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UNICEF urges deadline on child labour

Wednesday, 29 October 1997: Calling worldwide statistics on child labour "appalling and unacceptable," UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy today urged governments to adopt a time-bound programme of action to eliminate all extreme forms of child labour -- especially labour that denies children their fundamental right to education.

The world's 250 million child labourers, most of them engaged in extreme and hazardous forms of work, are being robbed of their fundamental rights -- not only the right to develop to the fullest through education, but "the right to a childhood," Ms. Bellamy told the 40-nation International Conference on Child Labour in Oslo.

"Every child is a miracle in the making," she said, "miracles that we have an obligation to protect and nurture. And quality basic education is the key."

Calling education "the single most effective tool we have for eliminating child labour," she told the ministerial segment of the four-day conference that "it is increasingly clear there will be no long-term solution to child labour unless the challenge of basic education for all is also addressed."

"Quality primary education that is relevant and affordable to poor families will go far in attacking the root causes of child labour," Ms. Bellamy added. "And the benefits will accrue especially to girls, who make up 60 per cent of the 140 million children worldwide who are not in school." She said the link between child labour and education can be seen in the millions of children who are available for exploitative work precisely because they have no access to affordable, quality education -- while millions of others cannot exercise their right to education because of factors associated with their jobs, ranging from long work hours to scheduling conflicts.

Ms. Bellamy paid tribute to the International Labour Organization for "the magnificent leadership it has provided, and continues to provide" in the fight against child labour.

The ILO has proposed the adoption of a convention and recommendation to combat the worst forms of child labour, including the persistent exploitation of children in slave-like and bonded conditions; in hazardous and arduous work, and in prostitution, pornography and other intolerable situations.

Ms. Bellamy said the ILO Conventions on child labour, including the most recent, ILO Convention 138, have been "powerful tools" for advocacy against child labour, especially in conjunction with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. But she acknowledged that "even the combined power of these standards and instruments has not been enough to eliminate the worst aspects of child labour."

"That is why UNICEF wholeheartedly endorses the idea of a new and more focused ILO convention," she said, "a convention that will set specific, time-bound targets for the elimination of extreme forms of child labour, such as bonded labour and trafficking; that is focused specifically at children under 12; and that includes in its definition of extremely exploitative labour any form of work that denies a child's right to basic education."

She added that the promulgation of such a measure "must be accompanied not only by a renewed commitment to education for all but to poverty eradication -- beginning with a reversal of the shameful decline in Official Development Assistance that we have witnessed since 1992."

Ms. Bellamy cited a range of UNICEF efforts to fight child labour in partnership with the ILO, governments and civil society, including programmes in Benin, Kenya, Senegal, Mali, Pakistan and Brazil. In Bangladesh, she noted, a landmark government-backed agreement has combined measures to end under-age child labour in the garment industry with the creation of education programmes and direct assistance for the families of child workers.

"It is clear from these examples that continued collaboration -- with governments, non-governmental organizations, the private sector, and other development partners -- can lead to concrete and effective programmes to end child labour," she said.

UNICEF supports basic education through collaborative efforts with governments, non-governmental organizations, trade unions, educators, businesses and other elements of civil society. Its 1996 allocation of $79 million in worldwide assistance for basic education accounted for 12 per cent of the agency's overall programme expenditure.