JUNE 12 to mark World Day Against Child Labour

World Day Against Child Labour will this year be marked by thousands of events in scores of countries around the world on 12 June with a focus on the need to improve access of children to education as the right response to child labour.

The International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) of the International Labour Office (ILO) says its latest estimates indicate that of some 218 million child labourers worldwide, millions are either denied educational opportunities that would give them a better future or must balance work with education. IPEC says this may be due to the costs involved, because their families rely on them to work, or simply because there are no available school facilities.

To tackle child labour the ILO is calling on governments to provide:

• Education for all children at least to the minimum age of employment • Education programmes that reach out to child labourers and other socially excluded groups helping to bring these children back into education • Properly resourced and quality education and skills training, with trained and professional teachers

For the World Day, the ILO will release a technical report on child labour and education based on surveys of child labour in 34 countries from all regions of the world.

At the same time, as part of the year-long campaign on “Gender equality at the heart of decent work”, the ILO Bureau for Gender Equality is highlighting the first theme of the campaign which is combating child labour through education with the slogan “Formula for progress: Educate both girls and boys!”.

World Day Against Child Labour 2008 Events

World Day events will be held in some 60 countries across the world. In Geneva, the ILO will mark the World Day with a plenary session of the International Labour Conference, between 10.00 a.m. and 10.30 am on 12 June. The session will be led by the ILO Director-General and will include a representative of UNESCO, the UN agency coordinating the Education for All process, and representatives of employers, workers and governments.

In New Delhi, the ILO is collaborating with UNICEF and The National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights to organise an interactive session with the media on "Education - The Right Response to Child Labour" on 12 June 2008 at India Habitat Centre 1045 - 1330 hrs. A number of activities including rallies, release of radio jingles and public awareness campaigns have been planned with ILO partner organisations in many parts of India.

Around the world, activities include:

• Policy roundtables and workshops, involving Government Ministries, employers and workers, other UN organisations and non governmental organisations. • Press conferences, Radio and TV programmes, major awareness raising • campaigns in the media, including stories of working children in newspapers • Children performing in drama, song and dance, marches of children • Wearing t-shirts and pins against child labour, drawing and essay competitions. • Photo exhibitions, presentation of studies on child labour etc.

A list of some of the main events planned is available on the World Day website: www.ilo.org/childlabour08

The ILO’s goal is the progressive elimination of all child labour worldwide.

The worst forms of child labour, which include hazardous work, commercial sexual exploitation, trafficking of children and all forms of slavery, among others, should be abolished as a priority.

Source: ILO press statement

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