Press Releases

World Day against Child Labour 12 June 2006

"The End of Child Labour: Together we can do it!"

Launching of the SCREAM educational social mobilization initiative in Egypt

ILO's Sub-regional Office for North Africa and the Italian Embassy in Dar es Salaam

The World Day Against Child Labour (WDACL), observed worldwide on the 12th of June, is intended to serve as a catalyst for the growing worldwide movement against child labour. This year, the International Labour Organization's Sub-regional Office for North Africa and the Italian Embassy in Dar es Salaam will be celebrating 12 June by launching the SCREAM Stop Child Labour initiative in Egypt. NGOs, ministries, workers' and employers' organizations and artists will be participating in the launch and will play an active role in its implementation.

In the framework of the ILO/IPEC (International Programme for the Elimination of Child Labour) program SCREAM, which stands for Supporting Children's Rights through Education, the Arts and the Media, funded by the Italian Cooperation, ILO/IPEC has created a community-based education and social mobilization resource package that uses visual, literary, performing arts and media. With young people's contribution, the programme sets powerful forces in motion through initiatives in a variety of academic, social and political contexts and with the media.

Through creative and innovative teaching methods, SCREAM sensitizes young people to child labour, so they can speak out on behalf of child labourers. Focussing on the social dimension of globalization, it aims to:

• Raise awareness on the plight of child labour among students, educators, political leaders, civil society organizations, communities, etc.;
• Empower young people to take an active role in society and in fighting child labour;
• Offer a practical tool in supporting children's rights and provides young people with tools of self-expression, promoting their personal and social development.

The SCREAM Education Pack is available around the world through the internet "www.ilo.org/scream in a downloadable format in English, French, Spanish and Italian, and is also translated in many languages - including Arabic - to respond to the very high demand in the region. The programme will be implemented in Egypt in formal and non-formal education settings, in collaboration with other UN agencies, NGOs, theatre groups, local artists, academic institutions and, in particular, with the World Organization Scout Movement.

The WDACL is celebrated in more than 100 countries, with the support from local communities up to the highest political levels, and it will call the attention on the new estimates and trends of child labour, by region and globally. In the Arab States child labour is a significant problem and there is growing evidence that its worst forms persist in many countries.

The ILO's new Global report on Child Labour, entitled "The end of Child Labour: Within reach", provides clear evidence that significant progress on the elimination of child labour has been achieved and makes recommendations for the deepening and strengthening of the worldwide movement to maintain the current trend.

SCREAM fits perfectly Egypt's first "National Strategy for the Progressive Elimination of Child Labour", launched by H.E. Mrs. Suzanne Mubarak earlier this year that emphasizes broad advocacy and social mobilization to tackle the phenomenon.

"I am very pleased to host this event. Italy plays a key role in the defence of the children rights. In particular, the Italian Government is very committed in the elimination of the worst forms of child labour and in ensuring the right of all children to quality education provided as a universal public service. Child labour is by no means limited to developing countries. Millions suffer in more covert situations in industrialized countries. The SCREAM program has shown that education based on capacity building is the effective sustainable investment leading to social responsibility. I am sure that once again the trilateral partnership between Egypt, ILO and Italy will be successful" said the Italian Ambassador to Egypt, H.E. Antonio Badini.

Egypt does not have to wait until it becomes "rich", to combat child labour. It is already "rich" - in children. Its children of today are its young persons and adults of tomorrow; its human resources, hope and richness. Indeed, its best "investment". "Sending parents to (decent) work and children to school", as ILO's Director-General Juan Somavia puts it, is the best development strategy, and what people want, worldwide.