The Sub-regional Forum on Combating Child Labour and Trafficking provided a platform for ILO constituents and partners in the countries involved to develop a sub-regional strategy and approach to tackling child labour and trafficking. This was done to a great extent by sharing of knowledge and experiences between the countries concerned, some of whom such as Fiji, had demonstrated experience of over 5 years of implementing child labour strategies, and therefore acts as a child labour resource hub for other Pacific Island Countries. Representatives from Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Kiribati and Solomon Islands also had lessons learnt to share, and innovative approaches that could contribute towards the elimination of child labour in countries.

The Sub-regional Forum on Combating Child Labour and Trafficking brought together national level policy makers from a range of relevant departments (including labour, education, social welfare, workers and employers organizations) and media representatives from Fiji, PNG, Solomon Islands, Kiribati and Samoa.

One of the key issues that the Forum also addressed was awareness raising on child labour and trafficking. The involvement of ILO tri-partite partners, social partners, civil society organisations as well as the media was also critical for this process to occur at community level. The Forum also looked at sensitizing the media on reporting on child labour and trafficking issues as well as developing ethical guidelines that should be followed. Participating countries also developed awareness strategies based on the World Day Against Child Labour to be conducted in each country.

The objectives of the Forum are highlighted below:
• To share knowledge and practical experiences on child labour and trafficking;
• To develop media guidelines/ communication strategies for advocating on child labour and trafficking issues; and
• To progress country and sub-regional child labour and trafficking strategies for action.