[child-rights] Making progress in combating child labour in Asia

ILO Online - No. 49 - Monday 28 August 2006 -- Despite declines both
in the child population and in the number of economically active
children, the ILO estimates that Asia has the largest number of child
workers in the 5-14 age group -- some 122 million. Here are some
FAQs on child labour compiled by ILO Online. 

1. What is child labour? 

Child labour refers to work undertaken by children below the legal
minimum working age. The ILO’s Minimum Age Convention, 1973
(No.138) stipulates that ratifying member States fix a minimum age
for admission to employment or work. The minimum age for admission to
work is generally 15 (14 for developing countries); light work may be
allowed from the age of 13 (12 for developing countries); and 18
years is the minimum age for work considered to be hazardous for
health, safety and morals. 
2. What are the worst forms of child labour? 

The ILO’s Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999
(No.182), Article 3 defines the worst forms of child labour as: 

a) All forms of slavery or practices similar to slavery, such as the
sale and trafficking of children, debt bondage and serfdom, as well
as forced or compulsory labour, including recruitment of children in
armed conflict; 
b) Using, procuring or offering of a child for prostitution, for the
production of pornography or for pornographic performances; 
c) The use, procurement or offering of a child for illicit
activities, in particular for the production and trafficking of drugs
as defined in relevant international treaties; and 
d) Work which, by its nature or the circumstances in which it is
carried out, is likely to harm the health, safety or morals of
children, the types of harmful work are to be determined by national
authorities. 

The ILO Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No.182) has
seen the most ratifications in the shortest time for any Convention
in ILO history – 161 ratifications in only seven years. 

While national authorities have some discretion in nominating the
categories of work that fall under Article 3 (d), there is no
discretion whatsoever in Articles 3 (a), (b), (c) – these
categories are considered 'unconditional' and are
absolutely prohibited for all children under the age of 18, without
exception or exemption. 
3. What is hazardous child labour? 

“Hazardous work” refers to particularly dangerous and
unhealthy work from which all girls and boys under 18 should be
protected. It is work which, by its nature or the circumstances in
which it is carried out, is likely to harm the health, safety or
morals of children. 

4. What are the root causes of child labour? 

The root causes of child labour are not simply economic, poverty is
just one factor. Other causes include inequality, lack of educational
opportunities, lack of decent work for adults, economies strongly
dependant on agriculture, slow demographic transition, consumerism,
and the impact of tradition and culture. In some cases the problem is
aggravated by rapid migration from rural to urban areas and from
poorer countries to more advanced economies. The role of the child
within the family, parental and community attitudes to the child, and
especially the role of girls in the family, manipulation of the
market by unscrupulous employers -- all these contribute to
child labour, as do factors that increase a child's
vulnerability to exploitation, such as armed conflicts or natural
disasters. 

Age, gender, ethnicity, social class and deprivation all interact to
affect the type and intensity of work that children perform, as well
as whether they work or not. Lack of adequate policies in the country
-- in particular the absence of good quality, free basic
education -- is also an important factor. 

5. What is the nature of child labour in the region? 

Although children have long been – and continue to be –
exploited in sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing and domestic
service, many worst forms of child labour are a problem in the
region, including child trafficking, commercial sexual exploitation,
bonded child labour, hazardous child labour and the recruitment and
use of children for armed conflict or drug trafficking. 

6. What are the costs and benefits of preventing and eliminating
child labour? 

The ILO’s International Programme on the Elimination of Child
Labour (IPEC) carried out a survey to calculate the likely financial
burden that countries face as they move to eliminate child labour
completely and the economic impact that could be expected as a
result. Globally, the benefits of eliminating child labour were
estimated to exceed costs by a ratio of 6.7 to 1 – equivalent
to a return of 43.8 per cent on the ‘investment’. In
Asia, the ratio is even greater, at 7.2 to 1. 

7. What impact do crises have on child labour? 

The vulnerability of children to exploitation increases when family
and social protection networks break down and where economic and
community structures are disrupted. A high tolerance for child labour
combined with political volatility and conflicts in certain countries
(e.g. Afghanistan, Nepal, Indonesia and Sri Lanka) exacerbates the
problem and can hinder action against it. When conflicts prevent
adults from working, or they are called up to fight, child labour may
also be used to replace them. Natural disasters such as tsunamis or
earthquakes also leave children more vulnerable to child labour. 

8. How can Asian countries make progress in combating child labour? 

The examples of Malaysia, the Republic of Korea, Thailand and China
show that political commitment to reducing poverty and expanding free
and quality education has had an important bearing on child labour
elimination. An important factor accounting for the steady decline in
child labour in Thailand was the firm commitment in 1992 by the first
democratically elected Prime Minister to ending child labour and
sexual exploitation. In the last 25 years China has taken more people
out of poverty and enrolled more children in school than any other
country. There is strong evidence that this has also had a dramatic
impact on child labour in China. Within a generation of independence
in 1945, the Republic of Korea went from being an exceedingly poor
country with low levels of school enrolment to implementing a mass
education system. Malaysia has managed to reduce poverty drastically
and achieve universal education. 

In July 2006, an ILO Regional Tripartite Seminar in Jakarta gathering
12 countries from East and Southeast Asia discussed follow-up actions
against child labour, including setting a time frame for the
elimination of the worst forms of child labour. Some of the
countries, including Cambodia, Indonesia, Mongolia, the Philippines
and Viet Nam have already set concrete deadlines. 

The meeting drew up a list of priorities for action. These include
increasing efforts to combat poverty and expand education, allocating
more money to combat child labour, setting national targets to end
the worst forms of child labour as soon as possible, paying special
attention to vulnerable groups such as minorities and migrants, and
completing ratification of the ILO fundamental conventions. 

9. How does child labour link to other development issues? 

Child labour is clearly linked to efforts to promote decent work,
since by its very nature it deprives children and young people of the
preparation they need to obtain safe and productive work once they
have reached employment age, while also depriving adults of the
opportunity for decent work. It perpetuates irregularities in the
labour market, contributes to exploitative conditions of employment
and undercuts efforts to regulate conditions. It allows unscrupulous
employers to prosper and profits to be made on the back of corruption
and deprivation. 

While poverty is an underlying cause of child labour, child labour
also contributes to sustaining poverty and hinders development. It is
encouraging, therefore, that there have been increasing efforts to
take child labour into consideration in the preparation of national
poverty reduction strategies and in strategies for human resource
development.