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About
Child Participation |
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The
right of children to speak and
be listened to is a fundamental
part of international law, as
promised to all children in the
UN Convention on the Rights of
the Child (Article 12). But these
are mere words on paper, if they
are not matched by genuine efforts
to give children a chance to be
heard.
When,
at the culmination point of the
Global March Against Child Labour
in 1998, children spoke directly
to the delegates at the International
Labour Conference in Geneva, it
was the first time that children
had such a direct and visible
role in the establishment of international
law. The result was the unanimous
adoption by the world’s
governments, trade unions, and
employers of a new Convention
to end the worst forms of child
labour.
The
Global March Principles of Child
Participation ensure that former
child labourers and child activists
have an opportunity to organise
themselves, learn from each other,
and make the world listen to what
they have to say:
- All
children should be given due
respect;
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The involvement of children
must be completely voluntarily,
free and based on a participatory
process;
- Children’s views and
inputs are to be listened
to and acted upon by adults;
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Children are to be made aware
of their rights and empowered
to understand and take leadership
charges in promoting their
rights;
- Children need to have access
to information and material
from a diversity of national
and international sources,
especially those aimed at
promoting children’s
rights, to enable children
formulate their own independent
views;
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Child representatives are
to be encouraged to get involved
in planning, coordination
and decision-making processes,
in all matters that affect
them, and in their follow-up;
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The activities and the experience
thereof are to be interesting,
enjoyable and educational
for the participating children;
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Children
are not to be used by adults
for the attainment of their
own goals such as political,
ideological or economic
advancement;
- In
general, the participation
of children is to be beneficial
in preparing them for a responsible
life for themselves and others
in the spirits of freedom,
understanding, equality and
friendship among all people.
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About
Education & Child Labour |
Education
For All (EFA) and the progressive
elimination of child labour are
inextricably linked. On the one
hand, education – and, in
particular, free and compulsory
education of good quality is a
key element in the prevention
of child labour. Children with
no access to quality education
have little alternative but to
enter the labour market, where
they are often forced to work
in dangerous and exploitative
conditions.
On the other
hand, child labour is one of
the main obstacles to EFA, since
children who are working full
time cannot go to school. The
academic achievement of children
who combine work and school
often suffers and there is a
strong tendency for these children
to drop out of school.
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104 million primary-school
age children are out of school.
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Another
150 million children start
primary school but drop out
before they learn to read
and write.1
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An estimated 56% of the 105
million children out of school
are girls. Girls remain at
home while their brothers
are given preferences to go
to school. Two thirds of students
who drop out of school before
completing their primary education
are girls.1
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94%
of out-of-school children
live in developing countries
(least developed alone account
for over one third) and 47%
are concentrated in the 9
high population (E-9) countries.1
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40%
of children never go to school
in Africa – the only
region in the world where
the numbers of children out
of school are rising. In total
close to 45 million children
in Africa do not attend school.1
Of that number, most are girls.
Those who do go to school
receive an average of only
3.5 years of learning. In
Mali, Mozambique, and Ethiopia
the average is less than one
year in school!
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In
Malawi, after making education
free, the number of primary
school pupils jumped by an
astonishing 50% from 1.9 million
to 3.0 million, from between
1995-1996.2
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During
the 1990s the numbers of children
enrolling at primary school
fell in 17 African countries.
If current trends continue,
Africa will account for two-thirds
of children missing out on
school by 2015.1
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One
third of out-of-school children
are concentrated in sub-Saharan
Africa. Another one third
are in South and West Asia.1
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Out-of-school
children by region: (Primary)
Sub-Saharan Africa: 37%
South and West Asia: 34%
East Asia / Pacific: 13%
Arab States and N Africa:
7%
Central and Eastern Europe:
3%
Latin America/Caribbean: 2%
North America/W Europe: 2%
Central Asia: 2%1
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If
current trends continue 88
countries won’t meet
the Dakar Framework 2015 Targets
for Basic Education. This
will also mean that 75 million
primary-aged children will
still be out of school.1
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The number of children in
school has increased since
1990, but because of an accompanied
decline in quality due of
increasing class sizes, children
are more likely to drop out.
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Learning outcomes at school
are often very low (and reflect
the poor quality of education
in most countries): For example,
one study in sub-Saharan Africa
discovered 60% of children
left education functionally
illiterate.
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One
third of all children fail
to complete five years’
schooling, although that is
the minimum requirement if
children are to acquire basic
proficiency in reading and
writing.1
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The
HIV/AIDS pandemic is wreaking
havoc on many already struggling
education systems in Africa.
For example, in Zambia, more
teachers will die of aids
this year than graduate through
teacher training: the gap
from the mortality rate for
AIDS cannot be met, leaving
schools without teaching staff.2
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The children of women who
have completed primary education
are on average twice as likely
to survive beyond the age
of five, and half as likely
to suffer from malnutrition.
Mothers who have completed
primary education are 50%
more likely to immunize their
infants.
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A
survey of 162 studies, covering
more than 70 countries and
spanning all levels of economic
development, found that in
87 percent of the studies,
the typical individual who
receives a primary education
earns more than enough to
cover the upfront costs of
their schooling. These studies
imply that the average child
almost anywhere can expect
to profit from pursuing an
education.
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About
Global March |
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The
Beginning:
In January 1998, under the leadership
of Mr. Kailash Satyarthi, thousands
of supporters, children and adults,
started a three months march across
the world protesting against child
labour. Covering more than 80,000
km though Asia, Africa, Europe,
and the Americas, the March culminated
in the adoption of the ILO Convention
182 on the ‘Worst Forms
of Child Labour’.
The
Global March today
The Global March is the largest
worldwide civil society initiative
against the exploitation of children
with a network of more than 2000
partners in 144 countries, consisting
of NGOs, child rights activists,
grassroots organisations, Trade
Unions, and other concerned groups
and individuals. It has its International
Secretariat in New Delhi, India,
and regional offices in Bucharest,
Kathmandu, Lome, Manila, Milan,
Nairobi, San Jose, and Santiago,
and a northern advocacy office
in Washington D.C (ICCLE).
The
Mission of the Global March
"The Global March is a movement
to mobilise worldwide efforts
to protect and promote the rights
of all children, especially the
right to receive a free, meaningful
education and to be free from
economic exploitation and from
performing any work that is likely
to be damaging to the child's
physical, mental, spiritual, moral
or social development."
The
Goals of the Global March
· To raise awareness and
promote action against child labour.
· To pursue all available
means to ensure quality education
for all children.
· To promote the ratification
and implementation of ILO Con
ventions
138 and 182.
· To mobilise public opinion
and action against the broader
injustices contributing to child
labour.
· To build partnerships
with all stakeholders in the struggle
against child labour.
· To promote effective
programs for the rehabilitation
and reintegration of child labourers.
· To encourage and support
children's full participation.
The Activities
of the Global March
Under the slogan “From Exploitation
to Education” the Global
March organises its activities
around two Core Campaigns:
The Convention
Campaign
Campaigning and Advocating for
the fast ratification and full
implementation of the ILO Conventions
182 on the Worst Forms of Child
Labour and Convention 138 on the
Minimum Age for Employment. From
the first drafting stage of Convention
182 Global March Partners worked
to bring in the voices of child
labourers, unions, NGOs and the
people to the Convention. Convention
182 is the first one to be unanimously
adopted and is so far the fastest
ratified convention in history.
In over 50 countries, the Global
March partners had a direct impact
in pushing the governments to
immediately ratify the Convention,
keeping the pressure with mass
awareness drives, publications
and direct lobbying. The Global
March also closely monitors the
progress of implementation of
the conventions and published
in 2002 the first global report
“Out of the Shadows”
documenting the worst forms of
child labour.
The Education Campaign
Advocating for the realisation
of Education For All, specifically
lobbying for implementation of
the Dakar Education for All Goals.
Child Labour and education are
inextricably linked and the availability
of quality education systems is
critical in the fight to end child
labour. The Education Campaign
advocates that it is the obligation
of each state, with the support
of the international community,
to ensure free, compulsory and
quality education for every child.
Global March is
one of the founding partners of
the Global Campaign for Education,
formed in 1999 together with Education
International, Oxfam, Action Aid
to pressurize world leaders to
stay true to their promises to
ensure that all children are enjoying
a primary education by 2015.
Advocacy
and Special Theme Campaigns:
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The World Cup Football Campaign
2002 aimed at the elimination
of child labour in the sporting
goods industry. It advocated
on a link between unfair working
conditions for adult workers
and the prevalence of child
labour, while raising awareness
about child labour used in
one of the most popular sports
in the world, football.
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The Domestic Child Labour
Campaign for elimination of
domestic child labour in 2001
revealed the most hidden form
of child labour to the world.
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FAQs |
Q:
What is Child Labour?
A: Child labour is any economic
activity or work that interferes
with the completion of a child’s
education, or that is mentally,
physically, socially or morally
dangerous and harmful to children.
Some children participate in light
activities that are considered
acceptable, as long as it does
not come under the above categories
or exploit the child and allows
the child enough time and space
to grow, learn and develop to
his/ her fullest potential.
In more technical terms, child
labour includes all economically
active children under the age
of 12, children between the age
of 11 and 14 who are doing more
than a few hours of non-light
work, and all children, including
those between the ages of 15-17
who are working in hazardous work.
Q. What
are the worst forms of child
labour?
A: The worst forms of child
labour include mainly two types
of child labour. Intolerable
child labour is work detrimental
to the children. These involve
children that are enslaved,
forcibly recruited, prostituted,
trafficked, forced into illegal
activities (such as drug running),
children involved in armed conflicts.
Hazardous child labour is work
in dangerous industries or workplaces
where children are likely to
meet exploitative situations
by nature or circumstance
Q: Don’t
children have to work because
of poverty?
A: While it is undeniable that
children work, in part, because
of poverty it is not the only
reason, or as important as many
people assume. Children often
replace adults in the job market,
depressing their wages and hindering
economic growth. In India, 60
million children are working
while 70 million adults are
unemployed. Recent studies have
begun to question poverty as
the major cause of child labour,
discovering that other factors,
such as failing education systems,
are equally important in perpetuating
child labour. Countries with
very similar levels of poverty
often have very different rates
of child labour, on the other
hand, a country that is much
richer than its neighbouring
country can have almost equal
occurrence of child labour.
Q: How
will poor families survive without
the additional income of the
children?
A: Many studies show that children’s
wages contribute so meagrely
to the family’s income
that they are of little significance
to the overall family income.
And, a large number of child
labourers come from households
where the parents are unemployed
or under-employed, while employers
give preference to children
as a cheap source of labour.
Moreover, it is precisely the
vast number of children in the
workforce that bring down adult’s
wages, their bargaining power
is reduced and they suffer from
large-scale unemployment.
The cost of children missing
out on education is much greater
to both the individual development
of a child, as well as development
of society as a whole. Evidence
suggests that existing social
norms, tradition, exclusion
and discrimination of certain
groups as well as a badly or
‘indifferently’
functioning educational system
are the most important reasons
why children are working and
not attending school. It is
the responsibilities of States
and the international community
to ensure that programmes are
in place to mitigate the immediate
negative impacts of the withdrawal
of children from labour for
poor families.
Q: What
rights do children have to be
protected against child labour?
A: The right of a child to be
protected against harmful labour
is both explicitly and implicitly
defined in a number of international
agreements, from the Convention
on the Rights of the Child (CRC)
to the ILO Convention’s
182 and 138.
Q: Isn’t
child labour necessary for a
country until it reaches a certain
level of development?
A: No, no evidence supports
the theory that children must
work to earn for a thriving
industry, until economic growth
and technological advancement
create their replacement. Child
labour can be seen to actually
hinder growth: blocking educational
opportunities, decreasing technological
innovation, perpetuating poverty
and damaging the future adult
workforce.
Child labour inhibits the productive
potential of a country’s
citizens by interfering with
education, damaging health and
skill development, and affecting
attitudes. Higher human capital
yields higher adult labour income.
But a child that supplies more
labour and receives less education
will have less human capital.
In turn, s/he will be poorer
as an adult, and thereby perpetuate
a cycle of poverty.
Q: Isn’t
children’s work also a
good part of their early childhood
education?
A: Millions of child labourers
miss precious time in their
physical and mental development
to days and nights of work.
Qualitative schooling teaches
the children not only skills
for the future but gives an
opportunity to socialize and
relate to the people in social
settings. Education also empowers
children, teaching them what
their basic rights are, and
helps in realizing their potential.
A recent study has shown that
adults, who worked in industries
as children are less productive
than their counterparts who
didn’t start working until
adulthood dispelling the idea
that children benefit from early
training from child labour in
later life.
Q: Don’t
children have the right to decent
work?
A: Protecting the right of children
to work and the needs to improve
their working conditions have
recently been advocated by a
number of groups but this very
concept is a violation of the
provisions in the already agreed
international conventions concerning
children.
Child rights are non-negotiable
and equally borne by all children,
regardless of their economic,
social, or biological background.
Circumstantial compulsion work
due to the economic necessity
or other reasons do not create
a new ‘right’ of
children to work, in neglect
of ensuring the rights to education,
play and health, and to be protected
against economic exploitation.
Forcing young children to work
for their own survival is society’s
repudiation of their fundamental
rights.
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International
Agreements |
In
the last decade, a number of promises
and commitments have been made
by governments and the international
community in order to protect
the fundamental rights of the
child, to end child labour and
to provide all children with a
free, quality education. The Global
March uses the following international
agreements as to define whether
progress has been made in realising
these aims.
ILO
Convention 182 on the Worst
Forms of Child Labour (1999)
ILO Convention 182 calls for
immediate action by the signatory
governments to eliminate the
most exploitative and hazardous
forms of child labour including
child prostitution and pornography,
child bonded labour and slavery,
child trafficking, child soldiers,
and any work that is likely
to harm the physical, mental
and moral well-being of a child.
Since the unanimous adoption
of the Convention in 1999, 149
countries have ratified, making
it the fastest ratified convention
in history (as of March 2004).
ILO
Convention 138 on the Minimum
Age of Employment (1973)
Adopted over three decades,
ILO Convention 138 is the first
international convention that
defined child labour and set
the minimum age for children
to enter work. The convention
sets the tone for different
age limits for labour depending
on the economic circumstances
of a country. But most importantly
it takes the age of the completion
of compulsory education as the
bare minimum age for employment.
The Convention was one of the
first documents that clearly
linked the importance of education
and the elimination of child
labour.
Dakar
Framework of Action (2000)
In 2000, after a decade of failed
promises, 164 governments came
together to commit themselves
to giving all children free
education of good quality by
the year 2015. One of the clear
promises made was that no governments
should fail to provide education
due to the lack of resources.
The Framework has given an opportunity
and a challenge to donor countries
and developing countries to
work together in building political
will and resources to ensure
education for all children.
Convention
on the Rights of the Child (1989)
The Convention on the Rights
of the Child (CRC) was the first
international convention that
outlined the fundamental rights
of all children and is also
the most widely ratified convention
in the world (US and Somalia
were the only non-ratified countries,
as of April 2004). Article 28
guarantees the right of all
children to free and compulsory
education and defines it as
a responsibility of the State
to provide it. Article 32 specifically
deals with the children’s
rights to be free from economic
exploitation.
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Profile
K. Satyarthi |
Kailash
Satyarthi is the Founder and Chairperson
of Global March Against Child
Labour, the largest worldwide
civil society initiative against
economic exploitation of children,
with a network of more than 2000
partners in 144 countries, consisting
of NGOs, child rights activists,
grassroots organisations, trade
unions, and other concerned groups
and individuals. He led and organized
the 80,000 km global march of
supporters protesting against
child labour that gave the movement
its name.
He is also the Founder and Chairperson
of Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA)
/ South Asian Coalition on Child
Servitude (SACCS), initiated in
1980 as a mass movement and coalition
for total elimination of child
labour. Activities of SACCS include
identifying and rescuing child
labourers and providing transitory
rehabilitation to freed children.
Until today more than 64,000 children
have been rescued under the leadership
of Mr. Satyarthi. In India, Kailash
set up three rehabilitation-cum-educational
centres for freed children in
order to help the child overcome
the traumatic effects and develop
as a normal individual.
Kailash Satyarthi initiated the
Crusade against Child Servitude
after giving up the lucrative
career of an Electrical Engineer
in 1980. He was born on 11 January
1954 in Vidisha in Central India.
Mr. Satyarthi is married and has
two children.
Further
Activities
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President, Global Campaign
for Education (GCE), the worldwide
network of teachers' organisations
and NGOs, on the issue of
Education for All.
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Chair of the International
Center on Child Labor and
Education' (ICCLE) in Washington,
D.C. ICCLE is one of the foremost
policy institution to bring
authentic and abiding southern
grassroots perspective in
the US policy domain.
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Architect
of the first internationally
recognised child labour free
social labelling system ‘Rugmark',
which assures that no illegal
child labor was employed in
the manufacture of a carpet
or rug.
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Member of a High Level Group
by UNESCO on Education for
All comprising of select Presidents,
Prime Ministers and UN Agency
Heads.
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One
of the rare civil society
leaders who has addressed
the United Nations General
Assembly, International Labour
Conference, UN Human Rights
Commission, UNESCO, etc.
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Invitee
to several Parliamentary Hearings
and Committees in USA, Germany
and UK.
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Addressed
some of the biggest worldwide
congregations of Workers and
Teachers Congresses, Christian
Assembly, Students Conferences,
etc. as a keynote speaker
on the issue of child labour
and education
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In
the Board and Committee of
several International Organizations.
Amongst all the prominent
ones being in the Center for
Victims of Torture (USA),
International Labor Rights
Fund (USA), etc. Executive
Board Member of International
Cocoa Foundation with the
Headquarters in Geneva representing
the global civil society.
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Edited
magazines like ‘Sangarsh
Jari Rahega', ‘Kranti
Dharmi', and ‘ Asian
Workers Solidarity Link'.
Besides, authored several
articles and booklets on issues
of social concern and human
rights.
International
Awards & Honours
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Raoul
Wallenberg Human Rights Award
– U.S.A. (2002)
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Friedrich
Ebert Stiftung International
Human Rights Award –
Germany (1999)
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La
Hospitalet Award – Spain
(1999)
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Golden
Flag Award – The Netherlands
(1998)
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Robert
F.Kennedy Human Rights Award
– U.S.A. (1995)
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Trumpeter
Award – U.S.A. (1995)
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Aachener
International Peace Prize
– Germany (1994)
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Honoured
by the Former US President
Bill Clinton in Washington
for featuring in Kerry Kennedy's
Book ‘Speak Truth to
Power', where his life and
work features among the top
50 human rights defenders
in the world including Nobel
Laureates Archbishop Desmond
Tutu, Elie Wiesel, His Holiness
the Dalai Lama, etc.
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Statistics
Child Labour |
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Around
the world 246 million children
are involved in child labour,
one in every six children
or 18,5 % of all children
aged 5 to 17. 186 million
are below the age of 15, and
110 million below the age
of 12.
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Approximately
111 million children in hazardous
work are under the age of
15 and should be immediately
withdrawn from this work.
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An
additional 60 million youth
aged 15 to 17 should receive
urgent and immediate protection
from hazards at work, or be
withdrawn from such work.
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Around
8.4 million children are caught
in “unconditional”
worst forms of child labour
including slavery, trafficking,
forced labour, armed service,
prostitution, pornography
and other illicit activities.
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Asia
and the Pacific has the greatest
number of child labourers
with 127.3 million or 19%
of all children in the age
group of 5 to 14. Sub-Saharan
Africa has the highest proportion
of child labourers with 48
million or 29% of all children.
Latin America and the Caribbean
have 17.4 million child labourers
or 16% of all children.
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13.4
million children or 15% of
all children in the Middle
East and North Africa are
in child labour.
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2.4
million children or 4% of
all children in transition
economies and 2.5 million
children or 2% of all children
in developed economies are
caught in child labour, almost
all in unconditional worst
forms such as trafficking
or prostitution.
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