BEIJING (ILO News) --The International Labour Organization (ILO) and The All-China Women's Federation (ACWF) launch the advocacy campaigns for this year’s World Day against Child Labour today in Beijing, China. The theme for 2010 World Day against Child Labour is “Go for the Goal: End Child Labour”. Some 62 countries worldwide join the campaigns and launch various events, seeking to promote awareness and action to tackle child labour.

Child labour is an outcome of a multitude of socio-economic factors and has its roots in poverty, which force many children to shoulder the burden of family life. Child labour deprives children of education, forces them to work in hazardous environment and damages their physical and mental health. In the long run, child labour will dry up a country’s talent reserve and trap it in a vicious cycle of poverty.

In its new Global Report on child labour, the ILO said that there are still 215 million children caught in child labour, among which 115 million in hazardous work; from the global perspective, the overall rate of reduction of child labourers has slowed, a 3 per cent decline over the period 2004-2008, compared with 10 per cent 2000-2004, representing a slowing down of the global pace of reduction. The report also warns that if current trends continue the target-eliminating all the worst forms of child labour by 2016 will be missed.

The 90th Session of the International Labour Conference in Geneva established 12 June as World Day against Child Labour in 2002, calling world’s attention and measures to tackle child labour. The ILO believes that the elimination of child labour cannot be achieved without the commitment of governments and the universal education could be the most effective way to achieve this goal. On the occasion of the World Day against Child Labour each year, events around the world will involve governments, employers and workers, non-governmental organisations, media events, awareness raising campaigns in school, cultural performances and other public events.

This year's World Day against Child Labour coincides with the World Cup in South Africa. The ILO and ACWF hope to use this occasion to carry out advocacy campaigns to raise people’s awareness against child labour for the goal of eliminating all the worst forms of child labour by 2016.

As a active member of the ILO, the Chinese government has taken measures to protect children’s rights against child labour, like vigorously popularizing Nine-year compulsory education with the aim of keeping children in school rather than in factories; carrying out in- and after- school safety education for children and protecting them from any kind of physical injury. On the other hand, the Chinese government also regularly investigates child labour in the labour market and supervises corporate employment practices.

The advocacy campaigns will reach out to schools for migrant children, migrant-concentrated communities and countryside middle schools. A football game will be held to inform the students, their parents and community members on child labour issues with the aim of preventing the root cause of child labour.

For further information, please contact

Guo Jia or Su Yanyan

Programme Officer

ILO Office for China and Mongolia

Telephone: (8610) 65325091