For the Goal, End Child Labor

The World Day against Child Labor is celebrated on 12th June. The World Day provides an early opportunity for na-tional and local activities to follow up on the momentum generated by the Global Conference and to scale up the worldwide movement to tackle child labor. Pakistan observed June 12 as ‘World Day against Child Labor’, along with the rest of the world. International Labor Organization has set the theme of this year’s day as “Go for the goal-End child labor”. They aim to elimi-nate child labor all over the world by 2016.

In 2008 there were 215 million children working illegally in the eyes of international law, almost 14% of all the world’s children under 18. This includes 115 million children under that age engaged in "hazardous work" which could threaten their safety or health. such as handling chemicals, heavy loads or endur-ing long hours. The remaining 100 million child laborers are those aged under 15 - the international minimum age for legal em-ployment – whose tasks are not hazardous but are more substantial than “permitted light work.”

Almost all child labor occurs in develop-ing countries, with about 60% engaged in agriculture. Other occupations include domestic service, factory production and backstreet workshops. Over 25% of chil-dren in sub-Saharan Africa and 13% in Asia remain trapped within the cycle of poverty of which child labor is part.

The darkest category of child labor relates to those children caught up in criminal activities such as prostitution, military enrol-ment, slavery (such as bonded labor), or traf-ficking (which involves the removal of a child from its home, often involving deception and payment, for a wide range of exploitative purposes). It is no surprise that the Global Report 2010 warns the international commu-nity that “we will not get there with a busi-ness-as-usual approach (to child labor)."

Poverty is the main cause of child labor but it is a symptom as well. Poor parents send their children to work for reasons of economic expediency. But the consequent denial of education blocks the escape route from pov-erty for the next generation of the household.

Other factors may provoke this cycle; for example, schools in poor countries are often inaccessible or prohibitively expensive, with inadequate teaching and classroom re-sources. Cultural pressures can undermine perception of the long term value of educa-tion, especially for girl children.It is now al-most ten years since the International Labor Organization’s Convention came into being on the Worst Forms of Child Labor.

The Convention had so far been ratified by over 90 percent of the International Labor Organization's 182 member States. The International Labor Office’s (ILO) quad-rennial Global Report on child labor warns that efforts to eliminate the worst forms of child labor are slowing down and calls for a “re-energized” global campaign to end the practice. According to Accelerating action against Child Labor, the global number of child laborers had declined from 222 million to 215 million, or 3 percent, over the period 2004-2008, representing a “slowing down of the global pace of reduction.”

Launched to coincide with The Hague Global Child Labor Con-ference held in The Netherlands from 10-11 May, the report ex-presses concern that the global economic crisis could “further brake” progress toward the goal of eliminating the worst forms of child labor by 2016, a target set by the ILO’s 2006 Global Action Plan.“Progress is uneven: nei-ther fast enough nor comprehensive enough to reach the goals that we have set,” ILO Director-General Juan Somavia warned. “New and large-scale efforts are needed. The situation calls for a re-energized cam-paign against child labor. We must scale up action and move into a higher gear.” Millions of child laborers had been benefited from the Convention’s drive against practices such as the use of children in slavery, forced la-bor, trafficking, debt bondage, serfdom, prostitution, pornography, forced or compul-sory recruitment for armed conflict and all forms of work that are likely to harm the safety, health or morals of children.The World Day against Child Labor aims to promote awareness and action to tackle child labor. The 2006 Global Action Plan, which estab-lished the 2016 goal of eliminating child labor, has a three-pronged approach of supporting national responses; deepening and strengthen-ing the worldwide movement; and promoting further integration of child labor within overall ILO priorities.

Student Focus | 1st Edition

By Mehuk Khan and Editor

D.P.T College of Physiotherapy

K.E.M.U Lahore

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