International trade union hail ILO child labour debate
09 Jun '06
3 min read
The international trade union movement welcomed the holding of a key debate at the International Labour Organisation's Annual Conference, as a key moment for the international community to examine progress in eliminating child labour and ensuring that every child goes to school.
Governments, employers and trade unions are discussing the ILO report "The end of child labour: Within Reach" at the Conference. The report sets out results in implementing ILO Child Labour Conventions, and identifies a number of key challenges for the coming years.
"This debate will we hope be a real turning point, bringing the entire international community to a comprehensive commitment to get the tens of millions of child labourers out of work and into school" said Willy Thys, General Secretary of the World Confederation of Labour.
The report sets a target for the elimination of the "Worst Forms" of child labour, under ILO Convention 182, by the year 2016, and includes figures indicating a major reduction of children suffering the worst forms of exploitation.
It also sets out some future reference points for international action, including strengthening the "Worldwide Movement" against child labour and building further cooperation with trade unions and employers.
Trade unions are concerned nevertheless that some may seek to use the ILO report as a justification for focusing on the most egregious forms of child labour, while not tackling the broader problems of insufficient provision of quality education, and poor regulation of labour markets.
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