The tripartite process of determining hazardous child labour - Guide for facilitators

This Guide is designed for the Government unit tasked with organizing and facilitating the Tripartite Consultations that will result in either a new or a revised list of hazardous child labour for the country.

When countries ratify the ILO Conventions on the worst forms of child labour and on the minimum age, they commit themselves to identifying which types of work and working conditions are to be prohibited to persons below 18 years of age. Although it may take various forms, for the sake of simplicity, this is often called the “hazardouschild labour list”. This list is important both for its content and for the process by which it is developed. Its content is important because, once enacted into law, it forms the basis for a widerange of actions – advocacy, education policy, research, services, resource allocation,policies, and enforcement – that can protect children and youth from exploitation atwork.

The process is important because formulating the list offers a unique and important opportunity for social dialogue and for the launching of a nationally-owned process for addressing child labour. This is because a crucial element written into the two childlabour Conventions is the requirement for Tripartite Consultation, which enables employers, workers’ organizations and the Government to all sit together to examine the questions of “what work is hazardous?”; “where is it found?”; and “which should have priority for action?”.

This Guide is designed for the Government unit tasked with organizing and facilitating the Tripartite Consultations that will result in either a new or a revised list of hazardous child labour for the country. Its purpose is to:
  1. Provide instructions on how to plan and conduct the process.
  2. Ensure that consultation with the tripartite constituents is carried out in a way that is consistent with Convention No. 138 and No. 182.
  3. Provide practical and easy access to reference materials that will assist the tripartite members of the Consultation in their deliberations.
This Guide is part of the series, “Step by Step - Eliminating hazardous child labour” that comprises:
  • a brochure outlining the six steps for determining the hazardous child labour list (2003);
  • a serie of factsheets on technical points (2004);
  • a pamphlet of country examples (2005);
  • a CD containing the hazardous child labour lists from over 100 countries (2006).
Updated version: November 2012.

 Note:

We look forward to improving the Guide with more examples as countries undertake this process, so it will be updated on a regular basis. Please visit this page periodically to access the last updated version.