You want to make sure the products you buy are child labour free, but how do you do this? As a consumer and a citizen, you have a powerful voice! With that voice we can mobilise businesses and governments.
No child should be working. Every child has the right to a good education, the right to play and the right to enjoy its childhood. Child labour means that poverty continues to exist. Eradicating child labour means development and better opportunities for everyone.
Read moreYou want to make sure the products you buy are child labour free, but how do you do this? As a consumer and a citizen, you have a powerful voice! With that voice we can mobilise businesses and governments.
Companies have a duty to stop child labour. When operating abroad, they must do so responsibly, with due care for people, raw materials, the environment, and their surroundings.
There are many international treaties and conventions regarding the prohibition of child labour. The conventions of the International Labour Organisation, adopted by the majority of countries in the world, are considered to be the most important ones.
A child labour free zone is a defined area, such as a village or a plantation, where everyone is convinced that ‘No child should be working, every child should be in school!’ Teachers, local authorities, village leaders, employers, parents and children in these zones work together to get children out of work and into school. Child labour is no longer accepted because all children are entitled to good, full-time education. The focus is not on child labour in specific sectors, but on all children who work and do not go to school.
If everyone takes their responsibility, all children can go to school. Activities are initiated within existing community groups, in cooperation with local authorities, to ensure the rights of all children. Adults learn how they can make ends meet without the income generated by their children, for instance by participating in savings and loan groups and developing income-generating activities. Poverty is no excuse.