To celebrate this year’s Universal Day of the Rights of the Child, 20 November, Stop Child Labour reconfirms her pledge made during the IV Global Conference on the Sustained Eradication of Child Labour in Buenos Aires, Argentina, 14 – 16 November 2017.
The IV Global Conference on the Sustained Eradication of Child Labour brought together representatives of governments, employers’ and workers’ organizations, as well as civil society organizations from around the world to discuss the problem of child labour and possible solutions.
At the third day of the Conference Stop Child Labour made a pledge to “support and enable initiatives of local communities and civil society organizations in Africa, Asia and Latin America to tackle child labour through community based approaches as an effective method to get all children in a certain area out of work and (back) into school. This enables the creation of child labour free zones. And inspires and enriches top down policies and their implementation. Together we continue working towards a child labour free world’.
This pledge will be attached to the Buenos Aires Declaration which is the final outcome document of the Conference. The Declaration will guide, over the next four years, all efforts on the issues covered, and the total of 91 pledges of different States and other actors to make firm progress towards Target 8.7 of the Sustainable Development Goals, including the eradication of forced labour, modern slavery, human trafficking and child labour in all its forms by 2025.
Stop Child Labour is glad to see that the Declaration recognizes the importance of area-based and community interventions for eradicating child labour and forced labour. The Declarations states, among others, that civil society organizations and local communities should be involved in the development and implementation of relevant policies, strategies and action plans at all levels. And that the organizational capacity of local communities should be strengthened in their efforts to prevent, detect and eliminate child labour and forced labour; and to ensure that relevant authorities are aware of and replicate these efforts.
United Nations Universal Children’s Day is celebrated on November 20th each year to promote international togetherness, awareness among children worldwide, and improving children’s welfare. November 20th is an important date as it is the date when the UN General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Stop Child Labour is determined to contribute to the realization of all children’s rights with a specific focus on protection from work and access to formal, full-time and quality education.
You can read the Buenos Aires Declaration here.
