The Statistical Information and Monitoring Programme on Child Labour (SIMPOC) has, over the last seven years, provided technical assistance to over 50 ILO member states to generate information on child labour in all its forms. In the course of this work, a number of challenges have emerged, particularly in terms of how to translate ILO standards regarding child labour into operational and statistical terms of measurement, and especially for the hidden and often illicit forms of child labour. In addition, SIMPOC's tools and processes need to be adapted to a rapidly changing and growing market for its services.
In view of these challenges, the SIMPOC External Advisory Committee (SEAC), a multidisciplinary body, was established in 2003. SEAC's mission is: (a) to offer technical and strategic advice and guidance regarding child labour statistics - ranging from concepts and measurement issues to data processing, dissemination and analysis; (b) to help SIMPOC keep abreast of the latest research techniques in the field of social statistics and network with renowned institutions and experts; (c) to advise SIMPOC on the development of a new and more needs-oriented product range; and (d) to assist in advocacy and promotion of SIMPOC work to give it greater visibility in the policy and research communities.
The Committee meets twice a year in Geneva, usually in April and October/November. The thirteen members of SEAC were chosen from the child labour research community as well as from among specialists in areas of survey methodology and experts in data management and dissemination. Experts from three United Nations specialized organizations - the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the United Nations Statistics Division — and the World Bank were asked to join the Committee, and one internal ILO seat was designated. From time to time, SEAC may be augmented by a guest member. The thirteen members of SEAC and their affiliations are as follows:
Kaushik Basu, C. Marks Professor and Professor of Economics, and Director, Program on Comparative Economic Development, Cornell University, New York.
Grace Bediako, Government Statistician Ghana Statistical Service Accra, Ghana
Edith De Leeuw, Associate Professor, Department of Methodology and Statistics, University of Utrecht and Director of Methodology, The Netherlands.
Leith Dunn, Assistant Representative, Population and Development Strategies-UNFPA Caribbean, Jamaica.
Gavin Jones, Professor, Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore.
Bal Kumar KC, Professor and Head of the Central Department of Population Studies and the Centre for Population Research and Executive Head of the National Centre for Population and research and Training, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal.
Deborah Levison, Associate Professor of Population Analysis and Policy, Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota.
Edilberto LOAIZA, Programme Officer, Strategic Information Section, Division of Policy and Planning UNICEF, New York.
Albert Motivans, Senior Programme Specialist, UNESCO Institute for Statistics, (UIS), Montreal.
Diane Steele, Household Survey Coordinator, Development Research Group, World Bank, Washington, D.C.
Joann Vanek, Director of Statistics Programme, Women in the Informal Economy Globalizing and Organizing (WIEGO) New York.
Vijay Verma, Professor, Department of Quantitative Methods, University of Siena and Director, International Social Research, Ltd., London.
Sylvester Young, Director, Bureau of Statistics, Policy Integration Department, International Labour Office, Geneva.
A Secretariat to SEAC was established to facilitate the work of the advisors and to prepare for the meetings. Mr. Farhad Mehran serves as facilitator to the meetings.
- Agenda, list of participants and advice:
