Outcome Statement, November 28, 2005 , Beijing

The Context

While significant progress continues to be made by the international community towards achieving the Millennium Developments Goals (MDGs), considerable efforts are required in some of the poorest regions of the world to ensure that these goals are met. There are still over 100 million children out of school, many of whom are forced to work for their survival often in dangerous and exploitative conditions. Efforts need to be redoubled towards the achievement of the six goals of EFA and the elimination of child labour, one of the greatest challenges to human development today. Tragically, the 2005 target of achieving gender parity in primary and secondary education has not been met and girls’ work remains a serious impediment to achieving this MDG.

Global efforts to deal with illiteracy and lack of access to education in rural areas are hindered by the pervasive problem of child labour. There is a direct correlation between poverty levels and the vulnerability of children of illiterate parents – especially their mothers - to economic exploitation. The majority of child labour is in agriculture in the rural areas due to low access to education combined with the low wages of parents (who are farmers or waged agricultural workers).

From New Delhi and Brazil to Beijing

The previous Round Tables in New Delhi and Brazil recognized the inextricable linkages between efforts to achieve EFA and progressively eliminate child labour. Free and compulsory education of good quality up to the minimum working age is crucial to preventing child labour which is one of the main obstacles to EFA and poverty alleviation. There remains an urgent need for accelerated efforts to meet the 2015 targets including increased levels of education funding and the improved targeting of these resources to better respond to the needs of working children.

Indeed, there is widespread global commitment towards the achievement of EFA and child labour elimination as well as poverty reduction. At the same time, however, there has been a lack of institutional and systematic effort towards creating synergy among policies and programmes addressing these three development areas. Partnership will need to be the driving force behind the achievement of the MDGs. After Brazil, an Inter-Agency Working Group on Child Labour and Education has been established. The Group has prepared a joint publication on emerging good practices which will support the elaboration of results-oriented activities to be put in place by countries intent on tackling these twin challenges. The Round Table thanks the Governments of China, Nigeria, and Pakistan for sharing their good experiences in using education to combat child labour this year in Beijing.

From Commitment to Action

Against this background and in the spirit of renewed cooperation and creating more effective synergies, a Global Task Force on Child Labour and Education will be established. The central role of the Task Force will be to mobilize political will and momentum towards mainstreaming the issue of child labour and education in national and international development through advocacy, coordination and support. The initial membership will include the ILO, UNESCO, UNICEF, the World Bank and the Global March Against Child Labour and will be open to other interested partners. The Task Force will build on existing collaborative work including the ILO-UNICEF-World Bank research initiative, “Understanding Children’s Work”. One of the main tasks of this body will be to coordinate evidence based support to accelerate countries’ efforts towards the universalization of education, poverty reduction and child labour elimination.

For more infomation contact:
Ayse Sule Caglar - caglar@ilo.org 41-22-799-8746
Sudhanshu Joshi - sjoshi@iccle.org 1-202-258-8873