Pretoria - The global march towards the elimination of inappropriate work by minors by 2016 has taken another step as the world descends on Brazil for the 3rd Global Conference on Child Labour.
Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant will at the weekend jet off to Brasilia, where she will represent South Africa at the International Labour Organisation (ILO) conference.
The conference, which will run from 8 – 10 October, aims to promote consistent policies and integrated strategies to address child labour across the world. It will evaluate the actions taken to date in the fight against child labour and encourage the exchange of experiences.
The conference is co-hosted by the Brazilian government and follows the Hague Global Child Labour Conference held in May 2010.
It will be used to measure progress in implementing The Hague Roadmap towards the 2016 goal. The Hague Roadmap is hinged on four pillars: education and training, national legislation and enforcement, labour market policies and social protection.
Education is viewed as one of the crucial components in any efficient effort to eliminate child labour.
The ILO Global Estimates and Trends 2000-2012 revealed that the number of child labourers has declined by one third since 2000, from 246 million to 168 million. But even the latest improved rate is not enough to achieve the goal of eliminating the worst forms of child labour by 2016.
The forum provides an opportunity for reflection and joint dialogue between government, civil society and international organisations on the progress made in the process towards the elimination of child labour.
In her address during the National Day against Child Labour in August, Oliphant said it was heartening to report that government and its partners had performed well in the areas of strengthening legislation, raising awareness, training and the development of educational materials.
“Some of the legislation includes the proposed amendments in the Basic Conditions of Employment Bill, which will strengthen the prohibition of child labour in the informal trading sector,” Oliphant said at the time.
Oliphant will report to the conference on the strides South Africa has made, while also hearing how other countries have fared so far.
The Global Action Plan points out that special effort needs to be made in sub-Saharan Africa, considering that it was the only region in the world where child labour has grown in both absolute and relative terms in the last decade. – SAnews.gov.za
