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Cecilia Donaggio
Under-secretary of State
at the Ministry of Social Solidarity
The Chart of commitments to promote the rights of children and adolescents and to eliminate child labour, signed in 1998 by trade unions, employers’ associations and the Government, has been a first important step forward in the fight against child labour in Italy, but it now needs to be updated. The Minister of Social Solidarity and the Minister of Labour and Social Insurance have decided to reconvene the national coordination board concerning child labour, involving government and social partners, which had been launched in 1998 to implement the Chart of commitments. The reconvening of the coordination board also dovetails with measures in the Government’s programme for 2006-2011. This latter points out the link between awareness of child labour issues and an efficient fight against early school-leaving, calls for better coordination between educational institutions, local administrations and civil society, and proposes the setting-up of a national observatory on early school-leaving and child labour.
The first meeting of the coordination board, on 4 September 2006, brought together representatives of ministries, social partners, the national council for the economy and labour, the national institute of statistics, the ILO and UNICEF Italy. One outcome of the meeting was a proposal for a permanent forum for devising strategies and initiatives against child labour. Other issues raised were: codes of conduct; the phenomenon within the informal sector and irregular immigration; methodology for surveys, the comparison of data provided by several administrations, and agreement on tools and criteria; and strengthening labour inspection.
During the second meeting, held on 17 April, central administrations established a set of priorities for swift action. The Ministry of Labour hopes, as usual, to draw on the expertise and experience of the ILO’s International Programme for the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC).
Italy was among the first countries to support and ratify the ILO Convention on the worst forms of child labour (No. 182). The reconvening of the coordination board is a further step towards enforcing the Convention through measures aimed at eliminating the worst forms of child labour, rehabilitating victims and preventing the phenomenon. By ratifying the Convention, Italy undertook to collaborate with trade unions and employers’ organizations, civil society and other governments on a quick and sustainable fulfilment of the plan of action against child labour.
The Italian Government also strongly supports the World Day against Child Labour, 12 June, an occasion on which the ILO has called several times for the coordination board to be reconvened. The current meetings are the Minister of Social Solidarity’s response to that call. The coordination board might also be the right place to discuss the ILO’s proposal to launch a Decent Work Country Programme in Italy that will include specific measures on child labour.
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