Statement - South Asian Child Rights Group Calls for Augmented Social Protection to End Child Labour and All Forms of Violence against Children

Statement | New Delhi, India | 12 June 2014
New Delhi, India (June 12, 2014) – On this World Day Against Child Labour, the South Asia Coordinating Group on Action against Violence against Children (SACG) calls on Governments, social partners, employers, trade unions, the private sector, civil society, and media to join hands to end child labour through extending social protection guarantees, in line with ILO Recommendation No.202.

SACG commends all efforts that contributed to the reduction of 75 million in the number of child labourers since 2000, as indicated by ILO global child estimates released in 2013. Laudable as this progress is, it also is the alarm bell that draws attention to the fact that around the world, 168 million children continue to struggle in child labour and of these more than 85 million are in hazardous work. Asia and the Pacific region continues to have the highest numbers of children in child labour – 78 million of them. The situation in South Asia, as elsewhere, clearly warrants a surge of extraordinary proportions, if the battle against child labour is to be won in the foreseeable future.

Child labour, as other forms of violence, is the result of compounded underlying causes that are often deep, structural, interwoven and mutually reinforcing. Among these are widespread poverty, gross inequality of income distribution, discrimination based on class or caste, and poor resilience to shocks. The situation is aggravated by inadequate social protection for 70 percent of the world population, and lack of child protection for millions of children.

The SACG advocates for realization of the right to social protection, and urges Governments to address the underlying social and economic causes of child labour. Adequate access to nutrition, education, health care, and income security, and protection from under-age employment are critical to reducing children's vulnerability to exploitation and violence at the workplace and in schools, homes and institutions.

SACG recognizes that the prevention, removal and reintegration of children involved in exploitative child labour require long-term national and community-based solutions, effective child and social protection systems, and the realization of children's rights to survival, development, and protection. An urgent, reinforced and multi-pronged approach is the imperative.

Noting the wide-ranging commitments that Governments have made in regard to children, the SACG calls on South Asian Governments, as primary duty bearers, to:
  • Make national social and child protection systems child friendly and responsive to children’s multiple needs for care, security, development and protection from all forms of violence;
  • Put in place specific strategies to reach the vulnerable groups of children and families;
  • Enhance policy coherence and collaborative efforts, including in delivery systems to ensure that children receive timely services and support; 
  • Strengthen child rights institutions, and the participation of civil society and children in planning and-decision making processes;
  • Ratification and effective implementation of ILO Conventions No. 138 on the Minimum Age to Employment; No. 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labour, the UN CRC and its Protocols and SAARC regional and national commitments; and
  • Intentionally target vulnerable children and households, including those most economically and socially marginalized.
Recognizing the distinctive significance of the SAARC’s Apex body on Children, the South Asia Initiative to End Violence against Children (SAIEVAC), SACG calls for SAIEVAC Governing Board Members and the SAARC Governments to fully implement its Five-Year Work Plan with support and cooperation from all concerned entities of the governments, civil society and children and the international community.

The SACG further urges social partners, civil society and professional organizations, and young peoples to contribute to strengthening of child protection and labour law compliance systems; and for business to move corporate social responsibility beyond risk assessment to promoting change and human rights, and investing in young people and their communities. It calls for enhanced collaboration amongst all actors, the promotion of safe child participation and undertaking additional measures to strengthen children's resilience, supporting monitoring and reporting mechanisms, prevention and response services, and accountability systems.

We call on the Media to promote productive dialogue and debate on child labour and other forms of violence against children, to engage in raising awareness on the rights of children at all levels of society; and to act responsibly in upholding confidentiality of personal information and dignity principles when reporting on acts of neglect, abuse, exploitation, and other forms of violence against children.

TOGETHER, we can realize the vision that all children in South Asia enjoy their right to protection from all forms of violence in all settings! (SACG)
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ABOUT SACG

The South Asia Coordinating Group on Action against Violence against Children (SACG) brings together United Nations agencies and international and regional NGOs and other actors working at the regional level for child rights and protection in South Asia. Among these are ILO (SACG Chair), World Vision International (SACG Co-Chair), UNICEF, UNFPA, UNODC, UNESCO, ECPAT International, Plan International, Save the Children, Child Helpline International, SOS Children’s Villages International, Centre for Reproductive Rights, Terre de Hommes, and Planete Enfants, working in partnership with the SAIEVAC Regional Secretariat and its national mechanisms.

Through multidimensional efforts, SACG aims to end all violence against children in South Asia in partnership with similar national groups and coalitions across the region. We support and engage in policy dialogue and advocacy, coordination, networking, capacity building, knowledge sharing, and new knowledge generation activities. SACG maintains a longstanding partnership with SAIEVAC and the Office of the UN Secretary General’s Special Representative of the UN Secretary General on Violence against Children.


For further information on the SACG initiative, please contact:

Sherin Khan, SACG Chair, Email 
 Mark Kelly, SACG Co-Chair, Email