Representatives from 153 countries will gather to discuss best practices to eradicate child labor and how to accelerate the elimination of its worst forms
Brasília, October 8, 2013 – Chaired and organized by the Brazilian federal government, the III Global Conference on Child Labour will be held in Brasilia, from October 8 – 10, with the support of the International Labour Organization (ILO). Since 2000, worldwide incidents of labor among children between the ages of 5 and 14 years old decreased by 36 percent. Notably, in Brazil the decline was 67 percent.
“All data indicate that countries are increasingly concerned about tackling the problem,” said Tereza Campello, Brazil’s Minister of Social Development and Fight against Hunger, and the President of the Conference.
Delegations from 153 United Nations member countries and observers are taking part in the event. At the last conference, held in the Netherlands in 2010, delegations from 80 countries attended.
The opening of the meeting will be attended by Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff and about 40 state ministers from various countries. It is estimated that around 1,200 representatives of governments, civil society, employers and workers from around the world will take part in the event.
Evaluation
The latest ILO report indicates that 168 million children and adolescents between 5 and 17 years old are working. The conference will be useful for an overall assessment of progress achieved under the ILO Convention 182, which deals with the worst forms of child labor, as well as progress under the “Roadmap for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour by 2016,” set up at The Hague Conference in 2010.
Brazilian statistics follow the global trend. Through public policy initiatives, particularly Bolsa Família (Family Grant Program), and with the support of civil society, the number of children in Brazil between the ages of 5 and 9 years old in child labor situations fell 88 percent in the last 20 years. As a result, Brazil is considered to be a model by the ILO in tackling the issue of child labor.
“The conference aims to find ways to accelerate the process of combating child labor in the world,” stated Minister Tereza Campello. “We will discuss and exchange our experiences, keeping in mind the different levels of economic development within each country and the varying organization of national societies.”
Issues
The event will address issues such as child labor in urban environments, in agriculture, and in supply chains, and highlight cases in violation of children’s and adolescents’ rights. The impact of migration on child labor and conditions in domestic settings will also be discussed.
During the conference, models of education and schools, national statistics on child labor and the role of the judiciary in combating child labor will also be debated. The meeting is designed to be consultative, which increases the possibility for an open debate.
The commitment to sustainable eradication of child labor, especially its worst forms, within the shortest possible timeframe, will be articulated in the Declaration of Brasilia. “We will focus on our progress in updating and expanding the agreements to prevent and sustainably eliminate child labor,” stated the Executive Secretary of the Conference Paula Montagner.
Platform
To promote the exchange of best practices and ideas, the Conference was preceded by a public consultation held via a virtual platform on the Internet, “Dialogues on Child Labor,” which is accessible at: www.childlabourdialogues.org.
This forum gave voice to many different people working in the area, including children and adolescents, and allowed for debate on the main challenges to eradicate the worst forms of child labor. The plenaries will be broadcast live on the Conference website, so that everyone can follow the debate, which is exclusive to invited delegations from UN state members and the press.
According to the report “Measuring Progress in the Fight against Child Labour,” published by the ILO in September 2013, the number of working children from ages 5 to 17 years old worldwide dropped by one third, or a decrease from 246 million to 168 million working children, between 2000 and 2012. Over this 12-year period, the greatest advances occurred between 2008 and 2012, when the total number of working children and adolescents decreased from 215 million to 168 million.
Conference History
In 1997, Amsterdam hosted the international conference to discuss child labor, which marked the beginning of a worldwide movement for the eradication of child labor.
In 2010, more than 450 delegates from 80 countries took part in the Global Conference on Child Labour held in The Hague. The event, organized by the Netherlands government, aimed to accelerate the universal ratification of ILO Conventions 138 (Minimum Age for Child Labour) and 182 (Worst Forms of Child Labour), and to commit to take immediate actions to eliminate the worst forms of child labor, without losing sight of the ultimate goal of eradicating all forms of exploitation of labor of children and adolescents. The main outcome of the 2010 Conference was the adoption of the Roadmap for Eliminating the Worst Forms of Child Labour by 2016 (Roadmap), with its goal foreseen in the ILO Global Action Plan. The Action Plan was launched in 2006 and had proposed urgent action to combat the problem worldwide by 2008.
The Conference recommended Brazil as the host of the III Global Conference on Child Labour, and on June 12, 2012, the World Day Against Child Labour, President Dilma Rousseff issued the invitation for the event.
The National Organizing Committee, responsible for organizing and hosting the Conference, includes Brazil’s Ministry of Social Development and Fight Against Labor (MDS), the chair, Ministry of Labor and Employment (MTE) and Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MRE).
