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. Simkhada, |
I stand in front of you today with a heavy heart. The unimaginable, tragic events leading to the sad and untimely demise of our beloved King, Queen and other members of the Royal Family have plunged Nepal into terrible shock and profound sorrow. This national tragedy made it impossible for the Right Honourable Girija Prasad Koirala, Prime Minister of Nepal, to leave the country. I therefore have the honour to read his message.
Having being associated with the trade union movement for a long time and touched by the Director-General’s invitation to be the guest of honour at the International Labour Conference this year, I was greatly looking forward to attending this event this morning. But the tragic circumstances that left our country bereft of its beloved King, Queen and other members of the Royal Family, require my presence in Nepal. These are painful times for us. I wish to express my appreciation to all well-wishers of Nepal who have expressed their sympathy in this moment of our great national tragedy and showed their solidarity with us in our moment of need.
Despite this tragedy, His Majesty’s Government of Nepal remains steadfast in its effort to build a society in which all Nepalese, including children and workers, are able to enjoy greater freedom from fear and from want.
I wish to reiterate our full commitment to the goals of the ILO and wish the Organization success in its important mandate. I congratulate the President and wish her success.
Exploitative child labour practice is one of our biggest challenges today. The new research conducted by the ILO and IPEC has identified seven specific target groups: bonded labourers, rice pickers, porters, domestic workers, children in mining, children in the carpet sector and children who are trafficked for labour and sexual exploitation, as the worst manifestations of the child labour problem in Nepal. In each of the seven target groups, the situation of young girls is especially precarious. To rescue, rehabilitate and protect thousands of children trapped in each of the seven categories is a daunting task but as an expression of our determination to take bold steps in protecting the rights of children and giving greater dignity and rights for all people, on 17 July 2000. His Majesty’s Government of Nepal took a decision outlawing the practice of kamaiya bonded labour. Although slavery was abolished in 1924, a system of agricultural bonded labour called kamaiya has been prevalent in some parts of Nepal.
Of the 57,000 kamaiya children, 17,000 (30 per cent) worked in slave-like conditions in order to pay their parental debts, a very alarming state of affairs. The Government had to act and it did.
The are now free from any bonds, either verbal or written. The use of bonded labour is now punishable by law. The Government is distributing land to former kamaiyas and with the support of the ILO we are in the process of building safety nets to prevent new forms of bonded labour arrangements.
ILO data shows that one in every one hundred of the world’s working children lives in Nepal. The sheer scale of child labour, and the associated economic realities that underpin it, make solutions to the problem extremely difficult, especially for a least developed country like Nepal where the education system is weak and financial resources scarce.
The child labour problem is deeply rooted in poverty and lack of access to basic education, compounded by serious unemployment and underemployment.
In the combat against child labour, Nepal is pleased to be one of the first three countries selected by the ILO for the development and implementation of the IPEC Time-Bound Programme. To be effective, the Time-Bound Programme must link measures to combat child labour to national development effort with particular emphasis on policies to eradicate poverty, promote universal basic education, social mobilization and employment creation.
The success of the Time-Bound Programme will also depend on partnerships among all stakeholders, national and international.
His Majesty’s Government, in cooperation with other social partners, international stakeholders and the IPEC team, is presently working on a master plan of action to implement the Time-Bound Programme. By incorporating child labour as an important priority in the tenth Five-Year Plan, Nepal has demonstrated full ownership and mainstreamed it into government policy and development plans for the benefit of our children and for the future of Nepal.
We have taken the Time-Bound Programme as a challenge. We are determined to eliminate the worst forms of child labour by 2005 and all forms of child labour by 2010. We have demonstrated the political will and the necessary legislative action is in place.
With the assistance of our development partners, we believe we will meet the goals enshrined in the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182), and the Time-Bound Programme being officially launched here today.
In his Report to this historic 89th Session of the Conference meeting in Geneva at the dawn of the new century, the Director-General has rightly presented reducing the decent work deficit as a global challenge. The effective abolition of child labour and the elimination of its worst forms are, in my view, the first vital steps towards translating this vision into reality in the twenty-first century.
I thank the Director-General for his vision, wisdom and leadership, the ILO/IPEC team for their assistance and the international community for their generosity in enabling the launching of the Time-Bound Programme.
Updated by HK. Approved by RH. Last update: 13 June 2001.