250 Former Child Labourers and Child Activists
to Discuss Elimination of Exploitative Child Labour
New Delhi, May 5, 2004 – Zolkina Veronika from
Russia, Alamin from Bangladesh, Mukesh from India, Sachiko
from Japan and Kendra from the USA – these are
only a few names of around 250 children coming together
on May 10-12, 2004 for the first ever Children’s
World Congress on Child Labour in Florence, Italy. It
is organised by Global March Against Child Labour and
hosted by its European Coordinator Mani Tese together
with the Italian Trade Unions CGIL, CISL and UIL.
For the first time ever children representing all geographic
areas and sectors of economic activities will have a
forum to raise their voice on the issues of exploitative
child labour and missing an education, talk about their
experiences and discuss elimination strategies. They
will elaborate their own Action Plan and will culminate
the Congress by a massive physical march on Thursday,
May 13, 2004.
Kailash Satyarthi, Chairperson of Global March Against
Child Labour, said: “246 million children are
caught in the vicious circle of poverty, child labour
and illiteracy, 179 million of them are languishing
in the worst forms of exploitation, including slavery,
trafficking, forced labour, armed service and prostitution.
The world cannot ignore the reverberation of the collective
voices of children as they gather in Florence to remind
of the promises that have been made.”
Why a Children’s World Congress?
Although governments have, by signing ILO conventions
182 and 138, the Dakar Goal on Education For All and
the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, promised
to end harmful child labour and provide all children
with basic, quality education, almost none has fulfilled
its promises so far.
The Children’s World Congress aims at urging
governments to follow their obligations, enhancing child
participation in opinion sharing and decision-making
processes and empower children to lead worldwide efforts
in the eradication of exploitative child labour. After
the congress a standing children’s committee is
going to be established to facilitate the implementation
of the decisions made in the World Congress.
What is happening at the Congress?
Based on a full year of preparatory activities at local,
national and regional levels children will present and
discuss their ideas in workshops and sessions and elect
their own representatives. They will also engage in
a dialogue and an accountability session with representatives
of governments, national and International institutions,
trade unions and NGOs. The children will develop a Plan
of Action for eliminating exploitative child labour
and ensuring the goals of ‘Education for All’.
This Plan will be presented to the governments and international
organisations.
Speakers of the Congress:
Among the speakers at the Children’s World Congress
on Child Labour are: Arnold Levine, U.S. Department
of Labor Deputy Undersecretary for International Labor
Affairs, Ovidio Pacheco Salazar, Minister of Labour,
Costa Rica, Renu Yadav, Minister of Women, Children
and Social Welfare, Nepal, Joaquina Cadete, Chairperson
of the Plan on Elimination of Exploitation of Child
Labour (PEETI), Portugal, Kari Tapiola, Deputy Director
General ILO, Ad Melkert, Executive Director World Bank,
Frans Roselaers, Director Program IPEC/ILO, Marta Santos
Pais, Director UNICEF IRC, Qian Tang, Director of UNESCO's
Section for Technical and Vocational Education, Ximena
Bohorquez de Gutierrez, First Lady of Ecuador &
President INNFA, Kerry Kennedy, Director Robert Kennedy
Human Rights Center, Jacob Egbert Doek, President of
the Committee on the Rights of the Child, Andre Gorgemans,
General Secretary World Federation of Sporting Goods
Industry, Robert Holzman, Director Social Protection
World Bank, Savino Pezzota, General Secretary CISL.
About Global March Against Child Labour
The Global March Against Child Labour is 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.
With its international secretariat in New Delhi, India,
it is committed to mobilising global efforts to protect
and promote the rights of the children, especially the
right 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, and the right to receive free,
quality education. The movement was founded in 1998
by Mr. Kailash Satyarthi who initiated a global march
of supporters across the world protesting against child
labour. Covering more than 80,000 km through Asia, Africa,
Europe, and Americas, the March culminated in the adoption
of the ILO Convention 182 on the ‘Worst Forms
of Child Labour’.
If you would like to participate in the congress please
register on www.globalmarch.it or send an email to media@globalmarch.org.
For more information, please contact:
International Secretariat
Global March Against Child Labour
L-6 Kalkaji, New Delhi 110019 India
Tel: (91 11) 2622 4899, 2647 5481
Fax: (91 11) 2623 6818
E-mail: childhood@globalmarch.org, gmis@globalmarch.org.in
Website: http://www.globalmarch.org
