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ILO |
“The effective abolition of child labour is one of the most urgent challenges of our time and should be a universal goal”
Juan Somavia, Director-General of the ILO
Today,
246 million of the Earth’s children – one in every sixth children aged 5 to
17 – are involved in child labour which the International Labour Organization
(ILO) says should be abolished. One in every eight children in the world – some
179 million children aged 5–17 – is still exposed to the worst forms of child
labour which endanger the child’s physical, mental or moral well-being. Such
alarming facts were brought up at a press conference organized by the Moscow
Office of the ILO, and held in the Russian capital on 6 May.
Taking part in this meeting with domestic and foreign journalists were ILO Executive Director Kari Tapiola; the Director of the ILO Moscow Office, Pauline Barrett-Reid; and Minister of Labour and Social Development of the Russian Federation Alexandre Pochinok, representatives of trade unions and employers’ organizations.
The press conference was devoted to the publication of the ILO’s Global Report A Future Without Child Labour. The simultaneous presentation of this major study in leading world capitals was timed to coincide with the tenth anniversary of the ILO-initiated worldwide campaign to combat the exploitation of child labour across the planet.
In his address at the press conference, ILO Executive Director Kari Tapiola stressed that the International Labour Organization’s approach to the problem of child labour does not mean that children should not work. However, there are forms of child labour that are acceptable, and forms that are harmful. The main goal of the analysis done by the ILO was to provide a basis for eliminating the worst forms of child labour, as listed in ILO Convention No. 182.
There are about 111 million children in hazardous work who are under 15 and should be “immediately withdrawn from this work”. An additional 59 million youth aged 15–17 should receive urgent and immediate protection from hazards at work, or also be withdrawn from such work. Some 8.4 million children are caught in “unconditional” worst forms of child labour including slavery, trafficking, debt bondage and other forms of forced labour, forced recruitment for armed conflict, prostitution, pornography and other illicit activities.
The Asia-Pacific region harbours the largest absolute number of working children between the ages of 5 and 14, with some 127 million or 60 per cent of the world total. Sub-Saharan Africa is second with 48 million, or 23 per cent of the total, followed by Latin America and the Caribbean with 17.4 million or 8 per cent, and Middle East and North Africa with 13.4 million or 6 per cent. About 2.5 million, or 1 per cent of the world’s child labourers, are in the industrialized countries, while another 2.4 million are found in transition economies.
While poverty is a major factor of child labour, there are many other related causes.
The ILO Report insists, that “the campaign for universal ratification of Convention No. 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labour has given the general fight against child labour a new urgency and scope”. Since its adoption in 1999, Convention No. 182 has been ratified by nearly 120 of the ILO’s member States.
The Minister of Labour and Social Development Alexandre Pochinok praised highly the serious attention given by the ILO to the problem of child labour – something that is very relevant for present-day Russia. According to the Government of the Russian Federation`s estimates, there may be as many as 1 million working children in the country. Of these (according to ILO estimates), 16 thousand work in St. Petersburg, and 50 thousand in Moscow. Mr Pochinok expressed his certainty that Russia will, in the near future, ratify Convention No. 182. “We are not just ratifying the Convention – we will accelerate the pace of its implementation,” he emphasized.
Vyacheslav Goncharov, the Deputy Chairman of Russian Federation of Independent Trade Unions noted that unions, along with non-governmental organizations, can also do a great deal to prepare for the ratification of Convention No. 182. Mr. Goncharov suggested that improving the status of children be considered a national ideal.
Those taking part in the press conference responded to a multitude
of questions from both Russian and foreign 
journalists.
Editor’s note: The 90th Session of the International Labour Conference, held in Geneva June 3-20, declared June 12 the World Day Against Child Labour. The World Day emblem is shown above.
Anyone who is interested can contact Pirjo Mikkonen, Coordinator of the International Programme for the Elimination of Child Labour, at:
Tel.: +7 (095) 933-08-95
or 933-08-18;
Fax: +7 (095) 933-08-20;
E-mail: mikkonen@ilo.ru
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Since the identification of HIV/AIDS some twenty years ago, it has become recognized that HIV/AIDS is a threat not only to particular individuals but also to whole nations. The International Labour Organization (ILO) being the UN agency with special responsibility for the world of work addresses HIV/AIDS in the context of prevention, management and mitigation of its impact on the world of work, care and support of workers infected and affected by HIV/AIDS, and elimination of stigma and discrimination on the basis of real or perceived HIV status. These areas of action are identified in the ILO Code of Practice on HIV/AIDS and the World of Work that was developed in 2001 following a Resolution adopted by the International Labour Conference in June 2000 in Geneva, Switzerland.
In order to raise awareness among its tripartite constituents (Governments, employers’ and workers’ organizations) in Russia and other CIS countries the ILO Moscow Area Office and ILO Budapest Area Office conducted a Sub-regional Tripartite Seminar “HIV/AIDS Pandemic – Social Consequences in the CIS Countries. Indicators for the World of Work” in December 2001, in Moscow. As a result of round table discussions participants of the Seminar developed and adopted Recommendations for Governments, Employers (and their organizations), Workers and international organizations.
In May 2002 ILO with support from the UNAIDS Geneva organized a study tour for the tripartite delegations from Russia and Azerbaijan to Sao Paulo, Brazil to study national experience as a country with example of best practice in addressing HIV/AIDS issues at the workplace. The Russian delegation was represented by Mr Vladimir Varov, Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Development, Chief Labour Inspector of the RF, Mr Vyacheslav Rozhkov, Director on Collaboration with Governmental and Non-Governmental Organizations, Coordination, Council of Employer’s Unions of Russia and Mr Igor Shanin, Secretary, Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia.
The programme of the study tour that was kindly developed by ILO Brasilia and UNAIDS/Brazil involved the visits to the AIDS Centre of Sao Paulo and a meeting with its leading experts, meetings with representatives of Central Union of Workers (one of the major trade unions of Brazilia), Ministry of Labour and Employment of Brazilia, SESI (social oriented organization developed by employers) and other organizations involved in addressing HIV/AIDS at the work place and in the world of work. Delegations attended the National Seminar on HIV/AIDS and the World of Work.
One of most memorable events during the study tour was a visit
to the Volkswagen factory in Sao Bernardo do Campo. Volkswagen is a member of
the National Entrepreneur Council for the Prevention of HIV/AIDS. Participants
of the study tour had an opportunity to learn about preventive and care activities
conducted at Volkswagen for its workers. Such preventive measures as training
of peer educators, attendance of special courses (2000 workers a year), distribution
of leaflets, thematic articles in internal newspaper, placement of posters and
condom distribution machines in the 
cloakrooms
for workers has brought positive results.
At the time of the visit 50 out of 16 thousand workers from the factory in Sao Bernardo were HIV infected and 10 were living with AIDS. All of them receive special treatment that is included into medical insurance provided by the factory (in addition to basic antiretroviral treatment available free of charge through the network of Brazilian public health system to each of the 200,000 AIDS patients in the country). All information concerning workers living with HIV/AIDS is confidential and is open only for the certain medical personnel.
The members of delegations had also an opportunity to learn about experience of addressing HIV/AIDS at the workplace of Nestle, that is a member and one of the founders of Entrepreneur Council on HIV/AIDS in Brazil.
The study tour was very useful and informative. It made it possible to obtain a new vision of how to address HIV/AIDS in the world of work and at the workplace in particular. One of the main lessons learnt from this tour was the visible example of a national response to the pandemic where different institutions are working jointly to address the same goal and are succeeding in their efforts.
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OCHA United Nation Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs |
On 28 May in Moscow, the United Nations presented the Mid-Year Review of its 2002 Consolidated Inter-Agency Appeal for the North Caucasus (Russian Federation) launched by the UN Secretary General in November 2001. The Mid-Year Review, the outcome of extensive consultations between governmental, UN, Red Cross, and non-governmental officials, assesses the situation in the North Caucasus, outlines priority humanitarian needs there, and indicates the way in which suffering will be alleviated over the coming months. The United Nations plans to forge ahead with its current strategy and plan as outlined in the appeal, for which it now seeks US $25,190,927.
The UN programme for 2002 has pursued four strategic goals: protecting and respecting the basic human rights of the civilian population in the Chechen Republic and the Republic of Ingushetia, and working towards self-reliance; preserving the well being of children and youth; helping civil society groups and local NGOs to gain confidence, skills, and capacities needed to contribute to the development of society; and preparing legal, education, health, and other social structures in Chechnya to function effectively in the future.
Thanks to the continued donor support progress towards these goals has been steadfast, but not without difficulties. Upholding the principle of voluntary return of internally displaced persons, and gaining access and freedom of movement inside the Chechen Republic have been among the UN’s main priorities.
In second half of the 2002, various UN agencies, including the UN Development Programme (UNDP), UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), World Food Programme (WFP), and World Health Organization (WHO), plan to work in the sectors of protection, food, shelter, health, water and sanitation, education, mine action, and economic recovery. According to the UN Humanitarian Coordinator, in the reporting period, a major part of assistance already went to Chechnya (almost 60% of WFP’s food aid and up to 70% of WHO-provided assistance). This should continue, assuming that the agencies can work safely.
Representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, EMERCOM of the Russian Federation, donor community, United Nations, International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and several non-governmental organisations (NGOs) active in the North Caucasus took part in the presentation of the Mid-Year Review. The report conclusions are included into a broader Mid-Year Review Status Report of the 2002 Consolidated Inter-Agency Appeals in response to 18 complex emergencies around the world, discussed with the donor community on May 29 in Geneva (The Status Report is available on www.reliefweb.int and the Mid-Year Review on www.ocha.ru).
The United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator, supported by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), is responsible for the overall management of the UN’s work in the North Caucasus. Further information on the UN’s humanitarian programmes in the North Caucasus is available from his office.
For additional information
please contact Victoria Zotikova, Public Information Officer, OCHA
tel. (7 095) 956-64-05,
fax (7 095) 956-63-55,
e-mail: zotikova@un.org
