Global March Against Child Labour: From Exploitation to Education

Global March Against Child Labour

Global March Against Child Labour - From Exploitation to Education

New York Event on Child Labor, Education and MDGs

Event Hosts :
Global March Against Child Labor,
Global Campaign for Education and
Child Labor Coalition, USA

Date & Time :
September 13, 2005, New York,
1:00 P.M. - 4:00 P.M.

Venue :
Baisley Powell Elebash Recital Hall,
The Graduate Center, 365 Fifth Avenue,
The City University of New York,
NY New York-10016-4309

.Event Objective

The event is to bring forward the New Delhi Declaration emerging from the Second Childrens World Congress, a unique gathering of some 200 child slaves from around the world converging during September 4-8, 2005.

The members of the reference group of the Childrens World Congress, the child slaves themselves will come to NY during the MDG Plus Five Summit to bring their message to the world leaders converging in NY. These children will also meet the world leaders from the North and the South.

In this event the children will bring forward the key demand from the international community represented by various national governments both in the Southern world, the donor governments and UN agencies that elimination of child labor is critical and central to the realization of Dakar goals of achieving education for all by 2015 and as the key to the success of the MDG's. Their demand is to declare child labor elimination to be the ninth MDG. Out of the eight MDG goals, the one on education cannot be achieved. Child labor is identified as the single largest barrier to its realization. The EFA goal was to be achieved by 2015. How ever only when the Governments account for 246 million child laborers in the EFA plans, strategies and priorities.

The MDG goal of gender equality and empowerment of women cannot be achieved as long as millions of girls are out of school and majority of them are languishing as domestic help. The 2005 gender parity in education goal has already slipped by us.

Another important goal of MDG's on HIV/AIDS is linked critically to lack of education. According to the Oxfam report of 2004, 7 million cases of HIV/AIDS can be avoided in the coming decade if all children had access to education.

Another important goal of the MDG's on poverty alleviation cannot be achieved till the time children are working and that helps perpetuate poverty. Children are found easy to exploit and to deny them fair wages. This drives the able bodied men out of jobs and it perpetuates inter-generational poverty. As these children are not able to attend schools it is not possible for them to acquire necessary skills and build knowledge capital.

These children coming to NY are rescued from worst forms of child labor with very intense personal life experiences. These children will be joined by a select panel of leaders.

.The Participants in the event are

Liberated Child slaves from Asia, Africa and South America part of the children's
reference group emerging from the Childrens World Congress

Senator Christovam Buarque, the Education Minister from Lula Government (Brazil)
who resigned and is the founder of the famous Bolsa Escola Programme

Ad Melkert, Formerly Netherlands Minister of Social Affairs, Labor and Employment,
presently Netherlands Executive Director, The World Bank

Kerry Kennedy, Human Rights Activist, New York

Kailash Satyarthi, Chair, Global March Against Child Labour, and
President, Global Campaign for Education

Linda Golodner, President, National Consumers League, USA and
Co-Chair, Child Labor Coalition, USA

Govindasamy Rajasekharan, President of ICFTU/APRO
(Asia Pacific Regional Organization)

Lee Swepston, Senior Advisor on Human Rights, ILO, Geneva

Kumi Naidoo, Chair, GCAP

Consuelo Contreras Largo, Executive Director, OPCION, Chile,
Global March Regional Coordinator, South America

Cleophas Mally, Executive Director, WAO-Afrique, Regional Coordinator,
Africa (Francophone), Global March

Contact persons:
Sudhanshu Joshi: 202-258-8873 <sjoshi@iccle.org>;
Darlene Adkins: 614-575-2539 <dak7ncl@sbcglobal.net>




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Global March Against Child Labour - From Exploitation to Education

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