaining

education that could help lift them out of povertyin the future. Girls are particularly disadvantaged,as they often undertake household chores follow-ing work in the fields.

Irrespective of age, agriculture is one of thethree most hazardous sectors – along with miningand construction – in terms of fatalities, accidentsand ill health. According to ILO statistics, half of allfatal accidents occur in agriculture (ILO, 2000,p. 3), the potential hazards are numerous and lev-els of risk high. In many situations, children areforced to work long hours, use sharp tools designedfor adults, carry loads too heavy for their immaturebodies and operate dangerous machinery. They areexposed to toxic pesticides, diseases and harshweather. They may also work in unsanitary condi-tions and suffer harassment and psychologicalabuse. The list goes on and on.

Not all work that children undertake in agricul-ture is bad for them or would qualify as work to beeliminated under the ILO Minimum Age Conven-tion, 1973 (No. 138), or the Worst Forms of ChildLabour Convention, 1999 (No. 182). Age-appropri-ate tasks that are of lower risk and do not interferewith a child’s schooling and right to leisure timeare not at issue here. Indeed, many types of work

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without child labour

A key element of IPEC’s work ispromoting youth employment inagriculture within a decentwork framework as a means ofreducing child labour. The cre-ation of youth employment inthis sector could help end childlabour, promote rural employ-ment and development, andhelp reduce poverty by raisingincomes. But many young per-sons do not want to work inagriculture because the pay isoften low, the hours are long,the work is arduous and danger-ous and career prospects areperceived as minimal.To attract youth (15+) into thissector, the work must be basedon appropriate training, goodemployment and career oppor-tunities, decent employmentconditions with decent levels ofremuneration and good healthand safety standards. The chal-lenge will be to put these condi-tions and standards in place.Another issue that will need tobe addressed is how to find safeand creative ways for youthswho have attained the minimumage for employment (as definedin ILO Convention No. 138) towork in agriculture without itinterfering with education.

experience for children can be positive, providingthem with practical and social skills for work asadults. Improved self-confidence, self-esteem andwork skills are attributes often detected in youngpeople engaged in some aspects of farm work. TheILO, in partnership with international agriculturalorganizations, is promoting decent youth employ-ment in agriculture (see sidebar).

Child labour is another matter, however, andgiven the inherently hazardous nature of manytypes of agricultural work, the line between what isacceptable work and what is not is easily crossed.This problem is not restricted to developing coun-tries – it can occur in industrial countries as well.Whether child labourers work on their parents’farms, are hired to work on the farms or planta-tions of others, or accompany their migrant farm-worker parents, the hazards and levels of risk theyface can be worse than those for adult workers.Because children’s bodies and minds are still grow-ing and developing, exposure to workplace hazardscan be more devastating and long lasting for them,resulting in lifelong disabilities. Exposure to pesti-cides and other agrochemicals, for example, is par-ticularly harmful to children. And children’s inex-perience and lack of mature judgement canheighten their risk of accidents and other types ofphysical and psychological harm.

While great progress has been made in manycountries in reducing child labour in many sectors,a number of factors have made agricultural childlabour a particularly difficult one to tackle. Theseinclude: large numbers, starting work young, thehazardous nature of the work, lack of regulation,the invisibility of their work, denial of education,the effects of poverty, and ingrained attitudes andperceptions about the roles of children in ruralareas.

“The rural sector is often characterized by lackof schools, schools of variable quality, problems ofretaining teachers in remote rural areas, lack ofaccessible education for children, poor/variablerates of rural school attendance, and lower stand-ards of educational performance and achieve-ment,” says Michele Jankanish, Director of ILO-IPEC. “Children may also have to walk longdistances to and from school. Even where childrenare in education, school holidays are often builtaround the sowing and harvesting seasons.”

The ILO Global Report: The end of child labour:Within reach, which was discussed and endorsed bygovernments and employers’ and workers’ organi-zations at the International Labour Conference in2006, calls for the elimination of all worst forms ofchild labour by 2016. Reaching this target will onlybe possible if greater efforts are made to reducechild labour in agriculture, the economic sectorwhere 70 per cent of working children are found –over 132 million girls and boys aged 5-14 years,many of them engaged in hazardous work.

“For agriculture and rural development to besustainable, they cannot continue to be based onthe exploitation of children in child labour. Unlessa concerted effort is put in place to reduce agricul-tural child labour, it will be impossible to achievethe ILO goal of elimination of all worst forms ofchild labour by 2016,” concludes Jankanish.

Ways forwardTo scale up work on eliminating child labour in

agriculture, the ILO has developed a new Interna-tional Agricultural Partnership for AgricultureWithout Child Labour with key international agri-cultural organizations, namely the:●● Food and Agriculture Organization of the United

Nations (FAO);●● International Fund for Agricultural Development

(IFAD);●● International Food Policy Research Institute

(IFPRI) of the Consultative Group on Interna-tional Agricultural Research (CGIAR);

●● International Federation of Agricultural Produ-cers (IFAP) – representing farmers/employers andtheir organizations;

●● International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel,Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers’Associations (IUF) – representing workers andtheir organizations.International agricultural agencies and organ-

izations can play important roles in eliminatingchild labour in agriculture, especially hazardouswork. These organizations represent an importantconduit to the national level because of their closecontacts with national ministries or departmentsof agriculture, agricultural extension services,farmers’ organizations and cooperatives, agricul-tural producer organizations, agricultural researchbodies and other organizations.

PROMOTING DECENT YOUTH EMPLOYMENT IN AGRICULTURE

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>> Launched on World Day Against Child Labour2007 with the signing, at the International LabourConference (ILC), of a Declaration of Intent onCooperation on Child Labour, the Partnership’sinitial objectives are to:1. Apply laws on child labour2. Take action to ensure children do not carry out haz-

ardous work in agriculture3. Promote rural strategies and programmes aimed at

improving rural livelihoods, and bring child labourconcerns into the mainstream of agricultural policy-making

4. Overcome the urban/rural and gender gap in educa-tion

5. Promote youth employment opportunities in agri-culture and rural areas

Promoting rural employment as a means ofpoverty reduction

IPEC is also mainstreaming elimination of childlabour in agriculture into the ILO’s report for the2008 ILC discussion on Promoting rural employ-ment as a means of poverty reduction.

In many instances, rural working children repre-sent a plentiful source of cheap labour. The preva-lence of rural child labour, especially in agriculture,undermines decent work and employment foradults and weakens rural labour markets, as itmaintains a cycle where household income for both

farmers and waged workers is insufficient to meetthe economic needs of their families.

Rural poverty also drives girls and boys in thecountryside to migrate to towns and cities wherethey often end up as urban child labourers orurban unemployed or underemployed – exchan-ging their rural poverty for urban poverty.

Child labour also undermines efforts to pro-mote rural youth employment under decent condi-tions of work. Children who have reached the min-imum legal age for employment in their country(14 years of age upwards) continue to work inexploitative and hazardous child labour with poorfuture job and economic prospects.

It is now widely acknowledged that child labourcannot be tackled in isolation from addressing theproblem of ending rural poverty.

Building the capacity of stakeholdersAs a proportion of all IPEC projects and action

programmes to date, those focusing specifically onagriculture account for less than 15 per cent. How-ever, several important multi-country pilot pro-jects in commercial agriculture in Africa and LatinAmerica have been carried out in the past five yearsand a number of other recent IPEC projects inrural areas in these and other regions of the worldhave components focusing on the elimination ofchild labour in agriculture (see sidebar).

SUGARING THE PILL: IPEC-SIFI PARTNERSHIP

Rudy, from the Philippines, is the fifth in a familyof seven children. At 15, he dropped out of

school to help his father on the farm. His two elderbrothers had died in a tragic accident shortlybefore.

Rudy felt duty bound to help provide for hisyounger siblings. “I was afraid that my youngerbrother and sister would also have to quit schooland start work because we didn’t have enoughmoney,” he says.

According to a survey conducted in 2001, morethan 60 per cent of working children aged 5 to 17work on farms in the Philippines. Many of themwork for long hours under the scorching heat of thesun and risk harm from “spading”, the local namefor the large heavy machete used in cutting sugar-cane. They are also exposed to chemicals and fer-tilizers which they handle with their bare hands.

In 2006, IPEC partnered with the Sugar IndustryFoundation, Inc. (SIFI) to address child labour inWestern Visayas. SIFI is a foundation in the Philip-

pines where sugar farmers, sugar mill owners andrepresentatives of farm labourers come together toaddress the concerns of sugar workers.

Under the IPEC-SIFI programme, working chil-dren were given technical skills training and schol-arships for further schooling while over 100 familymembers working on sugarcane farms participatedin seminars to enhance their business skills.

Rudy joined over 80 others who were given skillstraining. After a 75-day, on-the-job training in acompany that leases heavy equipment for con-struction work, Rudy was hired by the same com-pany as a mechanic assistant. As Rudy is under age18, tasks and conditions are still to be monitoredsince he is not to do dangerous work according toILO standards on child labour.

But he is no longer afraid that his two siblingsmay quit school to work in the sugarcane fields.“I am happy that I can give money to my parents tosend my younger brother and sister to school,” hesays.

© M. Crozet/ILO


These agricultural projects have a strong com-munity focus: they generally aim to build thecapacities of stakeholder groups to tackle childlabour issues, raise awareness at the village/com-munity level and involve community members inactivities such as child labour monitoring, forexample. The projects also bring in employers’organizations and trade unions wherever possiblewith a view strengthening social dialogue betweenthese groups. They may also involve non-govern-mental organizations.

A recent trend in efforts to eliminate childlabour in agriculture has been the emergence ofmulti-stakeholder initiatives concerning a specificcrop and involving stakeholders along thefood/commodity supply chain for that sector.Some focus mainly on direct action to assist chil-dren and their families, awareness raising andcapacity building of local agencies. Others concen-trate efforts on a national and global level and fea-ture codes of conduct and labelling schemes topressure exporters and suppliers to ban the use ofchild labour and monitor its elimination. IPEC hassupported several such sectoral alliances in the pastfew years, including those created in the banana,cocoa, and tobacco industries.

Work with employers and trade unionsIPEC and ACTRAV have been cooperating at

field level in Ghana, Kenya and Uganda, in associ-ation with national agricultural trade unions, totrain groups of farmers and farmworkers as train-ers on the elimination of hazardous child labour inagriculture.

The trainers have then run training sessions,and given awareness-raising talks on child labouron their farms, and in their villages and communi-ties for their fellow farmers and villagers, chiefs,district level officials, companies, outreach grow-

ers, labour contractors, agriculturalproducer organizations and so on.

IPEC and ACTEMP have been co-operating on capacity-building ofemployers’ organizations on childlabour in commercial agriculture. IPEChas facilitated three training workshopsfor employers’ organizations; the mostrecent one organized as a jointACTEMP-IPEC-ILOITC initiative.

Training for employers’ staff – espe-cially project staff running nationalactivities on capacity building on childlabour in commercial agriculture, but

also in sectors such as mining – has been providedfor Azerbaijan, Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi, Moldova,Mali, Mongolia, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Georgia,Kenya, Nepal, Philippines, South Africa, Swaziland,United Republic of Tanzania, Turkey, and Zambia.

Having contributed to the substantial inroadsmade in eliminating child labour in many othersectors, IPEC is now in a better position to directits resources at the immense and complex task ofeliminating hazardous child labour in agriculture.

FURTHER READING

The end of child labour: Within reach, Global Report under the Follow-up to the ILODeclaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work 2006 (Geneva, 2006).Tackling hazardous child labour in agriculture: Guidance on policy and practice(Geneva, 2006). See Part III on multi-stakeholder initiatives.http://www.ilo.org/ipec/areas/Agriculture/lang--en/index.htmIPEC action against child labour: Highlights 2006 (Geneva, 2007).Safety and health in agriculture: Report (VI) I, International Labour Conference, 88thSession, Geneva, 2000.International Agricultural Partnership (brochure).

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A load too heavyChild labour in mining and quarrying

Nearly a million children between the agesof 5 and 17 work in informal, small-scalemines and quarries, in direct violation ofILO Convention No. 182. Children dig and

haul ore out of underground mines, dive into riversand flooded tunnels, and transport heavy materials.They grind rock and mix it with mercury to extractgold. They pound rocks into gravel. They live inareas where soil, water and air may be contaminatedwith heavy metals. On a daily basis, they risk seriousinjury, chronic illness and even death. World of Worklooks at IPEC research and action to eliminate theexploitation of children in the mining sector.

LA RINCONADA, Peru – Like many other chil-dren in La Rinconada, 14-year-old Braulio hadworked in the mine since he was very young, carry-ing heavy loads of ore as a quimbalatero (stonecrusher).

“One day I didn’t feel well, I was very tired andfell down a few times. At the exit from the mine my

barrow overturned and all the ore fell out. The cap-tain was watching me. He kicked me hard becauseof this.”

Braulio had heard about the ILO’s InternationalProgramme on the Elimination of Child Labour(IPEC) project for the La Rinconada mines, whichhad been reaching out to the community throughits partner organization, CARE International, andwhich has helped over 2,500 children.

“I had heard about it on the radio. I decided tocontact the project. They came to the mine andtalked to the mine manager, and he was sanc-tioned.”

When Braulio, his brothers and their fatherbegan to attend meetings organized by the project,they learned that “working was not good for us. Ihad aches and pains, sometimes we didn’t eat well,and it was difficult to go to school and study. Myfather was very grateful and told them that fromnow on only he would work, and that we coulddevote ourselves to school.”

1 Girls in mining: Research

findings from Ghana,

Niger, Peru, and the

United Republic of

Tanzania. 2007. Bureau

for Gender Equality,

IPEC (Geneva, ILO).

Based on the Working

Paper Series: Girls in

Mining, available at

www.ilo.org/childlabour


WORKING WITH THE LOCAL COMMUNITY

Because of its inherent dangers, work in mining and quarry-ing falls under the ILO Convention on the Worst Forms ofChild Labour, 1999 (No. 182), and must be prohibited andeliminated as a matter of urgency. With fewer than a millionchildren involved, the numbers are large but not over-whelming, and governments, enterprises and workers’organizations have demonstrated their will to solve theproblem. The pilot projects undertaken by IPEC in Mongolia,United Republic of Tanzania, Niger, Ghana, Burkina Faso andthe Andean countries of South America have shown that thebest way to assist child miners is to work with the children’sown communities. The ILO builds national and local capaci-ty through its constituents and partners, with a focus onactions to reinforce the withdrawal of children from miningand quarrying.HHeeaalltthh aanndd ssoocciiaall sseerrvviicceessChildren found working in mines are immediately providedwith food and drinking water, vaccinations, first aid andhealth care. Support services for youth of legal working ageinclude safe rest areas, drop-in centres and counselling.LLeeggaall pprrootteeccttiioonnMonitoring and labour inspection of mines and quarries,plus enforcement of mining industry compliance with min-imum age and safety regulations, help reduce child labour inthe sector. Policing of frontier areas can reduce trafficking.EEdduuccaattiioonnDay care and pre-school for younger children reduce oreliminate working parents’ need to bring them to the mines.Scholarships and remedial classes increase opportunitiesfor children who have already missed a lot of school, orcan’t afford to go on to higher education. Non-formal edu-cation and vocational training are of benefit to older youth.IInnccoommee ggeenneerraattiioonn aanndd aalltteerrnnaattiivvee eemmppllooyymmeennttPoverty drives children and their families to seek work inmines and quarries. Adequate alternative sources of familyincome need to be put in place. Parents can be supportedthrough credit, training and job placement to decrease theneed for their children to work.

From 2000 to 2004, IPEC supported three prevention initiatives inmining communities in Peru, in the departments of Arequipa, Punoand Ayacucho. There was also a combined effort to raise awareness atthe national level. The pilot initiatives showed that for the eliminationof child labour from mining, it is important to improve the miningindustry through changes in technology, income generation, social pro-tection, improvements in basic services, organizational strengtheningand sensitization at the national and regional level. In one example, amodern processing plant was established in Santa Filomena which com-pletely eliminated child labour.

It’s worse for girlsIn recent years, child labour in mining has taken place in informal,

small-scale mining; there is no longer any known child labour in theformal sector. But the situation of boys and girls in small-scale miningis dire, and can be worse for girls. Research carried out in Ghana, Niger,Peru and the United Republic of Tanzania in 2006, highlighting the risksto girls, was presented publicly for the first time at the Conference onCommunities and Artisanal and Small-scale Mining (CASM) held inUlaanbaatar, Mongolia, in September 2007.

The ILO report1 shows how cooperation between IPEC and localauthorities has begun to tackle the issue. It challenges the generalassumptions about gender roles in small-scale mining communities.

“Poor understanding of the issue translates into poor intervention,”explains Susan Gunn, child labour expert for IPEC, who commissionedthe report. “Policies and action programmes that address small-scalemining issues ignore the fact that there are children working thereexposed to the same or even greater risks than the adults . . . and thatmany of them are girls. Consequently, girls miss out on the benefits andsocial support that the programmes provide.”

Girls carry out tasks related to the extraction, transportation andprocessing stages of mining as well as other mining-related jobs such asselling food and supplies to the miners. They perform tasks that are justas hazardous as those faced by boys, working even longer hours, with agreater workload and a lesser chance of schooling, withdrawal or reha-bilitation. The growth in demand for their labour, driven by desperatepoverty in the household, is not matched by a decline in their domesticresponsibilities. The girl child labourer in mining communities isalmost always forced to combine schooling, job and domestic work,which can lead to working days of more than 14 hours, excessive hoursof often dangerous work, a lack of time for rest and recuperation and animpossible schedule to fit around school attendance.

In the Mirerani mining zone of the United Republic of Tanzania, thestudy found that in gemstone brokering, girls worked 42 to 70 hours perweek, seven days a week, compared to 28 to 56 hours for boys, while inpetty business, girls worked 84 to 90 hours per week compared tobetween 56 and 70 for boys.

Selling food and domestic work was carried out exclusively by girls.Girls as young as 9 years old assist their mothers with the preparation offood and drink. In order to reach their fathers or customers on site, theymust cross dangerous terrain subject to cave-ins, mercury contamina-tion, or sharp rock shards, carrying up to 20-25 litres of water or 20kilograms of weight, three to four times a day. ©

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It is common for girls to be employed in barsand restaurants which service the mining commu-nity. Some girls in Peru were reported to be work-ing upwards of 12 hours a day and from as youngas 10-12 years old. In some cases, bar work can leadto sexual exploitation and abuse by both cus-tomers and employers. In Mirerani, 85 out of the135 girls interviewed revealed that they wereengaged in commercial sex work, 25 of them fulltime. In such desperate environments, girls cannotnormally refuse sex, even at a young age. The min-ing zone creates an influx of men who can offerrural women and young girls food and clothing inexchange for sexual favours.

Physical and educational damageThe physical injuries incurred through mining

activities can be extreme. Child labourers takeworking tools and explosives down the shaft to asdeep as 300 metres. Working in and around theextraction zone, a boy or girl is at high risk oflesions or sprains from falls or accidents. Carryingheavy loads can damage the neck and spine andlead to problems in later life. Stone crushing canlead to injuries due to flying rock shards, accidentswith tools that are too big for children (and par-ticularly girls) to handle, and exposure to constantvibrations and noise. Stone crushing and movingrubble put workers at risk of severe cuts, bruises,deafness and blindness, respiratory tract infectionsand permanent damage to the nervous system.

Perhaps the most alarming hazard is exposure inthe amalgamation stage of gold mining to liquidand airborne mercury. Mercury can burn the skinand cause life-threatening damage to internalorgans; it is highly dangerous. Child workers aregenerally uneducated about the health risks ofmercury and the need for avoiding skin contactand inhalation, and they usually are unaware ofsimple protective measures such as gloves, masksand safe disposal of the substance.

Like many other migrant workers, 7-year-oldHadiza and her brothers and sisters travelled withtheir parents to Komabangou, Niger, in search of abetter life, and were put to work wet and dry pan-ning for gold and removing rubble and ore fromthe pits. But Hadiza resisted: “A girl is not made towork in gold mining,” she says. “I managed twice toescape and hide in the family of one of my friendsbut each time I was brought back.”

Hadiza began to suffer from asthma and wastaken to see a nurse, who told her father that thegirl would suffocate and die if she continued towork. Hadiza’s father understood: he decided toforbid all his children to work in gold mining.Meanwhile, in 2006, the authorities made it illegalfor girls under the age of 15 to work in gold extrac-tion and processing.

Junindo and Kifliadi from Batu Butok village inIndonesia were also involved in gold mining duringtheir school years. Working in contaminated riverwater for two to three hours a day and with no pro-tective equipment, Junindo felt piercing pains inhis ears and diminished hearing from air pressurewhile diving, while his legs and arms were coveredwith cuts from the pebbles at the bottom of theriver. Kifliadi, who started work in 6th grade, beganto suffer from lung disease. Their school educationwas also suffering.

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Coming into contact with the campaign of IPECpartner PADI Indonesia (Padi Nusantara,www.padinetwork.org), both boys began to realizethe importance of education for their future. Theyenrolled in training programmes such as agro-forestry, financial management, community inde-pendent group management, and computer skills.Through the experience gained they were not onlyable to exchange gold mining for less dangerousfishing activities, but also to begin to dream of abetter future. Kifliadi, now 17, is enrolled in highschool, while Junindo, 19, graduated in July 2007and hopes to continue on to university and becomea teacher. He has also become active in campaign-ing for the elimination of child labour.

A global partnership to end child labour in miningBecause mining is an extremely dangerous form

of child labour but is also modest in scale, IPECbegan in 2004 to consider addressing it on a globalbasis. There was a wealth of experience on which todraw: IPEC already had eight major projects andnumerous smaller action programmes in a numberof countries representing a large cross-section ofthe world. When the time came to select a themefor the World Day Against Child Labour (WDACL)in 2005, the ground was already laid for a focus onmining and quarrying, offering an ideal opportu-nity to launch a global Call to Action against childlabour in mining.

On 10 June 2005 in Geneva 15 tripartite delega-tions that recognized that they had a child labourproblem in mining gathered in the Palais desNations. In the presence of participants in theInternational Labour Conference, each country inturn formally presented a signed pledge to elim-inate child labour in mining within a definedperiod. The nations presenting agreements wereBrazil, Burkina Faso, Colombia, Côte d’Ivoire,Ecuador, Ghana, Mali, Mongolia, Nicaragua, Pak-istan, Peru, Philippines, Senegal, United Republicof Tanzania, and Togo. The General Secretaries ofthe workers’ federation concerned with mining,ICEM, and of the mining sector employers, ICMM,also signed an agreement pledging to support theILO and governments in their efforts to eliminatethe problem globally.

Twelve of the 15 signing countries launchedstraight into follow-up activities. Tripartite plan-ning meetings were scheduled in a half-dozencountries to detail activities to be undertaken dur-ing the next five years to eradicate child labour inmining. At the global level, a small inter-agencyworking group was convened to prepare the workplan, with a view to making the Call to Action areality.

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Starting a new journeyFrom child labour to education and training

N E W J O U R N E Y


Education is critical to ending child labour.And recent progress reports on the Millen-nium Development Goals (MDGs) andEducation for All (EFA) targets have identi-

fied child labour as a major obstacle to access toeducation. World of Work looks at IPEC work inpromoting education and training for workingchildren and youth.

GENEVA – A recently formed inter-agency part-nership, the Global Task Force on Child Labourand Education for All, is developing closer linksbetween efforts to tackle child labour and efforts toboost children’s access to education.

The MDGs seek to ensure that by 2015 all boysand girls will be able to complete primary school-ing. But the 2007 EFA Global Monitoring Reportindicated that 77 million primary-age children arestill not enrolled and many countries risk notachieving the 2015 target. The Report stated: “Edu-cation for All…requires an inclusive approach thatemphasizes the need to reach groups that might

not otherwise have access to education and learn-ing.” It called for policies aimed at “reaching theunreached”, including policies to overcome theneed for child labour.

The links between efforts to tackle child labourand boost education access have been increasinglyrecognized within the international developmentcommunity. In November 2003 the first Inter-Agency Round Table on Child Labour and Educa-tion was organized during the annual meeting ofthe UNESCO-led High-Level Group on Educationfor All in New Delhi. The Round Table issued aDeclaration calling for greater coordinationbetween initiatives and resources directed towardsproviding quality education for all children andeliminating child labour. The Global Task Force onChild Labour and Education for All was formed inresponse to this perceived need and was formallylaunched in November 2005.

The overall objective of the Global Task Force isto contribute to the achievement of the EFA goalsthrough the elimination of child labour. Its main


strategy is to mobilize political will and momen-tum towards mainstreaming the issue of childlabour in national and international policy frame-works contributing to the EFA objectives. Thisstrategy is being pursued through strengtheningthe knowledge base, advocacy and promoting pol-icy coherence.

The Global Task Force has recently agreed plansfor joint work on child domestic labour and educa-tion (to be led by UNICEF), national level initiatvesto integrate child labour into EFA frameworks (ledby the ILO), and research on child labour and edu-cation linkages.

The members of this new partnership are theILO (which provides the Secretariat), UNESCO,UNICEF, the World Bank, UNDP, Education Inter-national (a global organization of teachers’ tradeunions), and the Global March against ChildLabour. The governments of Norway and Brazilare also participating in the work of the Task Force,adding important perspectives. Norway will inDecember 2008 host the EFA High-Level Groupand is keen to strengthen the focus on child labourand more general issues of education exclusion.Brazil has important experience in promoting edu-cation and is an active supporter of South-Southcooperation on child labour and education issues.

In Turkey, where about 65 per cent of all work-ing children under the age of 15 are involved inagricultural work, the Turkish Ministry of Nation-al Education (MONE) is implementing an ILO-IPEC programme (2005-07) to address the specificneeds of children involved in seasonal agriculturalwork in the Karatas region near Adana. In the cot-ton-growing areas in the south of the country,many children of migrant farm workers workalongside their parents and migrate with themfrom their home villages according to the cropcycles. It is very difficult for these children to go toschool, as the cotton season runs from May toNovember and overlaps with the school year. Mostend up dropping out of school. Some have neverbeen enrolled.

At the heart of the programme are the creationof year-round boarding school programmes and aschool-based child labour monitoring (CLM) sys-tem that brings educators and parents, employers(farmers), social workers and local authoritiestogether to identify working children and follow upso they do not return to work. Younger siblings arealso taken care of with special pre-school pro-grammes, year-round kindergarten and other ser-vices to keep them from starting to work.

The project has two principal components. Thefirst aims to create an enabling policy environment.The second targets children directly, withdrawingthem from hazardous labour in agriculture, pre-venting them from entering seasonal agriculturalwork and placing them into formal/non-formaleducational programmes or pre-vocational/voca-tional training. These components incorporatecrosscutting dimensions such as gender and advo-cacy.

A community-based social support centre (SSC)has been established in Karatas to cater to the spe-cific needs of the children targeted by the pro-gramme and help integrate them into the variousalternatives that have been put in place for them.The centre has also been mandated to keep track ofthe children as they move up through the educa-tion system.

Another important activity of the project is anoutreach service to assist working children inremote rural areas in innovative ways, includingpeer education programmes and networking withother programmes focusing on children’s welfare.

The programme started in 2005 and so far over1,400 children (45 per cent girls) have been identi-

Representatives of Ministries of Labour, Ministries of Education and teachers’trade unions recently participated in a new training programme on child labour

and education policy. The programme, conducted at the ILO’s International TrainingCentre in November 2007, considered education policy approaches that can help toremove barriers to education facing child labourers.

Some 17 countries were represented at the event, bringing together a wide rangeof practical experience in tackling child labour. The need to address financial barri-ers to education, both school fees and indirect costs of education, was a recurringtheme in the discussions. Representatives from Brazil reported on the positiveimpact that cash transfer programmes had had on school attendance and reducingchild labour.

Participants also discussed the practical problems which can arise when coun-tries succeed in boosting school enrolment but are insufficiently prepared to pro-vide a quality education to the children being enrolled. Representatives of the globalorganization of teachers’ trade unions, Education International, drew attention tothe importance of the ILO and UNESCO Recommendation concerning the Status ofTeachers, to ensure the goal of a high-status teaching profession and good qualityof education.

The programme also considered the specific approaches needed when workingwith out-of-school child labourers, the impact of HIV/AIDS on child labour, and thelinkages between education and labour markets.

The course will be run again at the Turin Training Centre in 2008 (see Turin CourseCalendar). IPEC also hopes to be able to deliver the training programme at regionaland national levels. For further information contact [email protected]

TRAINING ON CHILD LABOUR AND EDUCATION POLICY

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fied and registered. About half of them have beenwithdrawn from agricultural work and enrolled inprimary schools. Over 100 children (mostly boys)have been withdrawn from work and registered atboarding schools in Karataÿ, Kozan, Mustafabeyliand Hilvan. The rest have benefited from comple-mentary education programmes and social activi-ties that were organized by SSC and surroundingprimary schools within the framework of the pro-gramme.

In Indonesia, an apprenticeship programmeinitiated by Apindo (Indonesian Employers’ Asso-ciation), with support from IPEC targeted olderchildren (15+) withdrawn from the worst forms ofchild labour who are in need of a fresh start in life.Three participating companies – PT Astra Honda,PT Unitex, and PT Bogasari – offered on-the-jobtraining for some 30 young women and men whohad previously worked in the footwear workshopsof Ciomas, or as drugs traffickers, or who hadbecome street children. The objective was not only tooffer these girls and boys a chance to learn mar-ketable skills but also to prepare them for making aliving, selling their skills as small-scale entrepreneurs.

Meta and her friends used to work in dangerousconditions in the informal footwear workshops ofCiomas. Having to travel 10 kilometres to the PTUnitex factory did not dampen their enthusiasm;the tiring journey they undertook daily for threemonths could not compare to the hardships theyhad suffered earlier. The group of young womenand men were excited by the opportunity to learngarment-making skills. At the same time, they hadto learn about working in a factory. While some ofthem initially found it difficult to adjust to the newpace of life and the discipline expected of them, thework gave them a new sense of pride and a feelingof having some control over their future.

Since finishing their on-the-job training, Metaand her friends have been keeping busy. Having

received a sewing machine, a hemming machineand cloth from the ILO, Apindo and PT Unitex, thegroup of trainees discussed their options anddecided unanimously to use the tools to start abusiness. Savings from the transport money pro-vided by the ILO and Apindo allowed them to poolsufficient start-up capital to start a small businessmaking bed-and pillow covers. Coaching is pro-vided by ELSPPAT, a Bogor-based NGO that workswith ILO-IPEC to withdraw children from haz-ardous work in the footwear industry.

The daily discussions of the group revolvearound marketing dilemmas, how to improve thequality of their products and upgrade their skills.The group has managed to obtain help from adesigner and has already identified an advancedsewing course that will enable them to improvetheir products. Marketing involves home visits toshow samples of the group’s products. They areconfident that it is only a matter of time before theorders pour in.

“I am happy to be involved in planning, start-ing, and marketing our own business. This is thebest way to put into practice all the skills andknowledge we obtained during the apprenticeshipperiod. This is such a big improvement comparedto our previous work in the footwear workshops,”said Meta optimistically.

The experiences of Meta and her friends areechoed by other alumni of the apprenticeship pro-gramme, who are likewise trying to start smallbusinesses of their own. Those who learned tomake cake and bread through PT Bogasari havegone through a similar process of discussing anddeciding on their product and marketing strat-egies. The young men who received on-the-jobtraining with PT Astra Honda are still continuingtheir apprenticeship, to deepen their skills.

“We’re learning from the experience of the firstbatch of apprentices. For example, organizingapprenticeship for children with this kind of back-ground requires strong networking, a high degreeof commitment, and respect for the contributionsof all sides involved in this programme. If thesethree principles are not adhered to, then this kindof programme will not be successful and sustain-able,” said Nina Tursinah, head of Apindo onWomen, Social Affairs, and Gender.

IPEC’s hope is that the apprenticeship pro-gramme will be replicated and expanded to otherareas, to become a tool for employers and govern-ment alike in the fight against the worst forms ofchild labour in Indonesia.

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S I M P O C

SIMPOC: CRUNCHING THE NUMBERS

Numbers on the extent, characteristics and determinants ofchild labour are provided by the Statistical Information and

Monitoring Programme on Child Labour (SIMPOC), the statisticalarm of IPEC. The programme was founded in 1998. Over the years ithas grown into one of the world’s largest household survey pro-grammes. SIMPOC has • provided technical and financial assistance to more than 300

child labour surveys; • established national and global databases on child labour; • built up large-scale training programmes, and• developed global estimates on child labour in 2002 and 2006.

In 2006 SIMPOC published global child labour trends for the firsttime. A growing and increasingly sophisticated data repositoryunderlies this effort. As part of the follow-up to the Declaration onFundamental Rights and Principles at Work, the ILO has the respon-sibility to issue a trend analysis on child labour every four years.SIMPOC’s data collection and analysis capacity will be key to thisendeavour.

SIMPOC is currently working on the development of new meas-urement tools for the unconditional worst forms of child labour,such as bonded labour and trafficking of children. The aim is toarrive at survey techniques permitting estimations of the extent ofthese forms at the national level.

SIMPOC’s experience in providing technical assistance on childlabour statistics to over 60 countries across the globe has resultedin a wide range of survey instruments. This includes questionnairesfor collecting both quantitative and qualitative data, and by a vari-ety of data collection methods.

For countries committed to developing a national child laboursurvey with relatively advanced data collection and processingcapabilities, a comprehensive standard questionnaire has beenelaborated. For other countries, a shorter questionnaire is recom-mended that facilitates the collection of essential child labour data.For researching the various worst forms of child labour, rapidassessment and baseline survey questionnaires are available.

The SIMPOC Manual on Methodologies for Data Collectionthrough Surveys presents a detailed introduction to different datacollection methods in the area of child labour. These include house-hold-based national child labour surveys; establishment surveys;rapid assessments; school surveys; street children surveys andbaseline surveys. The Manual addresses data producers and users,comprehensively covering survey planning; questionnaire design;sampling issues; data collection; processing questions; and dataanalysis. It also contains sample questionnaires for the varioustypes of child labour surveys.

Child labour statistics will be debated at the next InternationalConference of Labour Statisticians (ICLS), to be held in Geneva inNovember / December 2008, with the objective of developing andadopting a set of global standards for child labour data collectionand measurement.

For further information see http:/www.ilo.org/ipec/childlabour statisticsSIMPOC/

1 Hagemann, F.; Diallo, Y.; Etienne, A.; Mehran, F. Statistical

Information and Monitoring Progress on Child Labour

(ILO, Geneva, 2006).

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I N D I A

India against child labour

The situation for working children in Indiahas changed over the past few decades.Changes in family and social dynamics, theblurring boundaries between urban and

rural areas, and business and industry gearedtowards globalization have created a better futurefor many. In metropolitan India, an industrial econ-omy and national legislation have replaced tradi-tional livelihoods governed by clan-based laws. Theshift has created opportunities for education formany children. Vidya Ravi and Eléonore Evain lookat progress in India’s struggle against child labour.

CHENNAI – In India, children traditionallybegan working young. Many children have to workto help their families and some families expecttheir children to continue the family business at ayoung age. The agriculture sector especially hasalways been governed by traditional norms.

Govindan, 47, tells his story of how he startedworking on the farms. Originally from a small vil-lage in Tamil Nadu, Govindan worked with hisfather and brother on a subcontracted farm inorder to help add to the family’s income. “When Iwas a child, times were difficult, even to get enough

to eat. My father worked on a farm too with mybrothers, so it was natural then that I should dofarming. So I quit school and started working inagriculture. I was about 10 years old.”

A child’s work is traditionally recognized as anintegral part of the community and not simply ascheap and exploitative labour. Children werethought to have reached their adulthood at a rela-tively young age, usually 12. The ILO MinimumAge Convention, 1919 (No. 5), ratified by India in1955, made an exemption in article 6, citing thatthe provisions should not apply to India; insteadthe minimum working age was lowered to 12 yearsof age. With the adoption of the post-Indepen-dence Constitution in 1950, the government hasadopted and ratified a number of internationallabour Conventions, mainly in the formal econom-ic sectors under development. About 85 per cent ofworking children in India work in family enter-prises or the informal sector. In 1986 comprehen-sive national legislation for the prohibition of childlabour in hazardous sectors and processes and forthe regulation of working conditions in other sec-tors was promulgated. In 2006 the government for-mally placed a ban on employing children in the

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domestic and hospitality sectors, adding them tothe existing list of 13 occupations and 57 processescategorized as hazardous.

Govindan remembers how hard he had to workin order to make a difference to the family income.“My tasks were to plant seeds, weed, and carrysmall loads. I worked for about eight to ten hours aday and earned very little, maybe Rs. 50 per week(US$1). It was difficult work but I was able to con-tribute something towards family expenses.”

Today, a lucky few from underprivileged back-grounds do not have these pressures. When Govin-dan turned 18, he left his village and moved toChennai. He made a living by helping a vegetableseller in a market stall. He now has his own vege-table cart. “I’ve been selling vegetables for the past25 years. Things are not so difficult now. I miss myvillage but this is the future. It is easier to make aliving. My children don’t feel the need to work. I’mglad things have changed and my children can geta good education.”

Many parents then and even now encouragetheir children to enter apprenticeship. Withoutenough income coming in for food, medicines andhousing, children quit school to work in the han-dicraft or textile industry. Bhaaskin, 37, is a tailorin Chennai. He stopped school when he was 10years old. “There were lots of difficulties at home,even for food. My father died when I was veryyoung and my mother made a living by sellingfruits. But it was not enough to feed us all.”Bhaaskin grew up with one elder brother and threeolder sisters. “With such a large family, we all hadto start apprentice work at a young age in order tomake enough. There was also pressure to ensuremy sisters marry into good families. For that, oneneeded money.” He adds, “I wasn’t forced by any-one to quit school. I was not very good at studiesand got discouraged by that. I preferred to work.”

Bhaaskin started working in a textile store inChennai sewing buttons on shirts. “Our days werelong, maybe 11 to 14 hours per day. I got paid lessthan 20 Rupees per day (US$0.60). But slowly Imoved on to doing bigger jobs and having moreresponsibilities.”

It is a traditional practice that children learn atrade through apprenticeship. Vocational schoolsare unpopular. Many vocational workers, includingcarpenters, tailors and caterers, do not have voca-tional degrees but rather build practical experienceover time. However, apprenticeship often is in theform of bonded labour, where children live andwork in the factory and are exposed to crowded,

unsanitary and poorly ventilated working environ-ments. Many children working in such apprentice-ship factories or stores face a difficult life and seelittle hope of escaping the situation.

Although national measures exist today, labourinspections and raids do not work with consistency.Following the deaths last year of 12-year-old AfzaiAnsari and 11-year-old Ahmed Khan, child workers inzari (textile handicraft) factories in the state of Maha-rashtra, the state government carried out a number ofraids which “rescued” over 16,000 children.

Bhaaskin was one of the successful ones to gothrough apprenticeship and progress in the trade.He says, “I worked in several stores over the years.I learned many things about tailoring on the job.Then, in 1997, I started my own business.” Now heemploys two assistants. “I would have liked to stayin school and continue on to higher education, butthings happened the way they did. It is changingnow, how people view education as necessary. Inthe past, it was unusual for people from modestbackgrounds to get very far.”

Maran lives in Chennai and is an auto driver. Hegrew up in the suburbs of Chennai. “When Iturned 13, my father died. As I was the eldest, I hadto get a job to support the family. My sister helpedout at home with housework, but my brother wasdoing his higher secondary school, so I worked tosupport his studies.”

Maran’s first job was in the construction industry.He began as a child applying cement and paintingwalls. He moved on to masonry and building works.“It was hard work, but I got used to it. I was head ofthe family, so didn’t feel like I was missing out.”

In 1996, Maran started driving an auto. He hastwo children. His son has just started higher sec-ondary and his daughter is in secondary. “Theyboth study well and I have every wish for them tocontinue school. As for me, there were familyresponsibilities. But my children have the freedomto decide about their future.” >>

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I N D I A

GOVERNMENT SPEARHEADS MAJOR CHILD LABOUR PROGRAMME

Following the adoption of a National ChildLabour Policy in 1987, the Government of

India has spearheaded a major nationwidechild labour elimination programme throughits flagship National Child Labour Projects(NCLP). The NCLP scheme aims at providingeducational and other rehabilitation ser-vices to children withdrawn from hazardouswork in industries. The programme is sup-ported by a budgetary allocation by the Gov-ernment of Rs. 6,020 million (about US$ 131million) during the Tenth Five-Year Plan 2002-2007 to cover 250 districts out of the total 601districts in the country during the planperiod.

Through convergence with the Depart-ment of Education, Ministry of HumanResource Development programme, SarvaShiksha Abhiyan (Education for All), the gov-ernment aims for universal elementary edu-cation, strengthened public education andprevention of child labour. Complementingthe efforts of the central government, sev-eral major states (provincial governments)are implementing time-bound programmesfor the elimination of child labour. SpecialChild Labour Resource Cells established insome states enforce existing laws that banemployment of children in hazardous indus-tries.

India has been participating in IPEC since

its inception in 1992. During the last 15 yearsIPEC has collaborated with government,trade unions, employers’ organizations,national research and training institutionsand other civil society partners through alarge number of action programmes. Build-ing on this experience, INDUS, a compre-hensive and large-scale project on childlabour, is now being implemented by the fed-eral and state governments with supportfrom IPEC in 20 districts of four large statesand in the National Capital Territory of Delhi.The project receives equal contributions ofUS$20 million each from the Government ofIndia and United States Department ofLabor.

The project seeks to develop an inte-grated multi-sectoral approach through sev-eral components. These include: • providing transitional education to chil-

dren withdrawn from hazardous work• strengthening public education as a

measure to prevent child labour• providing vocational skills training to ado-

lescents in the age group of 14-17 years• income-generating opportunities to the

families of child labourersThe project has a strong focus on institu-

tion building and child labour monitoring andproposes to create participatory structuresto bring together governmental agencies,

employers, trade unions and non-govern-mental organizations to carry out activitiesin a systematic and sustained manner at alllevels.

Currently, the Indian Government’sEleventh Five-Year Plan for 2008-2013 callsto expand NCLP coverage to all 601 districtsin the country and mainstream the keystrategies of the INDUS Project into theNCLP. ILO-IPEC will continue to collaboratewith government and other major stakehold-ers and provide required technical supporton the basis of knowledge acquired by IPECthrough its global work. Child labour is adynamic issue. Its patterns, nature, struc-ture, magnitude and sectoral prevalencecontinue to change with the growth patternsof countries which affect the demand andsupply parameters of child labour. Withglobalization and the increased participationof Indian economy in world trade, the issueof child labour is likely to receive increasedattention from key players – the producers,consumers and activists. As India respondsto these issues in a proactive manner ILO-IPEC will provide the required cooperationwith the help of tripartite partners. India hasdecided to conduct a nationwide survey toestimate child labour in the near future, andIPEC-SIMPOC (see page 21) will providetechnical support for this. With stated politi-cal commitment and the allocation of budg-etary resources to match it, ILO-IPEC envis-ages an era of strong partnership with Indiain moving towards the goal of the eliminationof child labour.

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C I A R I S

CIARIS New technology in the service of social inclusion

More than a billion people still don’t getenough to eat, can’t send their childrento school, have no access to health ser-vices. It’s not just a problem of poverty,

but more broadly of exclusion – social, economic,political, cultural exclusion. Philippe Vanhuynegemlooks at new knowledge management tools de-veloped by the ILO to help analyse the complex fac-tors of working poverty and to promote decent work.

Maria Jacinto Sitoe, 28, lives in Maputo,Mozambique with her three children. She was onlyten when she left school – her parents were poorand school was far away from home. Unable to findemployment, she started her own informal smallbusiness selling second-hand clothes to help herfamily and her husband, who had only a modestincome. Her meagre earnings enabled her to con-tribute to the household expenses and the chil-dren’s education.

But then, Maria became infected with the HIVvirus and her husband threw her out. The situationbecame desperate, as she describes: “I used to havea small business, but when I fell ill I had to spendall my earnings on the traditional doctors (curan-deiros) and at the hospital. I lost everything and gotdeeply into debt to pay for medical care. My hus-band rejected me and I left with my youngestdaughter to live with my grandmother. We still livewith her – it’s difficult both socially and financiallybecause she only gets a very small pension. I can’twork any more; I can’t do anything.”

Maria’s story, like that of so many other womenand men throughout the world, demonstrates how

the struggle against poverty and exclusion needs tobe understood in a comprehensive way. Most stud-ies of social exclusion emphasize its multi-dimen-sional character and how important it is to take thelinks between its causes and effects into consider-ation. The studies show that approaches whichconcentrate on only one dimension tend to be inef-fective. But over time, poverty-reduction strategiestend to adopt just such a “sectoral” approach,limiting the effectiveness of the actions taken.

On the other hand, across the world there is nowmuch experience – particularly at the local level –demonstrating that an intersectoral approach is farmore successful in reducing poverty and exclusion.In the world of work, the ILO aims to promoteapproaches that offer workers simultaneous accessto employment, social protection, and respect fortheir rights through social dialogue. Theseapproaches, though, are not well enough known,and those seeking to improve their methods areoften isolated behind sectoral barriers: too oftenthey don’t have enough knowledge or capacity toput an integrated strategy into practice.

Knowledge-sharing urgently needed: Can newtechnologies help?

For a number of years now, the ILO has beendeveloping an online network for its constituents –the Learning and Resources Centre on Social Inclu- >>


C I A R I S


sion (CIARIS: Centre de Ressources et d’Appren-tissage sur l’Inclusion Sociale). Using the newinformation and communication technologies(ICT), CIARIS is a management and knowledge-sharing tool developed by the STEP Programme ofthe ILO’s Department of Social Security andfinanced by the Government of Portugal.

CIARIS allows the various actors to consultresources and share their expertise. It provides aconceptual framework that models problems,analyses experiences and describes the principlesand values that will ensure effective action in thestruggle against exclusion. It gives specific ideas onhow to design a project using an inter-sectoralapproach, how to carry it out, how to follow upand how to evaluate it, throughout the projectcycle. All these ideas are supported by methods,examples and bibliographic references.

Today ICT offers enormous potential, stillunder-used, for the encouragement of learning.CIARIS, using Web 2.0, allows actors to networkand learn together. It brings together practitionersin the struggle against social exclusion, breakingdown geographic and institutional barriers. Userscan be connected with each other across the world,share their experience and points of view, con-struct joint projects, exchange practical informa-tion and participate in online seminars and train-ing courses (see sidebar).

Capacity-building: Portuguese-speaking AfricaPortuguese-speaking Africa (Países Africanos de

Lingua Oficial Portuguesa: PALOP) has the highest

levels of poverty and the lowest levels of humandevelopment indicators on the planet, with theexception of Cap Verde. In Mozambique, forinstance, 54 per cent of the population live inabsolute poverty (INE 2005) and the great major-ity have access neither to social protection nor tobasic services – health, safe drinking water, foodsecurity, education, and so on.

Given limited governmental financial and insti-tutional capacity, much falls on the shoulders ofcivil society actors. However, both public and pri-vate actors in the “PALOP” countries also have verylimited resources. The emergence of “developmentNGOs” is still very recent, while workers’ andemployers’ organizations are still not heavilyinvolved in social and economic developmentactivities in the informal sector – which is wheremost poverty is concentrated.

Both public and private organizations sufferfrom a lack of capacity and experience comparedto the methodological needs when putting effectivestrategies against social exclusion into practice.Capacity-building is thus a key element in devel-opment strategies.

Apart from the technical assistance in basicsocial protection policies already being carried outby the STEP Programme in Mozambique, CapeVerde and Guinea Bissau, CIARIS aims to create anetwork of competencies and to connect develop-ment actors to the rest of the world. In the PALOPcountries, activities such as courses through either

In October 2006 the ILO, the European Commis-sion and the Government of Portugal organized ajoint World Conference on Social Protection andInclusion: Converging Efforts from a Global Per-spective. CIARIS, in partnership with the Univer-sity of Geneva and the RUIG Foundation, organ-ized an international virtual workshop (V@W)that offered an additional opportunity to followthe debate and share views on:• Promoting social inclusion through moderniz-

ing social assistance and improving access tosocial services

• Integrating economic and social approachesto fighting social exclusion at the local level.

For more information, seehttp://tecfaseed.unige.ch/ciarisworkshop/

A VIRTUAL WORKSHOP

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CONTRIBUTING TO THE EUROPEAN SOCIAL INCLUSION STRATEGY

In 2005 the European Anti-Poverty Network in Portu-gal (REAPN), the ILO, and six other organizations setup the “Multiplicar” project whose aim was to useCIARIS to make information and resources availableto European actors with a view to furthering theEuropean Social Inclusion Strategy, particularly thenational plans of action and recommendations. Over500 organizations in seven European countries havebenefited from the project so far, and 33 micro-projects have been set up.In 2007 the European Commission, through itsPROGRESS programme, renewed its support andapproved the financing of a new project: “Bridgesfor Inclusion”, covering six European countries (Bel-gium, Bulgaria, France, Portugal, Romania and

Spain). This two-year project will use CIARIS’spotential to demonstrate the need to make the“bridges” between employment, well-being andsocial inclusion more efficient. The project focuseson three main areas:

• Developing local and regional strategies of socialprotection/inclusion, emphasizing the “bridges”between employment strategies and inclusion

• Strengthening coordination between social pro-tection and social inclusion policies, and theinvolvement of the principal actors in the design,practice and follow-up of these policies

• Improving follow-up and evaluation of policies andtheir impact

distance learning or community radio have beenput in place, in partnership with local organiza-tions such as AD (Guinea Bissau), the NGO plat-form (Cape Verde), Mundlane University, theFoundation for Community Development (FDC)and the employers’ organization ECOSIDA(Mozambique).

Fighting exclusion: BrazilExclusion and social inequality in Brazil cry out

for help, but realistic tools are needed to remedythe situation. CIARIS has put in place a Braziliannetwork (REPORT – Réseau Portail Tropical CIA-RIS) coordinated by LabTEC, the Federal Univer-sity of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), the Information Net-work for the Third Sector (RITS), the localdevelopment network (DLIS) and the PVNC(Movimento Pré-Vestibular para Negros e Caren-tes). Together, these organizations have adaptedCIARIS content to Brazilian realities, creating aninteractive platform called the Comunidade deAprendizagem para a Inclusão Social (CAIS, Com-munity of Learning about Social Inclusion).

The network has developed independent activi-ties:●● training union and government officials in Rio de

Janeiro on issues related to the decent work deficit,wages, and the increasing informalization of theworld of work;

●● for local development actors in Jacarepaguá(Cidade de Deus) with a view to promoting thearea and creating a dynamic collaborationthrough the use of the new technologies;

●● for PVNC members, towards a better understand-ing of the link between racial inequalities in edu-cation and the fight against social exclusion.

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C I A R I S

Fighting exclusion in EuropePortugal has a long tradition in the struggle

against social exclusion. In partnership with theCentro de Estudios Territoriais at Lisbon’s InstitutoSuperior de Ciências do Trabalho e da Empresa(ISCTE), CIARIS has developed Agência CIARISPortugal to support local initiatives and nationalprogrammes.

The Agency focuses particularly on the promo-tion on inclusive enterpreneurship. It has also con-tributed to setting up a training programmedesigned to bring together Portuguese-speakingparticipants from around the world.

Promoting cooperationSince its inception CIARIS has focused on social

inclusion and more specifically on inclusion insocial protection. The ILO STEP programmeattaches particular importance to two main themeswithin CIARIS: making teaching available, andpromoting exchanges between users, in relation tomodernizing social assistance programmes and

finding a balance between the extension of socialprotection and the local economic development.

What does this mean? In recent years a new gen-eration of social assistance programmes has seenthe light of day in countries across the world, andabove all in Latin America. These programmes linkcash transfers (whether conditional or not) to othermeasures aimed at facilitating access to health andeducation services (Bolsa Familia in Brazil, Oportu-nidades in Mexico, the minimum revenue system inEurope); or to labour market insertion (the RuralEmployment Guarantee Scheme in India); or todeveloping capabilities through a combination ofprotection mechanisms, professional training andmicrofinance (BRAC in Bangladesh, seewww.brac.net).

Numerous questions arise about such pro-grammes, such as how to put them in place incountries where financial and institutional capacityis weak, or the kinds of conditionality and the tar-gets, or on their effectiveness, and many others.Knowledge exchange at the international level istherefore indispensable, for such programmes arelikely to provide answers to various issues in decentwork and, notably, have demonstrated significanteffects in reducing child labour.

The search for solutions in the struggle againstsocial exclusion requires cooperation between theILO and other development partners. The phe-nomenon of exclusion wears different faces – par-ticularly in Africa – due to the HIV/AIDS pandem-ic, the growth of the informal economy, andcontinuing gender inequality. CIARIS thus offersthe possibility to work in theme-based communi-ties or focus groups led by the relevant ILO units –the links between social exclusion and HIV/AIDSin the world of work led by ILO/AIDS, the exten-sion of social protection led by STEP and the localdevelopment agency, the links between exclusionand gender inequalities by the ILO Gender Bureau,and so on.

These budding theme-based communities offergreat potential for development through facilitat-ing knowledge-sharing both within and outside theILO. And this is just the beginning – these onlinecommunities have the potential to change thenature of international cooperation, offering actorsand policy-makers a forum for getting their voicesheard, access to new knowledge, and the possibilityof creating partnerships.

Join CIARIS at www.ciaris.org or through theregional versions described in this article.

www.ciarisportugal.org

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C H I N A AT W O R K

China at workMeeting the challenges of globalization and decent work

ILO photographer Marcel Crozet visits a countryfull of contrasts and follows the path of Chineseworkers in key industries such as informationand communication technologies, textile and

garment, construction and mining, as well as farm-ers in traditional forms of agriculture.

China’s recent economic transformation – itsengagement with the world and with the globalmarket system – has brought stunning growth butalso new and formidable challenges, including highrural unemployment, underemployment and

increasing rural-to-urban migration. The countryis now looking for the right balance of policies thatyield economic change with social stability.

China has “achieved remarkable progress inincreasing employment and realizing decent work”over the past few years, Tian Chengping, Ministerof Labour and Social Security of China, told dele-gates at the recent ILO Asia-Pacific Forum in Bei-jing. He pledged stepped up efforts to “give prior-ity to the development of harmonious workrelations and safeguard workers’ legal rights andinterests in earnest so as to realize decent work”.

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●● The textile and garment industry is a key sector inChina. 1,100 employees, mostly women, work in thisgarment factory; half of them sleep there too

●● Below: Auto spare parts are produced in three 8-hourshifts in this factory in Hangzhou

●● Below right: 7,000 umbrellas a day are packed man-ually by this Chinese worker in another company inHangzhou

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●● The Quianjiaying Coal Mine in Tangshanemploys 93,000 workers

●● 850 metres below the ground: The new shiftarrives

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●● Tianjin Human Resources Development and ServiceCentre: State-of-the-art technology facilitates the jobsearch in this employment agency

●● Beijing station: Coolie offering his services●● Just arrived: Migrant worker looking at a map of the

Chinese capital●● Construction workers in Beijing

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●● Despite mechanization, the construction industry is stilllargely labour-intensive and the safety and health risksthat workers face are amongst some of the greatest in anysector of employment

●● Many of these workers are migrants from the ruralprovinces in China

●● In 1992, a new ILO Code of practice, Safety and healthin construction, was approved. This Code gives practi-cal guidance as to how safe and healthy working condi-tions can be provided and maintained on constructionsites

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●● Plucking the green gold: Tea plantation nearLongjing village

●● In China, tea output for 2004 approached the800,000 tonnes milestone as policy initiatives topromote production and trade in tea began to havean impact on the sector

●● The ILO Start and Improve Your Business (SIYB)Programme is a cost-efficient methodology used inmore than 80 countries. Between 2004 and 2006,

more than 120,000 laid-off workers, unemployedpersons, small-business owners, and migrants weretrained by China’s SIYB Programme. This has ledto the creation of almost 200,000 new jobs in dif-ferent locations in China

●● Below left: Ms Feng Yuying participated in theSIYB Programme – she now runs an embroideryworkshop with two dozen employees

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T R A D E U N I O N R E S P O N S E S T O G L O B A L I Z AT I O N


Trade union responses to globalizationSignificant developments are taking place as unions search for new waysof operating in a globalized world. Andrew Bibby reports on a new study.

On a day in late September this year, 1,800activists from 30 countries demonstratedoutside IBM premises in solidarity withItalian IBM workers in dispute with the

company. This was, however, a rather unusual sortof protest: it took place on Second Life, the virtualworld now populated by 7 million subscribers, andthe demonstrators wearing union T-shirts were Sec-ond Life “avatars”.

It is easy to advance the view that whilst capitalis global, labour remains local – that whilst busi-ness has found the framework to operate effective-ly on a trans-national basis, unions remain stuck ina nation-state view of the world. The IBM proteston Second Life (in this case coordinated by theGlobal Union Federation UNI) may or may notprefigure future ways of taking industrial action,but it does at least suggest that unions are findingintriguing new ways to try to respond creatively toglobalization.

Certainly, trade unions’ adjustment to a global-ized world economy is not unproblematic and re-mains best described as work-in-progress. Never-theless, as an important new collection of essaysmakes very clear, there are some significant devel-opments taking place, both in terms of theory andpractice.

The book, Trade union responses to globaliza-tion,1 pulls together in one place some of the workof the Global Union Research Network (GURN),established in 2004 to encourage researchers andtrade unionists to explore labour movementresponses to current developments in the worldeconomy. The book is edited by Verena Schmidt,from the ILO’s Bureau for Workers’ Activities, whodetects three common threads in this work: “First-ly the need for enlarging the trade union agenda,secondly the role of network and alliance building

and thirdly the role of the ILO and labour stand-ards in achieving a fair globalization.”

There is, of course, nothing particularly newabout global trade, a point made by an essay in thebook on the banana industry in Colombia whichpoints out that a small number of global giantshave dominated the banana business for a centuryor more. Nevertheless, historically social partner-ship and collective bargaining have almost withoutexception been organized within national stateboundaries. This may be beginning to change.Certainly a significant new role is being taken onby the family of Global Union institutions, theInternational Trade Union Confederation (ITUC),the OECD’s Trade Union Advisory Committee(TUAC), and especially the ten sectoral GlobalUnion Federations (GUFs).

It has been the GUFs who have led the way innegotiating the growing number of InternationalFramework Agreements with multinational enter-prises, a model for taking formal collective agree-ments to the global level which has now beenadopted in more than 30 cases. As Marion Hell-mann of Building and Wood Workers’ Internation-al (BWI) points out, international framework

1 Trade union responses to

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agreements offer a way of moving beyond compa-nies’ voluntary codes of practice which, she argues,can be simply a marketing ploy. “InternationalFramework Agreements constitute a formal recog-nition of social partnership at the global level,” shewrites, stressing that they are qualitatively differentfrom voluntary codes. “Multinational companiessigning such agreements commit themselves torespect workers’ rights, on the basis of the core ILOConventions,” she adds.

She describes in detail one particular frameworkagreement, that signed in 1998 between BWI andthe Swedish furniture multinational IKEA which,thanks to commitment from both social partners,has helped raise labour standards in countries asdiverse as Poland, Malaysia and China. Neverthe-less, Hellmann points out some of the practicalproblems encountered in extending the reach offramework agreements so that they adequatelycover multinationals’ networks of suppliers andsub-contractors.

This last issue – an important one, as manymajor companies increasingly outsource aspects of

what were once core functions – is picked up byother contributors to the book. There are clearlycontradictory tendencies at work. On the onehand, outsourcing work once undertaken in-housecan be associated with worsening labour condi-tions. In an essay looking at the IT sector in bothCalifornia’s Silicon Valley and India’s IT centreBangalore, Anibel Ferus-Comelo suggests thatstrong competition on price for computers andelectronics products is leading to highly complexsubcontracting chains: “Whilst this has been a suc-cessful corporate strategy, it has detrimental conse-quences for workers further down the supply chainin different parts of the world. Working in the ITindustry frequently means having precariousemployment in a highly stratified occupationalstructure with casual or short-term contracts,” shewrites. Two other writers, Esther de Haan andMichael Koen, describe the problems of protectingcore labour standards in another outsourcedindustry, that of the garment manufacturing sectorin southern and eastern Africa.

On the other hand, the increasingly tight-knitnature of global value chains, which bind togetherprimary producers, manufacturers, intermediariesand eventual retailers, could be seen as providingnew opportunities for exporting good labour con-ditions to companies and contractors operating“upstream”. Lee Pegler and Peter Knorringa, in anessay on the implications for unions of global valuechain analysis, explore among other things whethercompanies who participate in global value chainshave improved employment conditions (thoughthe evidence they unearth is, at best, inconclusive).Nevertheless, multinationals can be seen as actingas a kind of transmission mechanism, transferringindustrial relations practices from their country oforigin to suppliers and contractors elsewhere, andthis is an area to which unions might usefully paymore attention. As Verena Schmidt puts it, “Theconcept of value chains presents some opportuni-ties for labour… Organizing along supply chainscould be a way to focus efforts and move beyondexisting North-South cooperation arrangements.”

A major problem for trade unions in organizing,it is argued, is the fickle nature of multinationalenterprise, prepared to relocate apparently at willto new destinations offering lower costs or highergovernment subsidies. For instance, southernAfrica’s garment industry, we learn, has suffered inrecent years as Asian investors have pulled out, theresult of the export quota rules changing.Bulgaria’s garment industry, too, faces serious

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organizing challenges. Nadejda Daskalova andLyuben Tomev describe efforts by the Confedera-tion of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria toprotect fundamental labour rights: “In a number ofgarment companies owned by foreign investorsrelocated to Bulgaria from neighbouring countries,the widespread practice is to work 14-16 hours aday for minimum pay – in drastic violation of thesocial and labour laws,” they write.

It is not just capital which can be footloose: inan increasingly globalized world, labour is, too.The UN recently suggested that the world’smigrants total 191 million, the majority of whomare migrant workers and dependants. As is wellknown, migrant workers are particularly at risk offacing poor employment conditions and exploit-ation at work; in some circumstances, the presenceof unorganized migrant workers in a country’sworkforce can also put downward pressures on theconditions enjoyed by domestic workers. Two par-ticularly interesting essays in this collection reporton initiatives by trade unions to tackle these chal-lenges. Ann-Marie Lorde, who has played a key rolein a recent project on the migration of women inthe health sector coordinated by the public sectorGUF Public Services International, explores theopportunities for a combined trade unionapproach to intra-regional migration within theCaribbean area through the work of the CaribbeanPublic Sector Unions (CPSU). Jane Hardy andNick Clark report on the work being undertaken inthe United Kingdom and Poland to organize thevery large number of (primarily young) Polishmigrant workers who have recently moved toBritain. Initiatives include the seconding of aworker from the Polish union federation Solidarityto the British Trades Union Congress, to work toorganize Polish migrants into British unions. Thewriters report too on complementary efforts byPolish unions to advise would-be Polish migrantsof their rights abroad. Whilst collaborations likethis are at an early stage, the experience to date hasclearly been positive. “The possibility of mutualrecognition of union cards may enhance the attrac-tion of union membership to a mobile workforce,”the writers also suggest.

If the need for greater transnational collabora-tion by unions is one message from this book,another recurring theme is the need for unions toreach out to make partnerships with other organ-izations, especially NGOs. As Mary MargaretFonow and Suzanne Franzway point out, “Therehas been a proliferation of political spaces where

the interests of labour overlap with other move-ments and with advocacy organizations concernedwith labour rights and development.” Their ownperspective is a feminist one, which sees a strongneed for unions to tackle globalization by develop-ing structures and ways of working which em-power women workers and union members:“Those concerned with the renewal of the labourmovement must come to terms with the funda-mental way that gender structures neo-liberalglobalization, labour markets and free trade agree-ments. We argue for gender analysis because sexu-al politics is integral to trade unions, globalizationand efforts to challenge the neo-liberal agenda,”they maintain.

The value of alliance building by unions withother organizations is one clear proposal from thisbook. Another message stressed by almost all theauthors is the relevance of the ILO and of labourstandards in achieving a form of globalizationbased on fairness and equity. As Verena Schmidtsuggests, the ILO’s role in this respect can be tracedright back to its founding principles in 1919, andcertainly to its call in 1944 to avoid labour beingtreated as a commodity. International labourstandards will be an important campaign tool, shesuggests, to improve working conditions in a glob-alizing world economy.

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P L A N E T W O R K A R O U N D T H E C O N T I N E N T S M E D I A S H E L FN E W S

P L A N E T W O R K A REVIEW OF TRENDS AND DEVELOPMENTS IN LABOUR ISSUES

TThhee wwoorrlldd rreessppoonnddss ttoo cchhiilldd llaabboouurrAAss ggoovveerrnnmmeennttss,, eemmppllooyyeerrss’’ aanndd wwoorrkkeerrss’’ oorrggaanniizzaattiioonnss aanndd NNGGOOss ccoonnttiinnuueettoo mmaakkee pprrooggrreessss oonn rraaiissiinngg aawwaarreenneessss aanndd ttaarrggeettiinngg tthhee iissssuuee,, PPllaanneett WWoorrkkllooookkss aatt rreecceenntt mmeeddiiaa ssttoorriieess oonn cchhiilldd llaabboouurr aarroouunndd tthhee gglloobbee..

■ The Yemeni government recentlyfounded a new committee to tackle theproblem of child labour. According toan official report released by the Min-istry of Labour and Social Affairs, childlabour in Yemen is aggravated bypoverty. The report said that childrenof poor families work to cover needsand add to the household income. Itexpected that the problem would per-sist as long as poverty remains. Childlabour in Yemen has worsened since the1990s, with the collapse of a social secu-rity network and economic liberaliza-tion policies. The report recommendsthat the government adopt an effective

national programme to determine theleast developing and poorest communi-ties and provide them with productiveprojects in order to better the livingstandards of poor families and reducetheir dependence on child labour. In acountry of 78 per cent illiteracy, thereare more than 5 million illiterate chil-dren. (NewsYemen, 22 Sep. 2007)

■ In October 2006, the Indian govern-ment put a ban on the employment ofchildren in the domestic sector, inrestaurants, teashops and resorts. Stategovernments are devising action plansand programmes in order to identify,

rescue and rehabilitate childrenemployed in hospitality and domesticsectors. The Labour Department alsoplanned mega awareness-buildingcampaigns, both at the state and dis-trict levels. A key part of the planinvolves conducting raids of housessuspected to have in employment achild under the age of 14. On receipt ofa call that a child has been involved inlabour, a team from the LabourDepartment rushes to the spot andconducts a raid on the premises toestablish if a child has been put to workthere. The child is taken out of thehome and it is ensured that he or she


has a chance to get a non-formal edu-cation or even formal education inschools if qualified. NGO BachpanBachao Aandolan claims that there areover 2 million children working inrestaurants in capital New Delhi alone.(The Hindu, 9 Oct. 2007; DNA India, 7Oct. 2007)

■ Trade union Solidarity is asking formore information from South Africanchocolate makers about the sources ofcocoa as well as policies regarding childlabour in cocoa farms. The unionclaims that 280,000 children areemployed in cocoa farms around theworld. The West African State of Côted’Ivoire, where it has been reportedthat boys as young as nine are forcedinto labour at its cocoa farms, is one ofthe world’s top producers of cocoa,supplying about 43 per cent of theworld’s cocoa. “While cocoa planta-tions in Africa persist in the use of childlabour, South African consumers con-tinue to buy cocoa products that havetheir source in forced labour,” says IleneBarrie, coordinator of Solidarity’s gen-der committee. It is estimated more

than 100,000 children work in Côted’Ivoire cocoa industry under the worstforms of child labour and that about10,000 are slaves. (The Times, SouthAfrican edition, 9 Oct. 2007)

■ Many children, possibly hundreds,work in abandoned Soviet-era coalmines in southern Kyrgyzstan. In orderto relieve poverty, many people take upexcavating the mines themselves. As themines are narrow, fathers often send intheir children. The children work inhazardous conditions, often unsuper-vised, which makes it difficult to call forhelp in case of an accident. The chil-dren work all year round even inextreme weather conditions and acci-dents and deaths are common. NGOworker Nurjamal Mambetova sees littlehope in calling government attentionto this problem. “We worry that theywill close down the mines or blow themup, and that won’t solve the problem.People will just start going back tothem and digging again because theyhave no other way to survive. What weneed are alternatives, other jobs orproper conditions at the mines. Some-

thing, just not this,” she says. Miningwidow Zulfia has lost a husband and ason to a mining accident. “We are justso desperate here. People are takingtheir children out of schools and send-ing them to work at mines, there is sim-ply no other way to make money here,”she says. (BBC, 24 Aug. 2007)

■ New York Police Department con-ducted a raid at College Point Factoryand arrested 11 workers for breakingchild labour laws. Leticia Clemente isone of them. The 16-year-old came tothe United States with hopes of study-ing, but ended up working in a factoryfor 50 hours a week, nearly twice asmany hours per week permitted underthe child labour law. Clemente was paidbelow minimum wage and her workinghours prevented her from going toschool. Her bosses, the husband-and-wife team Jung and Ji Young Ryu, facecounterfeiting charges in the Republicof Korea and could be tried for childexploitation. Clemente herself faces upto a year in prison and deportation ifconvicted. (New York Daily News, 9 Oct.2007)

■ The Hariri Foundation in Lebanon,in collaboration with the ILO, hosted atwo-day workshop in Sidon to raiseawareness and form action planstowards the elimination of childlabour. According to Badra Allawi, thenational director of the anti-childlabour project, there are more than38,000 children between the ages of tenand 19 working in Lebanon. As part ofthe Hariri Foundation’s project to fightchild labour, private and public schoolstudents of Sidon waged a campaign tohelp children who were forced to leavetheir schools. The Sidon students con-tributed from their pocket money toprovide 75 children with school sup-plies and five others with stationery,books and tuition fees. (Daily StarLebanon, 9 Oct. 2007)

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ILO Governing Body concludes 300th Session

The Governing Body of the Interna-tional Labour Office concluded its 300thSession following wide-ranging discus-sions among its government, employerand worker constituents, including basiclabour rights worldwide and the impactof climate change on jobs.

The Governing Body was in session between1-15 November under the chairmanship of H.E.Mr. Dayan Jayatilleka, Ambassador and Perma-nent Representative of Sri Lanka to the UnitedNations in Geneva.

On the link between climate change anddecent work, the Working Party on the SocialDimension of Globalization held a panel discus-sion including Mr. Achim Steiner, ExecutiveDirector, United Nations Environment Pro-gramme (UNEP), Mr. Michel Jarraud, Secretary-General, World Meteorological Organization(WMO), Mr. Supachai Panitchpakdi, Secretary-General, United Nations Conference on Tradeand Development (UNCTAD), Mr. MatthewFarrow, Head of Environment Policy, Confeder-ation of British Industry (CBI) and Mr. JoaquínNieto, Secretary for Occupational Safety, Healthand Environment, Comisiones Obreras TradeUnion (CCOO), Spain.

Besides the ILO proposal to promote a social-ly just transition to green jobs, the Working Party

also discussed the follow-up to the jointILO/WTO Secretariat study on trade andemployment published in March 2006, includingpreparations for a new joint study on the linksbetween globalization, trade and informalemployment.

The Governing Body also reviewed theUnderstanding reached between the ILO and theGovernment of Myanmar in February 2007 on amechanism for victims of forced labour to seekredress without having to fear reprisals. Notingthe progress in the operation of the Understand-ing between Myanmar and the ILO up to thetime of public demonstrations and their sup-pression at the end of September 2007, the Gov-erning Body, however, expressed its serious con-cern at the Government’s crackdown in responseto the recent peaceful protests.

The Governing Body called on the Govern-ment of Myanmar to make at the highest level anunambiguous public statement that all forms offorced labour are prohibited throughout thecountry and will be duly punished. The Govern-ment should ensure that the mechanism pro-vided by the Understanding remains fully oper-ational with no further detention or harassmentof complainants, facilitators or others, and that itfully applies to the military authorities. Fullattention should be given to preventing therecruitment of child soldiers.

The Governing Body further instructed theInternational Labour Office to undertake a fullreview of the operation of the Understanding forsubmission to the Governing Body at its March2008 session together with recommendations forboth the Understanding’s future and the ILO’songoing role in Myanmar.

Regarding trade union rights in Belarus, theGoverning Body considered for the fourth timewhat measures had been taken to promote theimplementation of recommendations of the2004 Commission of Inquiry and an ILO mis-sion to the country in June 2007.

Taking note of the information given by theMinister of Labour of Belarus, the GoverningBody welcomed the Government’s stated inten-tion to reach an agreement between all partiesconcerned on the question of trade union legis-lation. It underlined that all trade unions andemployers’ organizations should be able to func-

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Lisbon Forum on Decent Work for a Fair Globalization

The ILO Forum on Decent Work fora Fair Globalization held in Lisbonfrom 31 October to 2 November pavedthe way for a “decent work movement”to make globalization more fair andoffset the impact of global economicturbulence on people’s jobs and liveli-hoods.

“What I see emerging is a very practical move-ment,” ILO Director-General Juan Somavia toldthe more than 300 representatives of govern-ments, workers, employers, parliaments, civilsociety and opinion leaders attending the LisbonForum. “People today are not looking for rheto-ric, they are looking for results.”

The Forum considered a wide range of global-ization issues and ways of promoting decentwork as the key to economic, social and environ-mental sustainability and inclusiveness. Key top-ics discussed at the Forum included the informaleconomy, training and skills, migration andyouth employment.

The Forum also addressed the issue of policycoherence in the international system. Therecently agreed Toolkit for MainstreamingEmployment and Decent Work of the UN ChiefExecutives Board (CEB) was offered as a practi-cal way forward.

The Forum was supported by the EuropeanCommission and hosted by the Portuguese Gov-

ernment, which held the Presidency of the Euro-pean Union (EU) during the period.

Keynote speakers included Mr. José Sócrates,Prime Minister of Portugal; Dr. Surin Pitsuwan,Secretary-General designate of ASEAN; Mr. JoséAntónio Vieira Da Silva, Minister of Labour andSocial Security, Portugal; Mr. Vladimir Spidla,EU Commissioner for Employment, SocialAffairs and Equal Opportunities; Mr. AbrahamKatz, President of the International Organisationof Employers (IOE); Mr. Mats Karlsson, Vice-chair, High-Level Committee on Programs of theUN System Chief Executives Board for Coordi-nation (CEB); Mr Guy Ryder, General Secretary,International Trade Union Confederation(ITUC); and Mrs. Mary Robinson, President,Realizing Rights: The Ethical Globalization Ini-tiative; Sir Leroy Trotman, Worker Vice-Chair-person of the ILO Governing Body; Mr. DanielFunes de Rioja, Employer Vice-Chairperson of theILO Governing Body, and Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka,Chairperson of the ILO Governing Body. >>

tion freely and obtain recognition in law andpractice. While expecting that significant progresstowards satisfactory solutions will be made inBelarus, the Governing Body decided to reviewdevelopments in the country with respect to free-dom of association at its March 2008 session.

The Governing Body also approved the 348thReport of the ILO Committee on Freedom ofAssociation, drawing special attention to the

cases of Colombia, Djibouti, Ethiopia,Guatemala and Indonesia.

All Governing Body documents referred to can befound at:http://www.ilo.org/global/What_we_do/Officialmeetings/gb/CurrentSession/lang--en/commId--ALL/WCMS_083598/index.htm

Paving the way for a “Decent Work Movement”

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The idea of convening the Forum was put for-ward by the World Commission on the SocialDimension of Globalization set up by the ILO inits 2004 report. It launched an international dia-logue on the need for a fair and equitable global-ization and received strong national, regionaland global support. The need for fair and equi-table globalization and decent work for all

received worldwide endorsement by the 2005UN World Summit at the UN and the UN Eco-nomic and Social Council in 2006.

For highlights of the Forum, background docu-mentation and statements by the keynote speakersto the Forum, see www.ilo.org

New ILO report highlights how action in the world of workcan help reduce maternal deaths

In many developing countries,maternity leave is a luxury enjoyed onlyby a small minority of salaried womencovered by social security, says a recentILO report1 presented at the WomenDeliver Conference in London on 18-20 October 2007. Global leaders anddelegates from 109 countries reviewedprogress and commitments to theachievement of Millennium Develop-ment Goal 5 on maternal health.

Every minute of every day, a woman diesneedlessly in pregnancy or childbirth. Accordingto the ILO report, with nearly 60 per cent of theworld’s women of childbearing age in the labourforce in 2006, the importance of paid work in thelives of so many women makes maternity protec-tion at work a key to safeguarding the health andeconomic security of women and their children.

In view of the discouraging situation faced bymany women around the world who fall outsidelegal and social protection systems and areforced by poverty to labour in poor workingconditions and to return to work too soon afterchildbirth, the world of work is a promisingentry point for scaling up interventions aimed atimproving maternal health and maternity pro-tection, the report says.

It proposes social and legal measures to miti-gate maternity-related discrimination and the

effects of potential hazards facing workingwomen during pregnancy and after childbirthand highlights the need to improve leave provi-sions and working conditions: chemicals, pesti-cides, long hours, heavy work, and the lack ofpaid leave constitute major threats to the healthof pregnant and nursing women.

The report also calls for efforts to extendsocial health protection to all, to insure womenand their families against the financial costs ofhealth care services and improve their access tomaternal and obstetric care. Finally, the poorquality of health care in many areas is related tothe effects of poor working conditions, staffshortages, and in some places, HIV/AIDS onhealth workers. Improving the quality of healthservices will require concerted global andnational action to improve the quality of workfor health workers.

The ILO’s international labour standards pro-vide guidance for national law and practice in allof these areas. The ILO’s Maternity Convention,2000 (No. 183), sets out the basic requirementsof maternity protection at work, including theright to a period of leave before and after child-birth, cash and medical benefits, health protec-tion at work, entitlements to breastfeedingbreaks, and employment protection and non-discrimination. International Conventions onSocial Security (Minimum Standards; No. 102), onNursing Personnel (No. 149) and others, provideuniversally shared frameworks of principles, poli-cy and action on social security and conditions ofwork and employment for health workers.

1 Safe Maternity and the

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A number of ILO technical cooperation pro-jects aim at ensuring women’s rights to a safematernity. In Burkina Faso, a drive to unionizeinformal economy workers is set to support newmothers, with plans to help them benefit frompaid maternity leave and health care. In Jordan,the ILO worked closely with government, andemployers’ and workers’ organizations to pro-

vide guidance on the feasibility of a fair andaffordable maternity protection system in thecountry. In Cambodia, garment factory ownersare working with the ILO and its partners toimprove maternity protection at work and toundertake education campaigns in the factoriesto promote healthier pregnancies.

International Day of Disabled Persons 2007Stresses decent work for persons with disabilities

Over 650 million people worldwideare living with a disability – most ofthem in developing countries.Although much has been accom-plished in recent years in terms ofimproving their lives, millions of per-sons with disabilities continue to sufferviolations of their rights, according to anew ILO global report entitled Theright to decent work of persons with dis-abilities, launched on the InternationalDay of Disabled Persons.

According to the report, available statisticsindicate that the labour force inactivity rate ofworkers with disabilities tends to be much high-er than that of other workers. For example, 40per cent of disabled people of working age wereemployed in the EU in 2003, compared to 64.2per cent of people without disability. What ismore, 52 per cent of EU working age disabledpersons are economically inactive, compared to28 per cent of people without disability.

Disabled people, and women with disabilitiesin particular, are generally very disadvantaged inthe labour market. They tend to be more in-active, to be over-represented among the unem-ployed and to have much lower earnings thannon-disabled people. Their experience of earlyadult life is often beset by frustration, disap-pointment, and reduced confidence in thestrengths they bring to the labour marketbecause career aspirations have simply nottranslated into employment.

The global report also highlights the manyother challenges disabled people face in theworld of work. Disabled workers are generallyconcentrated in low-level, low-paid jobs, and arenot adequately represented at higher levels.Problems of access to the physical environment,including transportation, housing and work-places, risk of losing benefits on starting work,coupled with still-held prejudices among manyemployers, co-workers and the general public,aggravate an already difficult situation.

Chief among the improvements that havebeen accomplished during the past two decadesis the United Nations Convention of the Rightsof Persons with Disabilities adopted by the UNGeneral Assembly in December 2006. It providesa platform to enable all stakeholders to movetogether forward in ensuring that persons withdisabilities enjoy human rights on an equal basiswith others. These principles of the new UNConvention are in line with relevant ILO stan-dards, including the Vocational Rehabilitationand Employment (Disabled Persons) Conven-tion, 1983 (No. 159), which has been ratified by80 countries. >>

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The report concludes that disabled peoplerepresent a vast group of frequently untappedpotential, and make good, dependable employ-ees who are more likely to stay on the job.

The ILO organized a panel discussion at itsGeneva headquarters on “Decent Work for Per-sons with Disabilities” as part of a series ofworldwide events aimed at promoting better

understanding of disability issues and mobiliz-ing support for the dignity, rights and well-beingof persons with disabilities. At the same time,other events marking the day were held aroundthe world.For further information, seehttp://www.ilo.org/global/Themes/Skills__Knowledge_and_Employability/lang--en/index.htm

Labour and social aspects of global production systems

Variously referred to as global valuechains, global supply chains or globalsourcing, the participation of people incountries worldwide in producinggoods and services for world markets isperhaps the most concrete and visiblemanifestation of globalization. To helpbusiness to improve the policy environ-ment so that global production systemsprovide opportunities for everybody tobenefit, the ILO convened an interna-tional “Symposium on Labour andSocial Aspects of Global ProductionSystems: Issues for Business” from 17 to19 October 2007 in Geneva.

The symposium was attended by representa-tives of employers’ organizations, and sought toenhance understanding of the implications ofglobal production systems for future prosperity,and the risks and opportunities involved. Speak-ers included major global buyers and supplierassociations, leading academic thinkers, tradeunion leaders and representatives of NGOsactive in globalization issues.

In its conclusions, the meeting said that globalproduction systems may present an importantopportunity to improve people’s lives, reducepoverty and achieve progress towards the globalgoal of decent work; have a strong development

effect when they engage small and medium-sizedenterprises in the value chain, and lead toimproved productivity; and require respect by allparties for human rights, labour standards andthe environment to be economically sustainable.

The conclusions also underline the role ofnational law and the State in shaping the regula-tory framework for global production systemsand that the law should apply equally to every-one. Core international standards on human andlabour rights also form an important part of theregulatory framework for global production sys-tems.

“Soft law”, such as company rules, voluntarycodes and buyer codes can also play an import-ant role in complementing the regulatory frame-work because they provide guidance on goodpractice beyond the prescriptions of formal law,and allow the flexibility needed to accommodatethe wide variety of companies and the environ-ments they operate in.

With regard to business associations, themeeting concluded that they need to bothexpand their membership to cover as many firmsas possible and build partnerships with otheractors, especially other business groupings.Employers’ organizations have an important roleto play in helping members involved in globalproduction systems comply with social andlabour standards, including awareness-raising onrelevant standards, information and advice ongood practices, training related to productivityimprovement and image-building campaigns.

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Union education in the twenty-first centuryFrom 8-12 October 2007, more than

150 trade union representatives from45 countries met at ILO headquartersin Geneva to discuss ways to strength-en the capacity of trade unions toinfluence socio-economic policies anddevelopment strategies. Workers’ edu-cation activities are at the heart of theseefforts to cope with the rapid changesin the world of work brought by glob-alization.

The International Workers’ Symposium onthe Role of Trade Unions in Workers’ Educationaimed at evaluating workers’ education activitiesand identifying workers’ education needs atnational, regional, and international levels.Besides experiences, lessons learned, and the wayforward, delegates also examined the role oflabour education in implementing the ILO’sDecent Work Agenda.

The meeting developed strategies to build andstrengthen trade union capacity, including areview of the role that workers’ educationcentres can play, as well as new methods andtechniques in delivering labour education.

Every year around the world, labour educa-tion trains hundreds of thousands of tradeunionists in the basics and the techniques of col-lective bargaining, trade union recruitment andorganizing methods, occupational health andsafety issues, rights at work, equality and so on.In many countries, it goes beyond workplace-level concerns and deals with the role of tradeunion organization in society, the strengtheningof democracy and the fight for social justice andthe environment. Trade union education is atthe heart of the promotion of decent work. Par-ticipants at the Symposium called on govern-ments to “fully respect and promote fundamen-tal workers’ rights and, in particular, freedom ofassociation and collective bargaining, as a meansof ensuring union education and their funda-mental role for the development of Decent WorkCountry Programmes”.

Today, trade union organizations and theirtraining programmes have to take account of theeffects of economic globalization, the demandfor decent work, the fight against the spread ofHIV/AIDS and against any discriminationtowards HIV-positive people, climate change,migration, and the expansion of the informaleconomy. They have to prepare the workers’ rep-resentatives to take responsibility for complexnegotiations: economic integration processes,strategic poverty reduction programmes, flexi-curity and multinational company councils.

Constantly evolving, labour education hasbroadened its own scope over the last years andhas established crossover points with all levels ofthe education system, including the universities.The workers’ activities programme of the ILOInternational Training Centre in Turin has notlagged behind. Each year, it trains several hun-dred trade union leaders, confirming the highimportance that the ILO assigns to strengthen-ing the capacities of workers’ organizationsthrough labour education.

For further information, the ILO’s Bureau forWorkers’ Activities has produced a backgroundpaper, which provides an overview of the state oflabour education in the world: The role of tradeunions in workers’ education: The key to tradeunion capacity building, International Workers’Symposium, Geneva, 8-12 October 2007, Interna-tional Labour Office, 2007.

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RESOURCE GUIDE ON YOUTH EMPLOYMENT

The ILO Library has produced a new resource guide on youth employment. A starting point for anyonebeginning research on youth employment, the guide provides links to key ILO publications on the topic,ILO labour standards and data, as well as to other resources around the world.

For more information, see: http://www.ilo.org/public/english/support/lib/resource/subject/youth.htm

Groundbreaking work wins ManpowerInstitute’s 2007 Human Resources Prize

The 2007 Human Resources Prizeawarded by the Institut Manpowerpour l’Emploi (IME) has gone to PeterAuer, Chief of the ILO EmploymentAnalysis and Research Unit, and BernardGazier, for their work L’introuvablesécurité de l’emploi (Job security – Theelusive goal).

The award ceremony took place on 2 Octoberin Paris in the presence of Jean-Pierre Raffarin,former Prime Minister of France and currentlySenator for the Department of Vienne.

Established in 1995, the Institute’s HumanResources Prize is awarded for a groundbreaking

work on human resources or management topic,which provides a genuine decision-making tool.

The prize-winning work discusses possibleresponses to the fears awakened by globalization:what will be left of our jobs in the near future?What sort of wages and working conditions willthey offer us? To these and other such questions,trade unions, economists and politicians haveendeavoured to provide answers combining thedemands of labour market flexibility and humansecurity.

Looking beyond the national horizon, PeterAuer and Bernard Gazier introduce greater clar-ity into the debate on “flexicurity”. Their workinvites us to contemplate a shift in social regula-tion of labour market in France, with safeguardsunderpinned by social dialogue, in order torebuild confidence in response to globalization.

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Peter Auer with the 2007Human Resources Prize


A REGULAR REVIEW OF THE INTERNATIONAL LABOURORGANIZATION AND ILO-RELATED ACTIVITIES AND EVENTSTAKING PLACE AROUND THE WORLD

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be allowed to fall; fighting youthunemployment and precariousemployment; adopting a proactiveapproach to climate change andjobs; and strengthening social dia-logue as an instrument of democ-racy, stability and development.

For further information, please con-tact the ILO Regional Office for LatinAmerica and the Caribbean in Lima,phone: +511/6150300;fax: +511/6150400;email: [email protected] http://www.oit.org.pe/portal/index.php

Promoting decentwork in the ArabRegion■ The Arab Labour Organization(ALO) and the International LabourOrganization (ILO) have agreed tostrengthen their collaboration andpartnership. On 8 November 2007,Ahmad Mohammad Luqman,Director-General of the ALO, andJuan Somavia, Director-General ofthe ILO, signed a Memorandum ofUnderstanding (MOU) renewingthe commitment of both organiza-tions to address labour and employ-ment priorities in the Arab Region,and to promote social dialoguethrough a revitalized partnership.The purpose of the MOU is to facili-tate and strengthen collaborationbetween ILO and ALO in matters ofcommon interest to their respectivemember countries. The partnershipis based on a common focus of bothorganizations to promote social jus-tice and decent work for all. It isexpected that this partnership willexpand and consolidate efforts ofthe two organizations to supportgovernments, employers’ and work-

Making decent workcentral in the Americas■ At the 15th Inter-AmericanConference of Ministers of Labourof the Organization of AmericanStates (OAS) on 11-13 September,the Ministers adopted the Declara-tion of Port of Spain 2007 “MakingDecent Work Central to Social andEconomic Development” and anaccompanying Plan of Action. Onthis occasion, OAS Secretary GeneralMr. José Miguel Insulza and the ILODirector-General also signed aMemorandum of Understanding tofurther cooperation between theOAS and the ILO.

At the inaugural session, the Dir-ector-General traced the growingcollaboration between the OAS andthe ILO centred on the Decent WorkAgenda and the key role that theMinisters of Labour and employers’and workers’ organizations hadplayed in having the Agenda adopt-ed at the highest political levels. Hewent on to identify five priorityareas for future action: achievingbalance between State, market andsociety; consolidating a social pro-tection floor in each national con-text below which no citizen should

ers’ organizations to effectivelyengage in the promotion of theDecent Work Agenda and the imple-mentation of Decent Work CountryProgrammes (DWCPs).

For further information, please con-tact the ILO Regional Office for theArab States,phone: +961.1/752.400; fax: +961.1/752.405;email: [email protected] http://www.ilo.org/public/english/region/arpro/beirut/

Nepal ratifies ILOConvention No.169■ The Legislative Parliament ofNepal has approved the ratificationof the Indigenous and Tribal PeoplesConvention (No. 169) adopted bythe ILO in 1989. Nepal thus becomesthe first country in South Asia to rat-ify this Convention and only the sec-ond country in all of Asia to do so.Convention No. 169 was ratified bythe Parliament on 22 August andformally submitted to the ILO on 5September 2007 by the Minister forLocal Development Dev P. Gurung.This move brings the total numberof ILO Conventions ratified byNepal to 11. This includes seven ofthe eight ILO fundamental Conven-tions (which cover the key issues ofdiscrimination, child labour, forcedlabour and freedom of association

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and collective bargaining). The sin-gle outstanding ILO core labourstandard, Convention No. 87 onFreedom of Association, is currentlyunder Cabinet review for ratifica-tion.Convention No. 169 supports theprinciple of self-management andguarantees the right of indigenouspeople to consultation and partici-pation in issues relating to their owndevelopment. It guarantees theirright to equal treatment and accessto state services and also includesspecific provisions for protectingand promoting indigenous and trib-al peoples’ cultures and communi-ties. Among other aspects, it protectsthe right to practise traditionaleconomies, to traditional land andresources and to use indigenous lan-guages in education. ConventionNo. 169 is the only legally bindinginstrument on indigenous peoples’rights. In other countries where ithas been ratified the Convention hasserved as a framework for constitu-tional and legal reforms leadingtowards the development of moreequitable and inclusive societies. InGuatemala, Convention No. 169 wasinstrumental in the peace accordsthat ended 30 years of civil warbetween indigenous groups and thegovernment.

For further information, please con-tact the ILO’s International LabourStandards Department,phone: +41-22/799.7155; fax: +41-22/799.6771; email: [email protected]

Boosting employmentand social policy inSouth Eastern Europe■ On 26 October, high-level gov-ernment, employers’ and workers’

representatives from nine SouthEastern European countries adoptedan agreement, the “Montenegro con-clusions”, that puts employment atthe heart of economic and socialpolicies. The Ministers acknowl-edged the relevance of the ILO’sDecent Work Agenda in tackling theemployment challenge in theircountries and committed themselvesto implement the conclusions of the3rd Ministerial Conference onEmployment and Social Policy inSouth Eastern Europe on 25-26October, in Budva, Montenegro.Lack of jobs, poor quality of employ-ment, low labour market participa-tion, high unemployment rates,informal and precarious work, espe-cially among young people and dis-advantaged groups, were among themajor issues addressed by the meet-ing. The Ministers discussed thework accomplished within theframework of regional cooperationon employment policy between 2003and 2007, and gave new directions tothis cooperation under the StabilityPact whose term will end in 2008.They welcomed the establishment ofthe Regional Cooperation Counciland called on the latter to endorsethe new phase of regional coopera-tion on employment and social poli-cies. In their conclusions, the Minis-ters reaffirmed their commitment toimplement an integrated approachthat aims at full and productiveemployment, rights at work, socialprotection and social dialogue. Theyalso called for international supportin improving employment policiesand strengthening labour marketinstitutions including social part-ners.

For more information, please visit thewebsite of the ILO SRO-BudapestOffice on www.ilo.org/budapest orcontact Edit Horváth in Budapest [email protected] or +36-1/473-2656.

Turning waste into wages

■ Turning waste into wages is thegoal of an ambitious project inBurkina Faso and the subject of anILO documentary to be screenedby the Italian Film Festival“CinemAmbiente” in Turin, Italy.“Burkina Faso: Protecting theEnvironment by Profiting fromGarbage” is the story of an award-winning project conceived by an ILOTurin Centre graduate, AndreaMicconi, who, with the help of localauthorities and enterprises, estab-lished a self-run plastic recyclingcentre for the country’s capital city.Before the centre was opened,Ouagadougou’s streets and sur-rounding countryside were chokedwith waste from plastic bags, bottlesand other refuse. The recycling centrenot only solved a major pollutionproblem, but introduced a new,sustainable source of employmentand income for the Burkinabé people.

For further information, pleasecontact the ILO Turin Centre,phone: +39.011/693-6111; fax: +39.011/6638-842;email: [email protected]; http://www.itcilo.org/

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BOOSTING EMPLOYMENT THROUGH INFRASTRUCTURE PROGRAMMES

The 12th Regional Seminar for Labour-Based Practitioners was held from 8-

12 October 2007 in Durban, South Africa.Under the theme “Prioritizing Employmentin Government Policies and Investments inInfrastructure Programmes”, the Seminarfocused on key development issues thatincrease the impact of investments andgovernment programmes on employmentcreation.The 12th Regional Seminar provided theopportunity to link developmental andpolitical commitments in the fields ofemployment, investment and infrastruc-ture to three concrete areas of action,namely assessing the impact of invest-ment policies and government pro-grammes on employment creation; linkingsocial protection, basic income guaran-tees and job creation through productiveand high-quality infrastructure develop-ment; and taking new strides in favour ofprivate sector support to employment cre-ation, both through small-scale domesticenterprise development and through inte-grating employment creation into the eco-nomic and financial strategies of thoseoffering and receiving foreign directinvestment.The Regional Seminar, held every twoyears, brings together practitioners, plan-ners, policy makers, researchers, fundingand development partners – and all othersinvolved in infrastructure development

from the African region and beyond to dis-cuss developments, share experience andideas on the application of employment-intensive approaches in the delivery ofessential infrastructure. The 12th RegionalSeminar drew over 450 delegates fromover 27 countries. A parallel Ministerial Meeting was heldduring the Seminar in which 12 Ministersof Labour and Public Works from Angola,Botswana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi,Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa,Swaziland, United Republic of Tanzania,Zambia and Zimbabwe critically reviewedand discussed the potential of infrastruc-ture and service delivery in creatingdecent productive employment opportuni-ties, and its impact on poverty reduction,social cohesion and political stability. Fol-lowing their meeting the Ministers issueda Ministerial statement in which they reaf-firmed their commitment and supporttowards optimizing employment creationin the delivery of essential infrastructureand services.

For further information, please go tohttp://www.ilo.org/public/english/employ-ment/recon/eiip/news/durban.htm or contact the ILO’s Employment-intensiveInvestment Branch, phone: +41-22/799.6546; fax: +41-22/799.8422; email: [email protected]

Making decent work aglobal goal and a national reality■ From 18-20 September 2007 over200 participants from 65 countriesmet in Düsseldorf (Germany) to dis-cuss the practical aspects of imple-menting international standards fordecent work. The Conference wasorganized by the ILO in partnershipwith the German and PortugueseGovernments, the InternationalSocial Security Association (ISSA),WHO, IALI and other internationalorganizations, and with sponsorshipfrom German partners Basi, MesseDüsseldorf, DGUV, Fraport AG,TÜV Rheinland, and BAD TeamPrevent. The conference broughttogether experts from all corners ofthe globe to address the challenges ofmaking decent work a practical real-ity for millions of workers world-wide. The main focus was on revital-izing labour inspection throughnational policy, programmes andsocial dialogue in order to reach thisgoal, but emphasis was also given tothe need for sound national safetyand health legislation and for goodsocial dialogue between relevantstakeholders, including those in thesupply chain. In concluding the con-ference, Dr. Sameera Al-Tuwaijri,Director of the ILO’s SafeWork pro-gramme, called for stronger politicalcommitment to making decent worka national reality, for more of a cul-ture of prevention and for widerpartnerships in expanding bothlabour inspection and occupationalsafety and health services.

For further information, please con-tact the ILO’s SafeWork Department,phone: +41-22/799.8628; fax: +41-22/799.6878; email: [email protected]

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■ Microfinance and public pol-

icy: Outreach, performance, effi-

ciency

Bernd Balkenhol (ed.)

ISBN 978-92-2-119347-0. ILO,

Geneva, 2007. Copublished with

Palgrave MacMillan. US$90; £55; 80 Euros; 115 Swiss

francs

A valuable contribution to the debate surround-

ing the performance and sustainability of microfi-

nance, this volume examines the concept of effi-

ciency in financial intermediation, how it is

measured and how public policy can be geared to

provide incentives to efficiency gains. It argues that

public policy should be guided by efficiency as an

overarching criterion accommodating different

combinations of financial performance and social

impact.

■ Trade union responses to

globalization: A review by the

Global Union Research Network

Verena Schmidt (ed.)

ISBN 978-92-2-119860-4. ILO, Geneva,

2007. US$24.95; £14.95; 20 Euros;

30 Swiss francs

Bringing together papers from some of the lead-

ing national and international experts from the

Global Union Research Network (GURN), this book

provides a valuable overview of how trade unions

around the world are responding to globalization.

See this book featured on page 35.

■ The right to decent work of

persons with disabilities

Arthur O’Reilly

ISBN 978-92-2-120144-1. ILO, Geneva,

2007. US$22.95; £12.95; 20 Euros;

30 Swiss francs

An invaluable overview of the principal interna-

tional legal instruments, policies and initiatives of

relevance to the rights of people with disabilities,

with a particular focus on employment and work.

The book focuses on the different options available

to people with disabilities who wish to work in

open/competitive employment, sheltered employ-

ment, supported employment and social enterprises

and examines the trends in each of these cate-

gories, highlighting the key issues faced in each

case.

Along with a useful list of definitions of key terms,

the book also proposes an agenda for future action

required in order to implement the UN Convention on

the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) 2006,

and its provisions on work and employment.

■ ABC of women workers’

rights and gender equality

Second edition

ISBN 978-92-2-119622-8. ILO, Geneva,

2007. US$22.95; £12.95; 20 Euros;

30 Swiss francs

Based on the ILO’s Conventions and Recommen-

dations, this revised and expanded ABC focuses on

States’ and employers’ obligations, and workers’

rights, in relation to gender equality in the world of

work. Workers are often unaware of their rights

derived from these standards – a fact that has been

increasingly identified as a major obstacle to their

effective use. With an easy-to-follow format, the guide

is an essential tool for raising awareness and legal lit-

eracy on critical work and gender equality issues.

■ Yearbook of Labour Statis-

tics 2007, 66th issue Vol. 1. Time

Series

ISBN 978-92-2-020176-3. ILO, Geneva,

2007. US$235; £140/; 195 Euros;

290 Swiss francs

Trilingual English/French/Spanish

Since its first edition in 1935-36, the Yearbook of

Labour Statistics has established itself as the

world’s foremost work of statistical reference on

labour questions, bringing together in systematic

form a mass of data from a vast network of authori-

tative sources of information in some 190 countries.

This new 2007 edition contains 31 tables correspon-

ding to nine major substantive chapters on economi-

cally active population, employment, unemployment,

hours of work, wages, labour cost, consumer prices,

occupational injuries, and strikes and lockouts.

Vol. 2. Country profiles

ISBN 978-92-2-020177-0. ILO, Geneva, 2007. US$160;

£90; 130 Euros; 200 Swiss francs

Trilingual English/French/Spanish

Yearbook of Labour Statistics: Country profiles

offers a new format showing the latest available

statistics (without time series) on the topics of eco-

nomically active population, employment, unem-

ployment, hours of work, wages, labour cost, con-

sumer prices, occupational injuries, and strikes and

lockouts for over 190 countries, areas and territo-

ries, and also includes global and regional esti-

mates on the economically active population,

employment and unemployment.

■ Occupational Wages and

Hours of Work and Retail Food

Prices 2008: Statistics from the

ILO October Inquiry

ISSN 1020-0134. ILO, Geneva,

2007. US$70; £40; 55 Euros; 85

Swiss francs

Trilingual English, French and Spanish

A vital reference source for anyone interested in

conditions of work and life, this trilingual publica-

tion provides detailed information on wages, hours

of work and food prices. Published yearly, it pre-

sents data on 159 occupations in 49 industry

groups, and the retail prices of 93 food items – thus

offering an indispensable statistical resource for

international comparisons of wages, hours of work

and prices.

■ Key Indicators of the Labour

Market (KILM)

Fifth edition

ISBN 978-92-2-120125-0. ILO, Geneva,

2007. US$200; £135; 180 Euros;

275 Swiss francs

Includes interactive CD-ROM (trilingual English/

French/Spanish)

Harvesting vast information from international

data repositories and regional and national statisti-

cal sources, this important reference tool offers

data for over 200 countries for the years 1980

through the latest available subsequent year. Using

statistical data on the labour force, employment,

unemployment, underemployment, educational

attainment of the workforce, wages and compensa-

tion, productivity and labour costs, employment

elasticities, and poverty as market indicators, the

software provides users with access to the most

current information available.

The fifth edition of the KILM also includes inter-

active software which makes searching for rele-

vant information quick and simple.

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A R O U N D T H E C O N T I N E N T S M E D I A S H E L FN E W SP L A N E T W O R K


ILO publications for sale can be obtained through major booksellers or ILO local offices in many countries, or directly from ILO Publications, International Labour Office, 4 route des Morillons, CH-1211Geneva 22, Switzerland. Tel: +4122/799-7828, fax: +4122/799-6938, email: [email protected], web site: http://www.ilo.org/publns. Catalogues or lists of new publications are available free of charge from theabove address. The ILO Publications Center in North America can be contacted by phone: +613/745 2665, fax: +613/745 7660, email: [email protected]. Customers from developing countries canbenefit from special discounts on the regular prices indicated in this magazine and may be able to pay in local currency through an ILO field office. For more information, email us at [email protected].

■ The evolution of labour law: Calibrating and

comparing regulatory regimes

Using a newly created data set which meas-

ures legal change over time, Simon Deakin,

Priya Lele and Mathias Siems present evidence

on the evolution of labour law in Germany,

France, India, the United Kingdom and the

United States. Their analysis casts light on the

claim that “legal origin” affects the content of

labour law regimes. While some divergence

between common law and civil law countries is

found at the aggregate level, a more complex

picture emerges from consideration of specific

areas of labour law. The authors discuss the

potential significance of this relatively new

measurement-based approach to understanding

the forces that shape the evolution of labour law.

■ Monopsony as a metaphor for the emerging

post-union labour market

How can employers worldwide be experi-

encing increasingly severe labour shortages in

the face of globalization? Why don’t wages rise

in expanding economies? Christopher L. Erick-

son and Daniel J. B. Mitchell argue that declin-

ing union power has allowed employers to take

the upper hand, setting pay and other conditions

of employment as they would in a monopsonistic

labour market. Rejecting the perfect competition

model matching supply to demand, the authors

argue that, far from being a pedagogical curios-

ity, monopsony’s imbalance in bargaining power

is widespread. Employee voice needs to be

restored to counter the undesirable conse-

quences of strong macroeconomic perform-

ance, such as wage inequality and reduced

worker rights.

■ The right to work: Linking human rights and

employment policy

Guy Mundlak’s article outlines various expla-

nations for singling out the right to work from the

roster of human rights, and emphasizes the

dilemmas associated with regulating the labour

market as a barrier to the development of the

right. It compares two frameworks that address

these concerns from the contrasted perspec-

tives of human rights and employment policy –

namely, the General Comment of the Committee

on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and the

European Employment Strategy. While these

approaches are not natural allies, they can com-

plement each other and construct an institution-

al system guided by the right to work as a super-

ordinate norm.

■ Intermittent child employment and its impli-

cations for estimates of child labour

Using longitudinal data from urban Brazil,

Deborah Levison, Jasper Hoek, David Lam and

Suzanne Duryea track the employment patterns

of thousands of children aged 10-16 during four

months of their lives in the 1980s and 1990s. The

proportion of children who work at some point

during a four-month period is substantially

higher than the fraction observed working in any

single month. The authors calculate an intermit-

tency multiplier to summarize the difference

between employment rates in one reference

week versus four reference weeks over a four-

month period. They conclude that intermittent

INTERNATIONAL LABOUR REVIEW - VOL. 146 (2007), NO. 3-4

employment is a crucial characteristic of child

labour which must be recognized to capture

levels of child employment adequately and iden-

tify child workers.

■ European employment models under pressure

to change

“National employment models” comprise the

whole range of institutions that determine labour

supply, utilization and demand in different coun-

tries. Based on a study of existing typologies of

these models, this article explores their work-

ings and their capacity to survive pressures for

change. It compares different models’ attempts

to safeguard decent working conditions in the

face of product market deregulation and rising

employment rates of women and older workers.

In conclusion, Gerhard Bosch, Jill Rubery and

Steffen Lehndorff point out that it is becoming

increasingly difficult for European nation states

to reform their employment models from within

and argue for more emphasis on positive inte-

gration policies at the European level.

■ Informality, the State and the social contract

in Latin America: A preliminary exploration

Jaime Saavedra and Mariano Tommasi see

informality in Latin America as a reflection of

dysfunctional interactions between individuals

and the State and of the latter’s inability to per-

form adequately in regard to redistribution and

the provision of public goods and services. This

translates into low rates of social security con-

tribution and coverage; pervasive evasion of tax,

labour and business regulations; and low levels

of tax collection, law enforcement and trust in

the State. The challenge for these countries, the

authors argue, is to build more inclusive social

contracts underpinned by realistic domestic

consensus, taking account of country-specific

institutional backgrounds and prevailing social

norms.

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