(ILO Bangkok) – The International Labour Office (ILO) is to launch a new report on the state of child labour around the world. The report is being launched on the eve of a major global meeting in The Hague, aimed at intensifying efforts to eliminate the worst forms of child labour within the next decade.

The new ILO Global Report on Child Labour, entitled “Accelerating action against child labour” will be launched worldwide, under embargo, on 7 May.

Invitation to Bangkok-based media:

A special briefing for Asia-Pacific journalists and editors will be held in Bangkok, under embargo, on the 7th of May. Speaking to the report’s findings will be Mr Guy Thijs, presently the Deputy-Regional Director of the ILO’s Office for Asia and the Pacific and a former director of the International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour – IPEC. He will be joined by Ms Simrin Singh, the ILO’s Senior Specialist on Child Labour for East Asia.

This briefing in Bangkok offers journalists and editors the most up-to-date information on the situation of child labour in Asia and the Pacific in four years.

The report assesses progress made in the global campaign against child labour and lays out the challenges that remain if the goal of eliminating the worst forms of child labour by 2016 is to be achieved. The ILO set that goal in 2006, when its last global assessment of the state of child labour was issued.

The Hague Global Child Labour Conference on 10-11 May is being organized by the Dutch Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment in close collaboration with the ILO's International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) and in cooperation with UNICEF and the World Bank.

The main objective of the conference is to strengthen the worldwide movement to achieve universal ratification of ILO Conventions Nos. 138 (Minimum Age) and 182 (Worst Forms of Child Labour) and to advance efforts to reach the 2016 target.

The conference at The Hague will provide opportunities for countries, workers’ organizations, employers’ organizations, non-governmental organizations and other parties to showcase good practices and lessons learned in the fight against the worst forms of child labour and consider a "Road Map" providing concrete steps towards achieving the global 2016 target.

Note to the media in Asia and the Pacific:

You are cordially invited to attend this Asia-Pacific briefing at 11 am on 7 May 2010, in the Theatre Room of the UN Conference Centre (ground floor), Rajadamnern Nok Avenue Bangkok. (One-on-one interviews can also be arranged for non-Bangkok-based journalists)

The report (in PDF format) will be made available at that time under embargo for publication on or after 00:01 GMT on Saturday 8 May. Please contact dow@ilo.org or call +66 2 288 2057 for more information.

Video and Press Interviews: For one-on-one interviews with ILO officials based in Bangkok and New Delhi about the situation in Asia and the Pacific, please contact Mr Allan Dow +66 89 891 5003 or email . (Note: Embargo remains in force).

For video interviews with the authors of the report (based in Europe) please contact the Department of Communication/Radio and TV Unit on +41 22 799 7935 or email. Other non-broadcast interview requests with the authors please contact the Department of Communication +41 22 799 7512 or email .

For more information on child labour, please visit our thematic portal on Child Labour

For further information, please contact:

Mr Allan Dow, Regional Information Officer (a.i.)
International Labour Organization, Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific
Tel: +66 (0) 2288 2057, Email

Ms Krisdaporn Singhaseni, Information Officer, ILO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, Bangkok
Tel: 02 288 1664, EMail