Child Labour – Forced Labour

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Buenos Aires Declaration on Child Labour, Forced Labour and Youth Employment
IV Global Conference on the Sustained Eradication of Child Labour
Meeting document | 16 November 2017 :: 11 pages
PDF: http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/—dgreports/—dcomm/documents/meetingdocument/wcms_597667.pdf

[Excerpts; Text bolding from original]
…Noting the estimates that 152 million girls and boys are still engaged in child labour, with 73 million in its worst forms; that 25 million people, including more than 4 million children, are still subject to forced labour, noting the importance of trafficking in persons; that 71 million youth are unemployed; that most child labour and forced labour is found in the informal rural and urban economies, not least in areas of armed conflict and crisis and is acute in the lower segments of some global supply chains;

Recognizing that child labour, notably its worst forms, and forced labour are major violations and abuses of human rights and dignity; and both causes and consequences of poverty, inequality, discrimination, social exclusion and lack of access to education; and noting that child labour, forced labour, poverty and decent work deficits for adults are all inter-connected and
require an integrated and holistic approach to achieve their eradication;

Recognizing that the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (hereafter “the 2030 Agenda”) represents a unique opportunity to accelerate the eradication of inequality and poverty; and noting its Target 8.7 to eradicate child labour in all its forms by 2025 and forced labour, modern slavery and human trafficking by 2030;

Welcoming the establishment of Alliance 8.7 to end forced labour, modern slavery, human trafficking and child labour, which can strengthen international cooperation, coordination and assistance through enhanced, appropriate multi-stakeholder partnerships to accelerate implementation of Target 8.7, as well as other relevant goals and targets of the 2030 Agenda…

Noting that the unprecedented scale of migration and forced displacement has increased the number of children and adults who are or are at risk of becoming victims of child labour and forced labour; and that such risk can be mitigated or prevented by strengthened governance of labour migration;

Noting that child labour and forced labour are exacerbated by crisis situations arising from conflicts and disasters; and deeply concerned that conflict alone affects more than 250 million children, including those who are forcibly recruited into armed conflict and those subjected to sexual exploitation, with many more at greater risk of other forms of child labour;

We declare our commitment to the eradication of child labour and forced labour, and call upon governments, social partners, international and regional organizations, civil society organizations and all other relevant stakeholders to take up the following principles and actions:

1) Principles
Public policies and programmes addressing child labour and forced labour should:
i) respect, promote and protect human rights, in particular fundamental principles and rights at work and the rights of the child;
ii) serve the best interests of the child;
iii) recognize the need for rights and obligations to be matched with appropriate and effective remedies when breached;
iv) be designed and implemented through tripartite social dialogue, and as part of coherent and coordinated national policies for decent work;
v) pay special attention including to social protection and to integrated measures to support families;
vi) pay due attention to persons in situations of vulnerability, who might be victims of discrimination on any grounds and to social and economic exclusion;
vii) be evidence-based;
viii) be sensitive to gender, age, disability and origin, where appropriate;
ix) assure that children, who are capable of forming their own views, and adults directly concerned, have the right to express their own views freely in all matters affecting them, with the views of the child being given due weight in accordance with the age and maturity of the child;
and
x) make effective, efficient, and results-based use of resources, focusing on impact….

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Press Release
The international community agrees to redouble efforts to fight against child labour and forced labour 
16 November 2017
BUENOS AIRES (ILO News) – The IV Global Conference on the Sustained Eradication of Child Labour , held in Buenos Aires, concluded with a call to action to accelerate efforts to end child labour by 2025 and forced labour by 2030, and to generate more decent employment opportunities for young people around the world.

The Buenos Aires Declaration was delivered on the last day of the three-day conference that convened delegations from around the world in the Argentine capital. More than 3,000 people signed up to attend plenary sessions, panel discussions on specific topics and special events in which some 250 speakers participated.

“We know what to do, and there are no excuses not to do so,” said ILO Director-General Guy Ryder, who participated in a high-level panel discussion in which he told delegates that “we have the duty to ensure a future of work in which there is no child labor or forced labour.”

The Conference was organized by the Argentine Government with the support of the ILO and brought together representatives of governments, employers and workers, as well as civil society, and regional and international organizations.

It included a call to the national delegations to make pledges for concrete measures to accelerate efforts against child labour and forced labour. About 100 such pledges were made.

The Buenos Aires Declaration recalls that there are an estimated 152 million boys and girls in child labour, including 73 million engaged in the worst forms of child labour. In addition, 25 million people continue to be subjected to forced labour, including 4 million children. And at least 71 million young people are unemployed around the world.

The Minister for Labour, Employment and Social Security of Argentina and president of the 4th global conference, Jorge Triaca, as well as representatives from social partners, presented the Declaration to the ILO.

“Child labour, especially in its worst forms, and forced labour, are serious violations and abuses of human rights and human dignity,” the Declaration states, adding that “they are both cause and consequence of poverty, inequality, discrimination, social exclusion and lack of access to education.”

The final document of the Conference spells out a series of principles and actions, which it urges governments, social partners, civil society organizations and interested parties to adopt.

The principles highlight the need to “address the best interests of children and adolescents,” contains a commitment to respect human rights as well as fundamental principles and rights at work, and underlines the importance of tripartite social dialogue and coherent and coordinated national policies that generate decent work.

The actions, which cover most of the Declaration, are divided into three areas: politics and governance; knowledge, data and supervision; and partnerships and innovation. A starting point is the ratification of international commitments to eradicate child labour by 2025 and forced labour by 2030, as set out in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development .

It also notes the support given to Alliance 8.7 , which has been established to fulfill that objective of the 2030 Agenda in relation to child labour and forced labour.

“We hope that Buenos Aires will be the place where the international community takes measures so as not to tolerate the intolerable,” Ryder said during the Conference. He said significant progress has been achieved and that child labor has been reduced in the last 20 years, but warned that with 152 million children still in child labour, it is time “to do more and to do it better”.