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At the international level the concern about child labour is manifested
in the adoption of various treaties and conventions relevant to
child labour and the protection of children, and in the creation
of the International Programme for the Elimination of Child Labour
(IPEC) of the ILO in 1992.
ILO's FORCED LABOUR CONVENTION & MINIMUM AGE CONVENTION
Two core instruments of the ILO are the Forced Labour Convention No.
29 (1930), a Convention against the worst forms of exploitation, and
the Minimum Age Convention No. 138 (1973). Convention No. 138 establishes
15 years as the minimum age for access to employment, with the possibility
of lowering this to 14 for a limited time in developing countries.
Children between the ages of 13 and 15 can perform light work as long
as this does not interfere with their education, health or development.
The Convention also sets a minimum age of 18 years (or 16 under strict
conditions) for hazardous work.
One of the problems of Convention No. 138 is that it only applies
to the formal economies and therefore excludes from coverage the
vast majority of children who are employed in the informal sector.
The Convention gives standards to phase out child labour, but is
extremely general in nature. It does not prioritise the combat against
the most extreme forms of child labour.
Forced or compulsory labour is defined as "work or
service that is exacted from any person under the menace of
any penalty and for which the said person has not offered
himself voluntarily".
Convention No. 29, 1930 |
NEW ILO CONVENTION ON EXTREME FORMS OF CHILD LABOUR
The wish to combat extreme forms of child labour has been a
driving force behind the development of new standards. In Geneva
(June 1998) the ILO debated the draft of a new convention on
child labour. This new convention will suggest new measures
to eliminate all forms of child labour, while giving immediate
priority to the most extreme forms of exploitation of children.
Meanwhile, the Convention No. 138 is and will remain the fundamental
international standard on child labour - its goal is likewise
the total abolition of child labour.
The proposed new convention differs from existing ones in that
it is entirely focused on extreme forms of child labour and
covers all those forms in one instrument. The singular mission
is to put an immediate stop to extreme forms of child labour:
those forms of child labour that cannot be tolerated anywhere
in the world. It requires measures for the immediate suppression
of all extreme forms of child labour. The 1999 International
Labour Conference will decide on the final adoption of the new
standards.
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The expression "extreme forms of child labour"
is proposed to cover:
a) all forms of slavery and practices similar to slavery,
such as the sale and trafficking of children, forced
or compulsory labour, debt bondage and serfdom;
b) the use, engagement or offering of a child in illegal
activities, for prostitution, production of pornography
or pornographic performances; and
c) any other type of work or activity which, by its
nature or the circumstances in which it is carried out,
is likely to jeopardize the health, safety or morals
of children, so that they should not be used or engaged
in such work or activity under any circumstances.
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According to dutch campaign organisations (Social Democratic
Trade Union Federation (FNV), India Working Group and the
Fair Trade Organisation), the new Convention contents hardly
contains anything new compared to existing treaties/ conventions
and international monitoring is largely lacking. The definition
of extreme forms of child labour is too limited. A ban on
labour by very young children (under the age of 12), and labour
that hampers school attendance are also essential. The latter
is of special importance to young girls who are often required
to do household work at a very young age and therefore have
no access to school. A clause regarding education should that
coincides with the contents of the UN Convention on the Rights
of the Child should be included . (1)
According to the ILO, the new Convention should be seen
as contributing to the goal established within Convention
No. 138 of the total abolition of child labour, and should
in no way undermine Convention No. 138. In practice, however,
the political interest in implementing Convention No. 138
will be reduced if the new Convention becomes reality. According
to the India Working Group, countries who sign the new convention
should be obliged to sign Convention No. 138 within a period
of 3 to 5 years. Furthermore, so far only an informal recommendation
has been made by the International Labour Conference - the
annual meeting of the ILO. A further requirement is that
local employers and their subcontractors sign compulsory
agreements stipulating an immediate stop to extreme forms
of child labour and simultaneously offer good child care
as well as education for the children concerned. They also
should offer a 'fair' payment to adult workers. Subcontractors
have a great responsibility towards the elimination of extreme
forms of child labour and towards the improvement of working
conditions of adult workers.
UN CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD
In the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child
(1989) a child is defined as a person under the age of 18.
In accordance with Article 32, children have the right to
be protected from work that threatens their health, education
or development. The Convention recognises the exceptional
vulnerability of children, and proclaims that childhood
is entitled to special care and assistance. It requires
States Parties to take legislative, administrative, social
and educational measures to ensure implementation, specifying
in particular: (a) provide for a minimum age or minimum
ages for admission to employment; (b) provide for appropriate
regulation of the hours and conditions of employment; (c)
provide for appropriate penalties or other sanctions to
ensure the effective enforcement.
The Convention on the Rights of the Child and the international
recognition it has received would imply some acceptance
of the universality of the rights embodied within it . (2)The
International Working Group on Child Labour (IWGCL) refers
to article 12 as of special relevance since it acknowledges
the right of children to participate in making decisions
which will affect them.
| State Parties regonise the right of the child to
be protected from economic exploitation and from performing
any work that is likely to be hazardous or to interfere
with the child's education, or be harmful to the child's
health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social
development. |
WHAT IS THE IMPACT?
Out of 173 ILO member States, 133 have ratified at
least some of the 11 ILO Conventions which refer to
the minimum age for admission to employment. The UN
Convention on the Rights of the Child has been ratified
by 187 countries (as at 31 July 1996). However, children's
rights are still today often violated all over the world,
despite the fact that almost all countries have made
a formal commitment to make provisions concerning the
protection of children.
The ILO recognises that there are shortcomings, especially
in the coverage and application of ILO conventions.
Between the various conventions and treaties concerning
child labour, an overlap exists. At the same time, one
convention is more comprehensive than the other, or
some allow exceptions in certain circumstances, which
makes the whole international labour legislation very
complicated and difficult to apply in the view of many
governments. The various minimum ages, for instance,
prescribed by different national and international labour
laws regarding children's admission to work makes it
difficult to implement and enforce labour laws.
| In Bangladesh the Employment of Children Act
(1938) set the minimum age for employment at 15
years. The Factory Act (1965) fixed the minimum
age at 14 years while the Shops and Establishment
Act of 1965 set the minimum age at 12 years for
admission to work. To bring uniformity in the
laws, the government of Bangladesh has prepared
a new Labour Code. The draft Labour Code has prescribed
a uniform minimum age of 14 years for admission
to work that is in conformity with ILO Minimum
Age Convention No. 138. The code is awaiting approval
by the parliament. |
Most countries conform legally to Convention No. 138,
meaning that they set a basic minimum age for admission
to employment, but only 49 (this figure is rising)
countries have actually ratified Convention No. 138,
of which 21 are developing countries (and these do
not include any in Asia where over half of all working
children are found) . (3)
Most of the international tools leave it to the
state to draw up appropriate measures to protect
the rights of children. Sanctions against unwilling
states or against companies responsible for the
violation of these rights are fragile or non existent.
Tackling the child labour problem has to be backed
by a political will that is sometimes likely to
be absent because of other priorities. Many factory
owners in the garment industry of Bangladesh, for
instance, belong to the political elite of the country.
And since the garment industry is of crucial importance
for Bangladesh' economy, it is likely that economic
interests have priority over the protection of human
rights and children rights.
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- ILO, 1998
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