89th Session, 5 - 21 June 2001
Special High-level Session on the Launch of the Time Bound Programme on the Worst Forms of Child Labour in the Republic of El Salvador, the Kingdom of Nepal and the United Republic of Tanzania
12 June 2001
Address
by Mr. Juan Somavia, |
I thank all those who are here with us today and it is a pleasure to welcome everyone to this important event.
We are most privileged that President Mkapa has made this journey to mark the United Republic of Tanzania’s commitment as well as his personal dedication to this cause. The United Republic of Tanzania holds a very special place in my own heart. Indeed, I had the honour to know the late Julius Nerreri Nyerere as a teacher and as mentor.
Only a few years ago, when I represented my country on the United Nations Security Council, he guided me through the complex issues of the Great Lakes and invited me to Arusha when he was dealing with the Burundi question. The Conference is honoured by President Mkapa’s presence and the ILO is honoured by his support for social issues, but today, and above all, the children of the world are honoured by his commitment to confronting the worst forms of child labour.
We thank him for his leadership and personal engagement, and for agreeing to be our special guest at this session of the International Labour Conference.
Two years ago, the International Labour Conference unanimously adopted the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182). With this action, the international community sent a strong signal to tens of millions of lost children, the most exploited, the poorest of the poor, the young bonded workers in factories, sweatshops, fields and homes, child soldiers, girls in brothels, trafficked children. They are the faces of the worst forms of child labour. We told them that the international community had opened its eyes and would not continue to tolerate the abuse of power by adults exploiting the weakness of children in these abhorrent ways. Because I believe that we must never forget that child abuse always happens with the complicity of adults. It is an adult that employs, it is an adult that traffics, it is an adult that looks the other way.
Two years ago, we launched a campaign so that nobody could look the other way. I called on all of us to make the elimination of the worst forms of child labour not only a global cause, but also a personal cause — a cause that engages us individually as human beings, something that, as persons, we want to fight for.
Many of you pledged to take early action, and you have done so. Seventy-four countries have now ratified the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182), in two years, and we expect many more ratifications in the next few months. It is the fastest-ratified Convention in the history of the ILO. But as we all know, ratification is just the beginning of the journey. That is why today, we honour the United Republic of Tanzania, El Salvador and Nepal, the first three countries prepared to take the next step, and to make the crucial commitment to eradicating the worst forms of child labour in a time-bound frame framework.
We are very pleased to welcome the personal representative of President Flores, of El Salvador, Mr. Nieto Menéndez, and Ambassador Simkhada, the representative of Koirala of Nepal. We deeply appreciate Nepal’s determination to show its commitment even while coping with its recent tragedy.
These three governments are leading the way. They are willing to set goals to measure progress and be judged. We are privileged to have with us Minister Riester of Germany and Mr. Cameron Findlay, United States Deputy Secretary for Labor, representing two funding partners in our International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour. Each symbolizes a key point in IPEC’s evolution in the fight against child labour. It is difficult to imagine that, just over a decade ago, few voices were raised against child labour, but the ILO was drawing up its pioneering work and Germany at that time was calling for action. When the time came to start a major programme, the Government of Germany was prepared to provide the financial support needed, and IPEC was born in 1992. We thank Germany for that early backing, and for the confidence it placed in us.
Many followed in Germany’s footsteps. Today, IPEC is a partnership of around 25 contributing countries and organizations, and 65 programme countries. I want to thank them all for their involvement.
I also want to acknowledge those countries that were willing to sign up with IPEC early on, to begin confronting the child labour problem at home, namely Brazil, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Thailand and Turkey. Each signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the ILO in the first year of the Programme. We also recognize the role of the Government of the United States, the principal funder now, in helping the Programme to make a major leap towards fighting the worst forms of child labour. Most of these programmes are backed by the United States, and we count on its continued support.
I must emphasize that time-bound programmes — integrative, comprehensive and multilevel programmes — make sense only when they are part of a national development effort. For this reason, they have to be based on real national ownership. The United Republic of Tanzania, El Salvador and Nepal have accepted this responsibility. What they are doing gives hope to many millions of children — in those three countries and beyond. But let me also observe that it has a broader significance, for their actions show that questions of rights and values are not luxuries. When we think about it, we can afford them. They have to be built in from the start. This is what the ILO has always stood for; this is at the core of our decent work agenda, and these three countries are not shirking from that talent. They are placing rights and values at the heart of their development agenda for, as we know well, it is not enough merely to remove children from the workplace — they must also have meaningful educational opportunities, rehabilitation, health care and nutrition, and families must have access to income-earning opportunities.
What I see, when I look back over the past three years, confirms my strong belief that we must dare to dream, that we must have a vision that we believe in. The fight against child labour now commands global attention and solidarity, and today we are targeting the eradication of the worst forms of child labour within a decade or less, country by country, with international support. We have come a long way and, make no mistake, commitment marked in this event signals that it is not business as usual when it comes to child labour. As we work on the worst forms, we are also drawing attention to the broader cause of children at work who should, instead, be children at school.
I urge governments that have not yet ratified the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182), to do so soon. I urge governments which have ratified to follow the lead of the United Republic of Tanzania, El Salvador and Nepal. I ask employers’ and workers’ organizations to play a special role in advancing the cause nationally and internationally and, of course, there is space for community-based organizations, non-governmental and other citizens’ groups to act.
Above all, I think that all international organizations and developed countries in the cooperation programmes should give strong support to those countries that have the will to make a time-bound commitment to eliminate the worst forms of child labour.
To mark today’s occasion, we should think about establishing a world day against child labour, as a catalytic moment when, each year, in all countries, we ask ourselves what we have done to stop child labour.
Updated by HK. Approved by RH. Last update: 13 June 2001.