| GB.267/3
267th Session Geneva, November 1996 |
THIRD ITEM ON THE AGENDA
Effect to be given to the resolution concerning the
elimination of child labour, adopted by the
Conference at its 83rd Session (June 1996)
1. At its 83rd (1996) Session, the International Labour Conference adopted a resolution concerning the elimination of child labour which calls for action by the Governing Body.
2. The text of the resolution adopted by the Conference is appended. The Director-General intends to circulate the text in the usual way to the governments of member States and, through them, to national employers' and workers' organizations, and to the international organizations concerned, including intergovernmental organizations, the non-governmental international organizations with consultative status and the other non-governmental international organizations concerned.
3. This paper contains the Director-General's proposals for action on this resolution.
National action
4. Operative paragraph 1 invites governments and, where appropriate, employers' and workers' organizations, to take action towards the effective elimination of child labour, including the immediate elimination of the most intolerable forms of child labour. It calls for a wide range of actions, including educational and developmental policies and programmes, health care plans, increased international cooperation to help countries develop and implement programmes to eliminate child labour, support and funding for the ILO's International Programme for the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC), effective implementation of national legislation and participation in standard setting on new international labour standards on child labour.
5. The Governing Body may wish to request the Director-General, when communicating the resolution to the governments of member States and, through them, to employers' and workers' organizations, to draw attention to operative paragraph 1.
Action by the ILO
6. Operative paragraph 2 invites the Governing Body to instruct the Director-General to engage in various activities, including the following: assisting member States, through technical cooperation and technical advisory services, to ratify and implement relevant ILO Conventions and to take other legal, educational and developmental measures to eliminate child labour; seeking continuous support for the IPEC programme and ensuring that it remains a priority of the ILO; carrying out research and disseminating information; enhancing cooperation with other concerned international organizations; and reporting regularly on activities and progress towards the elimination of child labour.
7. The ILO will continue to promote international labour standards in the field of child labour and to help interested countries to ratify and implement them. The ILO has also begun the process leading to the adoption of new international labour standards on child labour, which will be on the agenda of the 1998 session of the International Labour Conference. These will focus on extreme forms of child labour, such as hazardous work, forced and bonded labour, child prostitution and child pornography.
8. Concerning technical cooperation, the ILO launched IPEC in 1992 with the financial support of the Government of Germany. Initially it focused on six countries, but is now active in more than twenty-five. The number of donors has expanded to include Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Norway, Spain and the United States. In early 1996 discussions were in an advanced stage on contributions from a number of additional countries and the European Union. IPEC helps countries adopt and implement policies and programmes aimed at the effective elimination of child labour, and gives priority to those in bondage and hazardous work, as well as to the youngest and most vulnerable.
9. The Programme and Budget proposals for 1998-99 give priority to the elimination of extreme forms of child labour. An action programme to provide practical support to member States in designing national programmes of action against the most intolerable forms of child labour has been proposed.
10. The ILO has recently enhanced its cooperation with UNICEF on child labour by the signing of a Letter of Intent on 8 October 1996. The two agencies will coordinate their policies and programmes and set up joint field programmes. Similarly, the ILO will intensify its ties with other international organizations directly or indirectly engaged in the fight against child labour.
11. In addition to its ongoing research activities, the ILO is carrying out research on labelling programmes and campaigns designed to ensure that products are not manufactured using child labour.
12. The ILO is collaborating with the Governments of the Netherlands and Norway on the organization of two international conferences on child labour which will be held in Amsterdam and Oslo in 1997.
13. The Governing Body may wish to request the Director-General to bear in mind the requests made in paragraph 2 of the resolution in implementing current and future activities.
Geneva, 17 October 1996.
Points for decision:
Paragraph 5;
Paragraph 13.
Appendix
Resolution concerning the elimination of child labour(1)
The General Conference of the International Labour Organization,
Recalling the Convention on the Rights of the Child adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 20 November 1989 and the commitment shown by an unprecedented number of States that have become signatories and parties to it,
Recalling also the commitments of governments made at the World Summit for Social Development (Copenhagen, 1995) inter alia, to safeguard and promote the respect of basic rights and interests of workers, including the prohibition of forced and child labour,
Further recalling the resolution concerning the International Year of the Child and the Progressive Elimination of Child Labour and Transitional Measures adopted at the 65th Session of the International Labour Conference in 1979,
Recalling the ILO Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) and the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29), and the Minimum Age Recommendation, 1973 (No. 146),
Welcoming the decision of the Governing Body to include child labour on the agenda of the 1998 Conference Session as a subject for standard setting,
Recalling that the protection of children is among the Organization's priority objectives,
Considering that the exploitation of children is a gross violation of their human rights and is against the principles of social justice,
Expressing concern that despite the fact that virtually every country has laws prohibiting child exploitation, the problem still exists and the incidence of child labour continues,
Underlining the shared responsibility of governments, employers, workers and their organizations and society at large to work for the progressive elimination of child labour. In this context, stressing the need to immediately proceed with the abolition of its most intolerable aspects, namely the employment of children in slave-like and bonded conditions and in dangerous and hazardous work, the exploitation of very young children, and the commercial sexual exploitation of children,
Recognizing that child labour is to a great extent caused by poverty and that the long-term solution lies in sustained economic growth leading to social progress, in particular poverty alleviation and universal education,
Noting that although the solution to the problem requires the active and coordinated involvement of society as a whole, governments, through development plans and special education programmes, have a critical role to play,
Noting that while many governments have adopted policies and taken action towards the elimination of child labour, solutions which put children out of work without providing an alternative means of livelihood for them and their families, can place the children concerned in a worse situation,
Noting that many children are put to work at a very young age or in conditions which are exploitative and hazardous and that this hinders their steady physical and mental development, depriving them of an education and thereby also constraining the social and economic development of their countries,
Noting that the practice of employing child labour often takes place outside of lawfully established enterprises governed by appropriate legislation and is widely prevalent in the informal and rural sectors and, in some cases, among illegal activities,
Recognizing the growing number of enterprises, foundations, and trade associations that have, on a voluntary basis and in response to consumer and society concerns, developed initiatives aimed at the elimination of child labour,
Welcoming the increased involvement of the ILO in the fight against child labour, including the launching of the International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC),
Underlining the contribution that the ILO can make to the open-ended inter-sessional working group of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights for the elaboration of a draft optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child relating to the sale of children, child prostitution, and child pornography,
Underlining also the contribution which the ILO can make to international conferences and meetings on the commercial sexual exploitation of children such as the world congress to be hosted by the Government of Sweden in August 1996,
Welcoming the ILO's active participation in international conferences on child labour such as those organized by the Governments of the Netherlands and Norway in February 1997 and October 1997 respectively;
1. Invites governments and, where appropriate, employers' and workers' organizations to:
- translate their commitment to the progressive and effective elimination of child labour into concrete action and, where this has not yet been done, consider the ratification and implementation of all relevant international instruments concerning child labour;
- participate actively in the preparatory work and discussions that will be held on child labour as a subject for standard setting at the 86th Session (1998) of the International Labour Conference;
- develop formal policies and set priorities so as to immediately proceed to put an end to the most intolerable aspects of child labour, namely the employment of children in slave-like and bonded conditions and in dangerous and hazardous work, exploitation of very young children, and the commercial sexual exploitation of children;
- enact and give full effect to national legislation that prohibits the exploitation of children at work;
- formulate and implement educational and developmental policies essential for the elimination of all forms of child labour, in particular those aimed at providing employment for parents of working children and facilitating the transition of working children from work to school;
- initiate activities targeted at working children and their families such as the establishment of day-care centres, schools and training facilities;
- promote access to basic education for girls and boys alike on an equal basis, which is crucial to the success of any effort to progressively eliminate child labour;
- allocate resources to develop education, including compulsory primary education accessible to all, vocational training and guidance;
- allocate resources to establish systems of primary health care, rehabilitation and support so that children can stop working;
- translate child labour policies into action plans and implement them, taking care to ensure that the situations of the children and their families are improved as a result;
- raise public awareness of the human and economic cost as well as the long-term non-viability of using child labour;
- encourage employers' and workers' organizations to develop policies and adopt voluntary guidelines that aim to eliminate the use of child labour;
- report regularly to the International Labour Office on progress achieved towards the elimination of child labour;
- work with relevant international organizations in seeking the immediate elimination of the most intolerable forms of child labour;
- continue supporting and funding programmes that seek to eliminate child labour starting with its most intolerable forms, targeted at working children as well as their families, in particular the ILO's International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour, and to actively participate in international fora that address the issue of child labour;
- strengthen international cooperation machinery to help countries which adopt programmes aimed at eliminating child labour to implement these programmes.
2. Invites the Governing Body of the ILO to instruct the Director-General to:
- assist member States, upon request, through advisory services and technical cooperation activities, in their efforts to ratify and implement relevant ILO Conventions as well as in their efforts to adopt and implement national legislation on the elimination of child labour;
- undertake studies and in-depth research on child labour, including the compilation of statistical data on the extent of the problem, and disseminate information on this issue;
- use all of the ILO's means of action, particularly its technical cooperation programme, to support the efforts of member States for education and enterprise development, job creation and poverty eradication programmes and effective application of the laws relating to child labour;
- continue to seek expanded funding for ILO's International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour and ensure that the programme remains a priority for the ILO, which should be reflected in regular budget allocations;
- work more closely with other international organizations on programmes whose goals are to eliminate child labour starting with its most intolerable forms;
- present proposals on the convening of an international conference on the elimination of child labour at an appropriate stage;
- report regularly to the Governing Body on ILO's activities and progress in the area of the elimination of child labour.