Child Labour
Today, worldwide, about 215 million children work, often full-time. Do not go to school and have little or no time to play. Many do not receive nutrition or proper care. They are deprived of the opportunity to be children. More than half of them are the exposed to the worst forms of child labor such as work in the hazardous environments, slavery or other forms of forced labor, illicit activities, including drug trafficking and prostitution, and participation in armed conflicts.
Guided by the principles of the Convention on Minimum Age ILO 138 on the worst forms of 182 children, the In-Focus Programme on Child Labour (IPEC) is working on the effective abolition of child labor.
Labour Standards
One of the main goals set by the International Labour Organization (ILO) at its founding in 1919 was the abolition of child labor. Historically, the ILO's main tool to achieve the goal of the effective abolition of child labor has been the adoption and supervision of labor standards in the concept of a minimum age for admission to employment or work. In addition, from 1919 the principle that minimum age standards should be linked to schooling is part of the ILO's tradition in the development of standards in this area. Convention No. 138 provides that the minimum age for admission to employment shall not be less than the age of completion of the compulsory schooling.Adoption of Convention 182 of the ILO in 1999 consolidated the global consensus on the eradication of child labor. He provided the focus if necessary without abandoning the overarching goal expressed in the Convention No. 138 the effective abolition of child labor. In addition, the concept of the worst forms of assistance in determining priorities and can be used as an entry point to address the problem of child labor. The concept also helps to draw attention to the impact of work on children. The child labor that is proscribed by the international law is divided into three categories:
1. The worst forms of child labor, defined internationally as slavery, trafficking, debt bondage and other forms of forced labor, forced recruitment of the children for use in armed conflict and prostitution and pornography, and illicit activities.
2. The work was done by a child who is under the minimum age specified for the type of work defined by the national legislation into line with the accepted by the international standards and is likely to impede the child's education and full development.
3. A job that puts physical well-being, mental or moral development of the child in danger and either by its nature or the circumstances in which it takes place known as hazardous work.
An Encouraging Trend
The new estimation suggests that there were about 317 million economically active children 5-17 years old in 2004, including 218 million can be considered child laborers. Of these, 126 million were in hazardous work. The corresponding figures for the limited age group of 5 to 14-year-olds 191 million economically active children, 166 million working children, and the 74 million children in hazardous work. The number of working children in both groups 5-14 and 5-17 fell 11 percent in the four years from 2000 to 2004. However, the decline was much greater for those engaged in hazardous work: A 26 percent for 5-17-year-olds, and 33 percent for children from 5 to 14 years.
The incidence of child labor percentage of children working in the 2004 is estimated at 13.9 percent for the 5-17 age group, against 16 percent in 2000. The proportion of girls among child laborers, however, it remained stable.
The overall picture that emerges is very encouraging for child labor is declining, and the most dangerous are the work and the more vulnerable the children involved, the greater the fall.
Minimum Age for Work
One of the most effective methods to ensure that children do not start working very young is to set the age at which the law can be used for children or work differently. The basic principles of the ILO Convention on the minimum age for admission to employment and work are listed below.
Hazardous work
All work that can be dangerous for children physical, mental or moral health, safety and morals should not be done by a person under 18 years.
Basic Minimum Age
The minimum age for work should not be less than the age of completion of compulsory education, which is usually 15.
Light work
Children between the ages of 13 and 15 may perform light work, provided they do not endanger their health and safety or hinder their education or vocational orientation and training.
Understanding the Problem
A better conceptual understanding of child labor has also gone hand in hand with a better understanding of how the problem and its causes.
Across All Economic Sectors
The World Report 2002 indicated that the vast majority (70 percent) of child labor is concentrated in agriculture and the informal economy harbors most child labor across all economic sectors.
In addition, gender plays an important role in determining the different types of work done by girls and boys. For example, girls predominate in domestic work, while boys are heavily represented in mining. The situation worsens when, as for domestic work in many countries, the type of work is excluded from regulation in a large part of the country.
Our understanding of the causes of child labor has also become more sophisticated as different academic perspectives have been exercised on the problem. Seeing child labor as a product of market forces - supply and demand - has been a successful approach, through the behavior of employers and individual households.
Child Labour and Poverty
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Child Labour and Human Rights
A view of human rights is necessary for a more complete understanding of child labor, as it focuses on discrimination and exclusion as contributing factors. The most vulnerable groups when it comes to child labor are often those subject to discrimination and exclusion: girls, ethnic minorities and indigenous and tribal peoples, those of low class or caste, people disabled, displaced persons and those living in remote areas.
The special session of the UN General Assembly on Children in 2002 adopted a mainstreaming approach - placing child labor on the development agenda. This meant that a new ambition was to be set for the worldwide movement against child labor. In political terms, this means putting child labor on the agenda of Ministries of Finance and Planning - after all, the movement around the world must convince governments to act to end child labor. the elimination of child labor is reduced to a set of political choices rather than a technocratic exercise. And the daily reality of instability and crisis challenge attempts to advance.
