The session was attended by over 100 representatives of government's, workers and employers as well as representatives of industry. The session was chaired by the ILO's Director-General, Mr Guy Ryder, who gave an overview of the ILO's recently published Marking progress against child labour - Global Estimates and trends 2000-2012. Noting the extraordinary decrease in the incidence and absolute number of children involved in child labour over the past 12 years - with the especially sharp decline over the last 4 years - Mr. Ryder indicated that the ILO's constituents could be proud of their contributions made over the past 12 years.
Promises are made to be kept - not least the promises adults make to children. And this promise to eradicate child labour is both a moral obligation and an economic and developmental imperative." Guy Ryder, ILO Director-General
Following the Director-General's introduction and summary of the global estimates and trends, the Ambassador of Brazil in Geneva, Ms. Regina Maria Cordeiro Dunlop gave a short presentation on the outcome of the III Global Conference on Child Labour, which had been held in Brasilia from 8-10 October 2013 and draw attention to the Brasilia Declaration.
Ms. Constance Thomas, Director of the ILO's International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (ILO-IPEC), then reviewed ILO-IPEC's strategy on the way forward. Highlighting the multifaceted nature of child labour and the need for fully integrated, multifaceted solutions and policies, Ms Thomas reminded the audience that ILO-IPEC's approach was having a real impact on the problem and that continued donor support and international cooperation were still required in order to reach the estimated 168 million children still trapped in child labour.
