New ILO Global Report. The end of child labour: Within reach
Report of the Director General
95 th International Labour Conference 2006.
Report I (B)

Complete document

Executive Summary

A future without child labour is within our grasp. Significant progress is being made in global efforts to end child labour, but much remains still to be done - progress should not lead to complacency. A strong and sustained global effort is still required. The ILO has a central leadership role to play in the promotion of a more cohesive and coherent worldwide movement that is mobilized around attainable targets.

This second Global Report on child labour under the Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, offers for the first time a truly dynamic picture. The new global estimates presented in Part I allow the ILO to assess global and regional trends. A remarkable picture emerges. In 2004 there were 218 million children trapped in child labour of which 126 million were in hazardous work. Though the participation of girls in child labour and hazardous work is on a par with boys in the youngest age group (5-11 years), boys predominate very considerably at older ages in both categories. However, the number of child labourers globally fell by 11 per cent over the last four years whilst those engaged in hazardous work decreased by 26 per cent. For the age group of 5-14 years the decline in hazardous work was even steeper - by 33 per cent. The global picture that emerges is that child work is declining, and the more harmful the work and the more vulnerable the children involved, the faster the decline.

Latin America and the Caribbean are making the greatest progress - the number of children in work has fallen by two-thirds over the last four years with just 5 per cent of children now engaged in work. Least progress has been made in sub-Saharan Africa where population growth, HIV/AIDS infection and child labour remain alarmingly high.

An important part of the positive trends set out here has been related to ILO standards. There are encouraging advances in ratifications in many parts of the world, and while ratification of Conventions Nos. 138 and 182 is only a first step, many ratifications have been accompanied by concrete action against child labour.

Political commitment through the adoption of coherent policies in the areas of poverty reduction, basic education and human rights, is central to the progress made by countries, both past and present, in combating child labour. Economic growth alone will not eliminate child labour, though clearly it is important. Policy choices matter, and those which open gateways of opportunity for poor people, are central to efforts aimed at eliminating child labour.

The report presents country examples from East Asia, including China, and from Brazil to illustrate that in addition to poverty reduction, the decision to focus on mass education in particular is an important prerequisite for moving countries to the transition point in tackling child labour. Part I goes on to examine the historical experience of the first industrial nations to reinforce the central message of what works in combating child labour. This distilled wisdom concerning how to put an end to child labour has become part of the ILO's policy framework and is embodied in its core standards on child labour. In fact, as this report makes plain, our knowledge of the dynamics of child labour is profound. What has become clearer over the years is that responding to child labour requires making the right policy choices, and not simply having the right technical tools. The final section of Part I of the report documents the efforts the ILO is making to respond to the increased vulnerability of children in the wake of conflict and natural catastrophe.

Part II of the report reviews efforts to strengthen the ILO's major programme of technical cooperation - the International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) - and in mainstreaming child labour as part of the Decent Work Agenda. IPEC is the leading international programme dedicated to child labour elimination and the largest programme of its kind within the ILO.

Part III of the report sets out the key challenge facing the worldwide movement against child labour: how best to mainstream child labour elimination into key development and human rights frameworks. Of particular concern is how to position child labour concerns within the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and the Poverty Reduction Strategies linked to them.

Part IV sets out an action plan that builds on the three-pillar approach from the 2002 report, but in a more focused way, defining clear targets. It proposes that the ILO and its member States continue to pursue the goal of the effective abolition of child labour, committing themselves to the elimination of all the worst forms of child labour by 2016, and that they put in place appropriate time-bound measures by the end of 2008. In pursuit of these targets, over the next four years the ILO will strengthen its efforts to develop coherent and comprehensive approaches to abolishing child labour. The proposed action plan rests on three pillars: supporting national responses to child labour, in particular through effective mainstreaming in national development and policy frameworks; deepening and strengthening the worldwide movement; and promoting further integration of child labour concerns within overall ILO priorities regarding Decent Work as a global goal.

This more focused and strategic approach to global leadership will help ensure that the ILO will make a more effective contribution to making child labour history.

 

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