Child labour involves exploitation of children in several ways such as mentally, physically, socially, and morally by preventing their schooling, separating them from their families and exposing them to serious hazardous work. According to ILO’s data, hundreds of millions of girls and boys throughout the world are involved in work that deprives them of receiving an adequate education, health, leisure and basic freedoms, violating this way their rights. The exploitation of children demands strict actions and initiatives to protect the child rights by ending child labour.
Recently, the UN reported that there are around 218 million child labours throughout the world. And majority of these children are deprived of school, play, proper nutrition and care. Many of them are involved in forced labour. They engaged in a number of hazardous environments such as slavery, armed conflict, illicit activities including drug trafficking and prostitution.
That apart, child labour in different parts of globe is recorded as Africa is leading with almost (72 million children), Asia and the Pacific stand second with (62 million), America is with (11 million), Europe and Central Asia is with (6 million) etc. The Africa, Asia and the Pacific regions together account for almost nine out of every ten children in child labour worldwide.
In India, according to the last census, there are around 10 million child labourers despites strict legislations and regulations. June 12 is the ‘Anti-Child Labour’ Day which is celebrated with a motto to eliminate the child labour completely. This day brings all the national and international stakeholders together to ‘commit and eliminate child labour’ and the journey is on to achieve such target.
In 2015, the Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs), were adopted by the world leaders who committed them to end all forms of child labour by 2025. Thus, to achieve such goals, the global community requires to take all necessary precautions and measures on the prohibition and elimination of child labour practices. Additionally, the ILO has come up with several initiatives towards the elimination and abolition of child labour through different principles such as; ILO's minimum Age Convention No. 138 and the Worst Forms of Child Labour Conventions No. 182 and the ILO Programme on Child Labour (IPEC).
Especially, speaking about the ILO’s International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) 1992 is the biggest single operational global programme with an objective to promote a worldwide movement to combat child labour.
Similarly, the UN General Assembly has also urged the international community to step up efforts to eradicate forced labour and child labour, and declared 2021 as the ‘Year for the Elimination of Child Labour’. Further, in order to honour our commitments to end the child labour in all forms by 2025, all the stakeholders must act fast and make it possible by supporting the ‘2021 Action Pledges’. The ‘2021 Action Pledges’ can be only successful when, countries, organisations and individuals take their respective action seriously, categorically and strategically.
The pledge is tactically designed in three-pillar strategy such as; Act, Inspire, Scale-up which invite all stakeholders to adopt a specific action and strategy that is attainable to end the child labour by December 2021.
Under the 2021 action pledges nations can take a number of initiatives under the ‘Smart Goal Framework’ such as the development of a National Child Labour Policy by the end of 2021, developing a cash-transfer programme to prevent an increase in child labour during 2021, conducting a child labour survey during 2021 or creating a roadmap for conducting a child labour survey that can begin in 2021, developing a ‘Child Labour Monitoring System’ in 2021, establishing a ‘zero-tolerance approach’ by adding specific clauses on child labour in trade agreements signed in 2021, increasing the budget for education in 2021, appointing more teachers in rural areas to improve the quality of education and extending Covid-19 emergency fund until the end of 2021etc. Similarly, under the scale-up initiatives, a diverse strategy can be also be adopted in terms of changes in the policy, political, legal, regulatory and budgetary to reinforce innovative solutions to end child labour.
Other solid scaling-up strategy nations may consider such as monitoring and evaluation, organisational process, dissemination and advocacy, and resource mobilization etc. Everyone can make a difference; therefore, international and national organisations have a bigger role in eliminating the child labour. Under the three-pillar strategy of ‘2021 Action Pledges’, organisations can also make a huge difference by adopting ‘smart goal framework’ that is specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound.
These actions can be improved by coordination among the national, regional and international levels, launching of global and regional campaign, impact assessment on a specific action programme, developing a research project to assess the impact of Covid-19 on child labour, lunching/relaunching an Alliance 8.7 Action Group by acting as Chair and working with members to agree on a 2022-2025 work plan etc. Apart from this, the international organisations should work proactively and closely with different regional Government institutions, business network and employers’ organisations, civil society organisations, academic institutions and private companies for better implementations of new policies, strategies and programmes.
Similarly, following actions as individual level can be considered. These are raising funds for a charity or school dealing with prevention of child labour, demanding strict Government action, educating ourselves on child rights and also creating awareness on child rights etc.
Lastly, under the scale-up pillar of ‘2021 Action Pledges’, let us pledge that we will review our actions, focus on efforts to end child labour and ensure the momentum is gathered throughout this year until child labour is eliminated from everywhere.
(Assistant Professor, Law, Xavier Law School, XIM University, Ph: 9953079450, Email: biranchi@xub.edu.in & bnppanda2019@gmail.com)