Media Home
UN Web TV
UN Audiovisual Library
UN PhotoILO / CHILD LABOUR
Download
There is no media available to download.
Share
STORY: ILO / CHILD LABOUR
TRT: 1.53
SOURCE: ILO
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 23 SEPTEMBER 2013, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND / FILE
FILE – RECENT, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
1. Wide shot, aerial view of the Palais des Nations
23 SEPTEMBER 2013, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
2. Wide shot, press room
3. Close up, ILO report “Marking Progress Against Child Labour”
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Constance Thomas, Director of the ILO’s International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC):
“The number of children overall, since 2000, that are in hazardous work has declined by 50 percent.”
5. Wide shot, press room
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Constance Thomas, Director of the ILO’s International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC):
“From the beginning of when we were measuring to now there are 78 million fewer children in child labour.”
7. Wide shot, press room
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Constance Thomas, Director of the ILO’s International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC):
“We also think that for many countries some of this progress is fragile. It could easily be turned back. And that a vigilance has to be kept to ensure that policies and action continue to monitor and enforce the laws on child labour.”
9. Wide shot, press room
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Constance Thomas, Director of the ILO’s International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC):
“The last thing we want is the good news in this report to produce complacency, and for countries to think, “OK, the fight is done”. There are still 168 million children in child labour. That is a huge number, even though it is substantially reduced. We can’t forget that. 85 million in the worst forms. 40 some million are under 14 years old. This is still a drastic human rights violation and scourge.”
FILE – RECENT, MOLDOVA
11. Wide shot, young workers rake farm land
FILE – RECENT, INDIA
12. Med shot, child labourers dig for mineral rocks in small tunnels with their hands by candle light
FILE – RECENT, INDIA
13. Med shot, child labourers, both boys and girls make bracelets and jewellery by hand and bead fabric by hand
FILE – RECENT, CAMEROON
14. Med shot, child labourers collect cocoa in forest
FILE – RECENT, MALAWI
15. Wide shot, child labourers collect tobacco leaves and dry leaves in the field
FILE – RECENT, MALAWI
16. Wide shot, children dig trenches with shovels
17. Pan right, children dig trenches with shovels
FILE – RECENT, BURKINA FASO
18. Pan right, young workers mine minerals with minimal gear, shots of local village and working conditions
A new report by the International Labour Organization (ILO), “Marking Progress against Child Labour”, says that the global number of child labourers has declined by one third since 2000, from 246 million to 168 million. And those in hazardous work has halved, from 171 million to 85 million. But even the latest improved rate of decline is not enough to achieve the goal of eliminating the worst forms of child labour by 2016 – agreed by the international community through the ILO.
Child labour is work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity, and that is harmful to physical and mental development.
The latest ILO estimates, published in the lead-up to the Global Conference on Child Labour, which takes place in Brasilia next month, show that most of the progress was made between 2008 and 2012, when the global number fell from 215 to 168 million.
More than half of the 168 million child labourers worldwide are involved in hazardous work. This is work that directly endangers their health, safety and moral development. The current number of children in hazardous work stands at 85 million, down from 171 million in 2000.
Hazardous work is often treated as a proxy for the Worst Forms of Child Labour, since children in hazardous work account for the overwhelming majority of those in the worst forms.
Constance Thomas, Director of the ILO’s International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) said that “for many countries some of this progress is fragile” and “could easily be turned back.”
She added that “vigilance has to be kept to ensure that policies and action continue to monitor and enforce the laws on child labour.”
The report identifies a number of actions that have driven progress in the fight against child labour in recent years. Policy choices and accompanying investments in education and social protection appear particularly relevant to the decline in child labour.
Other actions include the political commitment of governments, the increasing number of ratifications of the two ILO child labour Conventions, sound policy choices and solid legislative frameworks.
