World Day Against Child Labour 2010 - A Nice Step

215 million children around the world are victims of child labour. Half of them work in situations which violate their basic rights and dignity, such as slavery, forced labour, trafficking, debt bondage, serfdom, prostitution, pornography or recruitment for armed conflict.

Child labour has major repercussions on the education process of children with many working children either not attending school at all, or dropping out of school at an early age, being absent, repeating grades or having poor performance and low educational achievements. In the worst of cases, child labour can lead to the gradual loss of learning skills, including reading and writing, and can result in functional or total illiteracy.

Action to combat child labour is rooted in international labour legislation and primarily in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention No. 138 on the Minimum Age for Admission to Employment and Work and ILO Convention No. 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labour. EI's policy is also strengthened by the international community’s efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and to overcome the obstacles towards the achievement of Education For All (EFA).

To mark the World Day against the Child Labour (WDACL), EI releases a new publication in collaboration with the ILO International Programme for the Elimination of Child Labour. Entitled “Go for the Goal: End Child Labour”, this publication reflects EI’s recognition of the linkages between eliminating child labour and achieving the goal of quality education for all.

The joint EI/ILO IPEC publication also underlines teachers’ role: “Children are more likely to go to school if the education offered is relevant and learning occurs. It takes professionally-trained and qualified teachers, relevant curricula, a healthy, safe and friendly school environment, access to schools and a safe passage to and from school, especially in rural areas,” said Jan Eastman, Deputy General Secretary of EI. “Teachers are key players in tackling child labour and keeping children in school.”

EI also co-edited a joint publication of ILO-IPEC and FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association). Using the overlap of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa and the World Day Against Child Labour as a welcome opportunity, this manual, “Child Labour and the Right of Children to Play”, underlines how football can be used as a recreational activity. It aims to inspire schools, workers’ and employers’ organisations, NGOs, local governments and other community-based groups in helping victims of child labour overcome physical, psychological and emotional effects of the sometimes traumatic situations they have suffered.

It will be held on 12 June, Be a part of these activities.