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The End of Child Labour within Reach

Document number
1183
Date
2006
Title
The End of Child Labour within Reach
Author/publisher
International Labour Organization (ILO)
Availability
View/save PDF version of this document
Document type(s)
Research/Study/Analysis,
Keywords
Child Trafficking, Child Prostitution, Child Pornography, Best Interests Principle, Child Victims of Trafficking, Separated Migrant Children, Unaccompanied minors, Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), Child protection systems,
Summary
This second Global Report on child labour under the follow-up to the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work offers for the first time a truly dynamic picture. The new global estimates presented in Part I allow the ILO to assess global and regional trends. A remarkable picture emerges. In 2004 there were 218 million children trapped in child labour, of whom 126 million were in hazardous work. Although the participation of girls in child labour and hazardous work is on a par with that of boys in the youngest age group (5-11 years), boys predominate considerably at older ages in both categories. However, the number of child labourers globally fell by 11 per cent over the last four years, while that of children in hazardous work decreased by 26 per cent. For the age group of 5-14 years the decline in hazardous work was even steeper – by 33 per cent. The global picture that emerges is that child work is declining, and the more harmful the work and the more vulnerable the children involved, the faster the decline. Part I goes on to examine the historical experience of the first industrial nations to reinforce the central message of what works in combating child labour. Part II of the Report reviews efforts to strengthen the ILO’s largest programme of technical cooperation – the International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) – and in mainstreaming child labour as part of the Decent Work Agenda. Part II of the Report reviews efforts to strengthen the ILO’s largest programme of technical cooperation – the International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) – and in mainstreaming child labour as part of the Decent Work Agenda. Part IV sets out an action plan that builds on the three-pillar approach set forth in the 2002 Global Report, but in a more focused way, defining clear targets. It proposes that the ILO and its member States continue to pursue the goal of the effective abolition of child labour, committing themselves to the elimination of all the worst forms of child labour by 2016, and that they put in place appropriate time-bound measures by the end of 2008. In pursuit of these targets, over the next four years the ILO will strengthen its efforts to develop coherent and comprehensive approaches to abolishing child labour.
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