One in seven children is a child labourer: that's nearly 14 per cent of the children in the age group 5-14 years.
One in five children do not go to school – this is nearly 18 per cent of the children in the age group (primary school).
Most of them (57 percent) were girls! Huge numbers of them work as child labourers.
Child labour is a critical obstacle in the path of children's development and society's sustainable development. Children who must spend the most important stage of their lives striving merely to survive are denied the opportunity to develop to their full potential. One in every eight children 5 to 17 years old - 179 million - work in the worst forms of child labour. There are around 300,000 child soldiers involved in over 30 areas of conflict worldwide, some younger than 10 years old. In the 21st century as bonded or forced labour with more than 12.3 million forced labour victims worldwide out of which 2.4 are victims of trafficking, according to ILO’s Global Alliance Against Forced Labour Report.
South Asia
The vast majority of the world's slaves are in South Asia, including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal.
Millions of children in India are given up by their families into virtual slavery as domestic workers.
Despite a ban on employing children under 14, India's labour ministry recently said there are 12.6 million children aged between 5 and 14 working, the largest number of child labourers in the world.
In the recent progress reports on the Millennium Development Goals (MDG’s) and the Education For All (EFA) targets have identified that child labour is the major obstacle to access to education. The 2007 EFA Global Monitoring Report indicated that 77 million primary age children are still not enrolled in school and many countries risk not achieving the 2015 target. The Report stated that “Education for all requires an inclusive approach that emphasizes the need to reach groups that might not otherwise have access to education and learning” it called for policies aimed at “reaching the unreached including the policies to overcome the need for child labour”.
The Global March firmly believes that ending the economic exploitation of children can only be possible when free, compulsory and quality education is assured for all children regardless of gender, race, religion, and social or economic status. The elimination of child labour and education for all are two sides of one coin. One cannot be achieved without provision for the other. With governments, international agencies and civil society committing not to let education for all fail due to lack of funds, the elimination of child labour becomes a realistic goal. All stakeholders must take this inseparable relationship into account in their policymaking, law enforcement, budgetary measures and developmental aid in order for all children to enjoy their childhood with books, and not with tools and labour.
The theme for this year’s World Day Against Child Labour is rightfully “Education is the Right Response to Child Labour”. Education, as has been amply demonstrated, is the only approach that should be adopted by all the stakeholders and social leaders to end exploitation of children.
The World Day Against Child Labour has a huge significance for the Global March movement; the voice of the global marchers was heard and reflected in the draft of the ILO Convention 182 against the worst forms of child labour. The following year in 1999, the Convention was unanimously adopted at the ILO Conference in Geneva on 12 June, and later marked as the World Day Against Child Labour commemorating the voices of millions of children around the world demanding an end to child labour and all forms of exploitation of children.
Child Participation is at the core of Global March vision and action. Global March believes that children are subjects of rights, rather than merely recipients of adult protection, and that those rights demand that children themselves are entitled to be heard. This is further reinforced by ILO Recommendation 190 on the implementation of ILO Convention 182 (concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour) which states: The programmes of action referred to in Article 6 of the Convention should be designed and implemented as a matter of urgency, in consultation with relevant government institutions and employers' and workers' organizations, taking into consideration the views of the children directly affected by the worst forms of child labour, their families and, as appropriate, other concerned groups...”
The best way the children can truly learn that they have rights and come to believe in them through the process of acting on them. Having a voice about their rights is therefore essential to push for their fulfilment.
Objectives: South Asia Regional Congress on Child Labour and Education aims to
Visibility and Advocacy: on the issues of child labour and education in the South Asia region amongst main stakeholder groups such as policy makers, government agencies, bilateral and multilateral agencies, academia, workers associations, corporations, children’s groups and representations, media and other civil society groups
Promote Child Participation – and genuine representation of children’s voices and demands at the regional policy forum
Knowledge Sharing – on various facets of child labour, worst forms, education strategies, corporate social strategies, etc.
Programme Schedule
12 June 2008, Thursday
09.05 – 09.30 Registration and distribution of Kit
10.00 – 11.00 Inaugural Session (Speaker Hall)
09.45 – 09.50 Welcome to child participants, Hon’ble Guests, Speakers and other delegates
09.50 – 09.55 Om Prakash, International Children’s Peace Prize Winner 2006, Child Activist – Welcome
09.55 – 10.00 Child participant from India
10.00 – 10.15 Kailash Satyarthi, Chairperson, Global March Against Child Labour, Welcome Address
10.15 – 10.20 Child participant from Sri Lanka
10.20 – 10.30 Smt. Manju Hembrom, Member, National Commission for Women – Remarks
10.30 – 10.35 Shri. Anees Jillani, Founder, SPARC, Pakistan – Remarks
10.35 – 10.45 Shri. K Kekulandara, Education Secretary, Sri Lanka – Key note remarks
10.45 – 11.00 Smt. Sheila Dikshit, Chief Minister, Govt. of Delhi – Guest of Honour
11.00 – 11.30 Tea Break
11.30 – 01.30
Working Sessions I: aims at understanding the various voices coming from various stakeholders and forging a common thread of discussion and action
Session I: Children’s Forum: Voices of Hope, Aspiration and Success
(Deputy Chairman Hall)
Session II: Policy Dialogue: Roles and Responsibilities of Civil Society
(Speaker Hall)
Session III: Role of Media and Advocacy
(Board Room)
01.30 – 02.30 Lunch
02.30 – 04.00 Working Sessions II: aims at giving shape and structure to the understanding and points of action through the formulation of a declaration
Session I: Children’s Forum: Voices of Hope, Aspiration and Success
(Deputy Chairman Hall)
Session II: Policy Dialogue: Roles and Responsibilities of Civil Society
(Speaker Hall)
Session III: Role of Media and Advocacy
(Board Room)
04.00 – 04.30 Tea Break
04.30 - 06.00
Valedictory Session: Open Discussion, Presentation of the Declaration (Speaker Hall)
04.30 – 05.00 Open discussion on the Declaration / Outcome document
05.00 – 05.05 Welcome of the Chief Guest Shri Arjun Singh ji and other dignitaries
05.05 – 05.15 Presentation of the declaration
05.10 – 05.20 Justice Anshuman Singh, Former Governor Rajasthan and Gujarat, Chair
05.20 – 05.25 Shri Mohan Jena, Member of Parliament– Remarks
05.25 – 05.30 Ms. Leyla Tegmo-Reddy, Director, ILO SRO - Remarks
05.30 – 05.35 Shri Gauri Pradhan, Commissioner, National Human Rights Commission, Nepal
05.35– 05.55 Shri. Arjun Singh, Minister of Human Resource Development, Chief Guest
05. 55 – 06.00 Shri. Ravi Prakash Verma, Member of Parliament; Convenor, Parliamentary Forum on Education – Vote of Thanks
Venue: Constitution Club, Vithalbhai Patel House, Opp. Shram Shakti Bhawan, Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Marg, New Delhi
