Congress Welcomes Global Decline in Child Labour
4 May 2006
Elimination of child labour is an 'achievable goal'
Congress today (May 4) welcomed the findings of a new report that show a fall in child labour worldwide for the first time.
The report from the International Labour Organisation - The End of Child Labour: Within Reach - shows an 11 percent fall in the number of child labourers worldwide, over the last four years, from 246 million to 218 million.
The report also revealed a welcome 26 percent fall in the numbers engaged in the worst forms of child labour.
Congress Equality and Development Education Officer, David Joyce, said the report "marked a milestone in the ongoing battle to eliminate child labour, once and for all. As the report shows, if the current pace of decline were to be maintained the scourge of child labour, in its worst forms, could be a thing of the past within a decade.
"That is perhaps the most important message to come from this report - that the elimination of child labour is not an impossible dream, but an achievable goal."
The report attributed the reduction in child labour to increased political will at a global level, greater awareness of the problem and concrete action in the key areas of poverty reduction and mass education.
The International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) is the lead international programme dedicated to child labour elimination and has played a key role in this success.
The report also highlights important challenges facing in the ongoing battle against child labour, particularly in the area of agriculture, where seven out of ten child labourers work. Other challenges relate to the impact of HIV/AIDS, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, which is home to some 50 million working children.
"Given the success to date, Congress believes it is particularly important that the Irish government - through Irish Aid - continues to play its role in this battle by supporting IPEC and assisting in the integration of child labour programmes into the national development strategies of the countries where Irish Aid works," Mr Joyce concluded.
ends