[child-rights] Global March Statement on First World Day Against Child Labour

FOR A FUTURE WITHOUT CHILD LABOUR

The Global March joins in celebrating the first World Day Against
Child Labour and commends the pioneering efforts the ILO has
made in the worldwide drive to eliminate child labour.  The problem
is clearly one of the most serious issues facing humanity today.
  With an estimated 246 million children engaged in child labour
and almost 73% involved in its worst forms, something must be
done now!

It is encouraging that since the unanimous adoption of Convention
182, most countries have ratified the instrument, declared their
support for the cause, and undertaken several steps to address
the problem.  Unfortunately, this has not been enough.  The very
first article of Convention 182 calls on member states to "take
immediate and effective measures to secure the prohibition and
elimination of the worst forms of child labour as a matter of
urgency."  In most countries, however, the efforts have not met
this standard.

When we see children suffering through a life of slavery, prostitution,
abuse, and despair, there can be no grounds for delay!  We must
change their lives now, with the same sense of urgency and determination
we would show if our own children were in danger.

Most of the children who were suffering in the worst forms of
child labour when ILO Convention 182 was adopted 3 years ago
have not enjoyed any relief or rehabilitation since then.  The
world community has not even managed to stop the fresh recruitment
of child labourers.  When most of the children in the worst forms
of child labour today began their life of exploitation since
the adoption of Convention 182, we must recognise that our efforts
have not been enough and we must do much, much more to end child
labour.

The Global March Against Child Labour calls upon the international
community to make the greatest effort possible to end this widespread
violation of human rights and children's dignity.  We call for
the ILO and its members to:

* Recommit to ending child labour as one of organisation's and
the world's top priorities

* Establish clear timetables for the elimination of child labour
and its worst forms

* Closely and objectively monitor progress towards the elimination
of child labour as a fundamental part of protecting the rights
of all children

* Devote the maximum possible resources of the ILO to the cause
of ending child labour and integrate the issue of child labour
in all relevant spheres of the ILO's activities

* Advance the role of IPEC from the direct implementation of
child labour projects to catalysing, supporting, and guiding
nationally owned and managed programs for the time-bound elimination
of child labour

* Mobilise the full involvement of all UN agencies, regional
organisations, international donors, national governments, social
partners, and civil society organisations for the cause of ending
child labour.

* Make the effective elimination of child labour a top priority
for all governments

* Make the effective elimination of child labour one of the core
responsibilities of all employers' associations and trade unions

* Involve child labourers themselves in the process of ending
their exploitation

* Generate the highest level of political support for the cause
through the establishment of an International Task Force on Child
Labour composed of heads of UN agencies, heads of state, and
leaders from employers, workers, and civil society, to coordinate
and accelerate international efforts to end child labour

* Celebrate the World Day Against Child Labour each year with
activities and initiatives to spread greater awareness and strengthen
public resolve to address the problem

* Promote ILO Convention 138 as an indispensable tool for ensuring
that girls and boys of all countries have a chance for quality
education before entering the world of work

* Ensure that bringing children from the exploitation of child
labour into the enlightenment of education is placed to the heart
of international development efforts and make working children
a priority target group of educational programs

* Recognise and fulfil the special duty the ILO has to protect
the lives and improve the future of a quarter of a billion humans
working now as child labourers