The year 2010 is 10 years after the coming into force of ILO Convention 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labour (WFCL), one of the most widely-ratified international labour conventions, and it is 6 years ahead of the global target of eliminating these worst forms. While the global movement has achieved much progress in reducing the incidence of child labour, efforts must be stepped up if we are to deliver the commitment of a world free of the worst forms of child labour by 2016. In order to meet that challenge, the Dutch Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment, in cooperation with the ILO, is organizing a global conference on child labour to be held in The Hague (the Netherlands) on 10 and 11 May 2010.
The conference objectives are:
- to deliver the commitment to take immediate and effective measures to end the worst forms of child labour as a matter of urgency;
- to agree on significantly intensified efforts to reach the 2016 goal laid down in the Global Action Plan; and
- to rapidly achieve universal ratification of ILO Conventions Nos. 138 and 182.
The event will feature the launching of the
ILO Global Report on child labour. The report presents new global statistics and an analysis of child labour trends, helping us to evaluate progress to date, pointing out areas in which we have succeeded and signaling areas where more work is especially needed.
The conference will provide opportunities for countries, workers and employers organizations, international organizations, NGOs and other relevant parties
to showcase their good practices and lessons learnt in the fight against the worst forms of child labour. Five thematic sessions - political awareness , financing needs , policy integration , tripartite action and focus on Africa - will offer even more occasions for all participants to discuss the challenges and opportunities at hand and to learn from each other s experience.
Child labour is not a phenomenon that can be dealt with in isolation; it is both a cause and consequence of poverty and low levels of social welfare. This conference aims to mainstream the issue of child labour into the development debate, engaging a wide array of prominent global actors involved in the broader development field. Also, an
interagency report by the ILO, UNICEF and the World Bank will be launched. The report will focus on child labour and development. Based on empirical research, the report will discuss the impact of child labour from a national development perspective, and the policy and programmatic priorities for addressing it in the years up to 2016. Particular attention will be paid to the situation of sub-Saharan Africa. The global economic crisis threatens progress made on the elimination of child labour. The impact of the crisis on child labour, and the opportunities that the recovery process may provide will also be discussed at the conference.
In cooperation with the ILO we have made a selection of participants to invite, representing different groups (workers and employers organizations, governments, NGOs, international and regional organizations and other parties), aiming at a fair regional distribution of participants. Not knowing who will accept the invitation at this time, it is not possible for non-invitees to register at this moment.
