World Day Against Child Labour
EU move to continue for eliminating worst forms of child labour
European Union (EU) will continue promoting improved protection of children and eliminating worst forms of child labour in its initiatives in multilateral bodies including UN General Assembly, Human Rights Council and International Labour Organisation (ILO).
EU High Representative Catherine Ashton, Vice-President Viviane Reding, Commissioner for Development Andris Piebalgs and Commissioner for Trade Karel De Gucht issued a joint statement from Brussels yesterday commemorating World Day Against Child Labour.
They welcomed the steady decline in child labour since 2006 when ILO set a visionary target to eliminate the worst forms of child labour by 2016.
But 115 million children are still exposed to hazardous work and the global decrease in child labour is not prevalent in all regions and among all categories of children, they said.
While EU announced a number of concrete initiatives last year, steps must be taken to combat child labour and consolidate children's rights through a comprehensive approach to addresses the root causes, they added.
EU development policy combats the root causes of child labour through targeted educational and poverty reduction programmes, such as "Stop child labour campaign", ''Education for All Fast Track Initiatives'' and country-specific plans for education, said the statement.
"We believe EU and its member states should discuss what must be done collectively to reach the 2016 target of a world free of the worst forms of child labour, taking into account the Hague 2010 Roadmap," it added.
They called upon EU partners to ratify and implement relevant ILO Conventions and UN Convention on Rights of Child and its two Optional Protocols.
Last year the commission launched a call for Proposal on Fighting Child Labour worth €11 million aimed at non-governmental organisations, the private sector and regional authorities. The commission has a €14 million project with ILO called TACKLE on Child Labour and Education.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Comments