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12/06/2007
June 12 has been designated the World Day Against Child Labour (WDACL) since 2003. This year, in recognition of the fact that little or no progress has been made in eliminating child labour in agriculture, the sector accounting for the largest share of child workers, agriculture is the focus of the World Day. Last year's International Labour Conference concluded that, in the words of the ILO, "Unless a concerted effort is applied to reducing child labour in agriculture, it will be impossible to achieve the ILO goal of elimination of all worst forms of child labour by 2016."
Over 132 million children aged 5 to 14 work in agriculture - up to 70 per cent of all working children. These child workers are exposed to dangerous work and toxic pesticides, work long hours, sometimes in extreme temperature, and can end trapped in forced or bonded labour. Work generally ends their schooling.
The International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers' Associations (IUF) has always emphasized that adult poverty is the root cause of child labour. Action to improve the living and working conditions of adult workers in agriculture is therefore key to the elimination of child labour, which means enforcing employment rights and strengthening the position of trade unions in the sector. Ensuring full rights for the migrant workers who play a central role in global agriculture is also vital.
According to the General Secretary of Education International (EI), the world’s largest Global Union Federation in the sector of Education, "when children are forced to work and thus denied their right to an education, they are often doomed to unemployment and poverty in adulthood because they lack the skills needed for jobs that could support the next generation". 'Harvest for the future: Agriculture without child labour' is the title of a new publication brought out by EI and the ILO, through the International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC). It provides current facts and ideas teachers can use to support the growing movement to tackle child labour.
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