ILO LIAISON OFFICE – BRUSSELS
NEWSLETTER NO. 5/2005
1 million children exploited in mines and quarries
The fourth World Day Against Child Labour, an initiative launched by the ILO to spotlight and support the global movement to put an end to child labour,
especially in its worst forms, will take place on 12 June. This year's event will focus primarily on child labour in mines and quarries. Some 1 million
children are being exploited in mines and quarries around the world. Their working conditions are amongst the worst imaginable, and their activity
exposes them to serious risks of death, injury or permanent disability.
The ILO's International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) has implemented pilot projects in this sector in Mongolia, Tanzania,
Niger and the Andean countries of South America. Such efforts show that hazardous child labour can be abolished by helping mine and quarry workers
to acquire legal rights, to organise cooperatives or other production units, to improve safety, to enhance the health and boost the productivity of
adult workers, and to guarantee the provision of basic essentials like schooling, clean water and decent sanitation in the often remote regions
concerned.
You can access the website of the World Day Against Child Labour by
clicking here, or
click here to read a press release on this topic.
International Labour Conference
The 93rd session of the International Labour Conference will start on 31 May in Geneva and end on 16 June. The Conference, which is often likened to
an international labour parliament, serves multiple functions, in particular adopting internationally recognised labour standards and monitoring their
application in the countries that signed up to them. The delegates will also look into the situation regarding forced labour around the world and
examine the special report drawn up by the Director-General regarding the situation faced by Palestinian workers. Debate at this year's conference
will focus on the employment of young people and map out the main thrust of the action taken by the ILO in this domain in the future. A new draft
convention on work in the fishing industry will also be debated with a view to its adoption by the Conference, as will an instrument setting out a
framework for promoting health and safety in the workplace. Guest speakers at the conference will include the Presidents of Honduras, Algeria and Nigeria.
It is worth noting that European employment ministers will be holding a meeting on 9 June within the framework of the conference in Geneva to discuss
issues such as corporate relocation. This will be done in cooperation with the Luxembourg Presidency of the European Union.
To see the agenda of the conference and gain access to the reports that will be submitted to it,
click here.
12.3 million forced labourers
According to a new ILO report published on 11 May, at least 12.3 million people around the world are victims of forced labour. Between 40% and 50%
of these victims are under 18 years of age. The report, which you can access by
clicking here, also contains the first global estimate
of the profits derived from work done by victims of trafficking, putting the figure at $32 billion ($13,000 dollars a year per victim). It clearly
shows that forced labour is a global problem affecting all countries, all regions of the world and all kinds of economic activity. Agriculture,
construction, prostitution and illegal sweat shops in the clothing industry are some of the areas most commonly drawing on forced labour. The region
with the highest number of forced labourers is Asia, with 9.5 million, but 360,000 people are also subjected to forced labour in industrialised
countries. You can read an ILO article on the modern forms of slavery in industrialised countries by
clicking here, or a press release on the new ILO report by
clicking here.
Health insurance in Ghana thanks to workers in Luxembourg
Since 80% of people around the world have no basic social security safety net, the ILO launched in June 2003 its Global Campaign on Social Security
and Coverage for All. The main objective of the campaign is to establish a partnership bringing together international organisations, donor countries,
social security institutions and organisations from civil society. Thus was born the concept of the Global Social Trust, whereby those workers in
industrialised countries who choose to do so (and already benefit from solid social protection) can pay a modest health insurance supplement (of
around €5) into a fund. The funds collected in this way go towards financing the extension of social security systems in developing countries.
In the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, the trade union OGB-L, the government and the ILO have set up a pilot project designed to organise the collection
of voluntary contributions made by the working population there. The funds raised in that way will be invested in supporting a new national health
insurance scheme in Ghana. The financial commitment made by the Ghanaian government will gradually increase over a number of years, until Ghana is
able to shoulder the burden itself in a sustainable fashion.
To find out more about this partnership between Luxembourg and Ghana, please
click here, or
click here to access the website of the Global Campaign on
Social Security and Coverage for All.
Labour migration as a development tool
A regional seminar on labour migration as an instrument of development and integration will be held in Dakar, Senegal from 26 to 29 July 2005.
The aim of the seminar will be to gain a better understanding of the challenges and opportunities presented by labour migration, to promote social
dialogue and cooperation and at the same time to shore up the social partners' abilities to establish a coordinated regional policy in West Africa.
The seminar will be part of a project run by the ILO with the support of the European Commission, a project that seeks to boost governments' and
social partners' abilities to improve their management of labour migration as an instrument for development and regional integration in the Maghreb
countries, West Africa and East Africa (seminars on this topic have already been held in Tanzania and Algeria). For additional information on this
project
click here.
Did you know?
The ILO's International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) has just set up a database covering all publications, reports, working
documents, guides, manuals, brochures and other sources of information on child labour. To access that database,
click here. Searches can be made by country, region, topic, language, type
of medium, keyword, and so on.
New publications
Amongst the ILO's recent publications, the following may be of special interest to our readers:
- HIV/AIDS and Work: Global Estimates, Impact and Response, 2004
2004, xii+101 pp; ISBN 92-2-115824-5; €16
In this report the ILO assesses the impact of HIV/AIDS on the labour force and population of working age in 50 African countries, in Asia, Latin
America, the Caribbean and the more developed regions. The report primarily explores the impact of the epidemic in the public and private sectors,
in agriculture and the informal economy, but also touches on the political implications and showcases some of the measures taken to face up to the
scourge in various parts of the world. The report deals at length with the current determination to ensure that both antiretroviral treatment and
means of prevention are available in the workplace.
Click here to order a copy of the report.
- Confronting Economic Insecurity in Africa
Work published under the guidance of Rajendra Paratian and Sukti Dasgupta;
InFocus Programme on Socio-Economic Security;
2004, vi+445 pp.; ISBN 92-2-115713-X; €30
This work is based on information gathered from all over Africa, on studies covering thousands of Africans and companies, and on detailed statistics
provided by government agencies. The book highlights the main developments underlying socio-economic insecurity in Africa since the advent of
globalisations and economic liberalisation. In addition, the document shows that traditional steps taken against poverty often fail to impact on
poor people or the most economically vulnerable, and that to face up to poverty and inequality or even the scourge of AIDS, new ways of offering
social protection, based on the principles of universality and solidarity, need to be found.
Click here to order a copy of the book. You may also be interested in the
interview on the same topic with Guy Standing, Director of the ILO InFocus Programme on Socio-Economic Security. If so,
click here.
Scheduled meetings
Please
click here for a list of ILO meetings scheduled in 2005.