Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'End child labour' that was published in Newsband

End child labour

The economic vulnerabilities caused by the global meltdown have led to increase in the number of cases relating to child labour. As per the survey conducted by an International organization, some 215 million working children need our help since they are made to work like slaves.  Many of them are made to get involved in child prostitution and hazardous occupations harmful to health and safety.

Some social organizations are doing excellent jobs in trying to eradicate child labour. Cash transfers by them have proved effective in reducing child labour in Asia and Latin America. They have made available education facilities for these children. Similarly, in many African countries where parents have been lost to the HIV/AIDS epidemic, social protection measures such as health insurance, targeted at the elderly, ensure uninterrupted school attendance among children.

Getting kids to go to school, a key priority that drove the abolition campaign a decade ago, is obviously a necessary but not sufficient condition for the eradication of child labour. To make headway, governments must be prepared to spend more.

Child labour has been recognised as a key issue of human rights at work together with freedom of association, the right to collective bargaining, the abolition of forced labour, and non-discrimination in occupation and employment.

However, despite the large social reform movement that has been generated around this issue, more than 200 million children worldwide are still in child labour and a staggering 115 million at least, are subject to its worst form according to the International Labour Organisation.

The global campaign to end child labour is at a critical juncture. Child labour continues to decline worldwide, but at a much slower pace than before. Eradication of child labour is possible with strong political will and huge money to pour into the programme to provide free education and financial securities to their parents of rural and urban population both.

In the direction of eradicating child labour, there have been a number of leadership initiatives over the past years and important achievements in advocacy, enhanced partnerships, support of corporate social responsibility, data collection and research.

Perhaps the most important step forward has been the overwhelming global consensus in support of Education for All movement. It is become clear now that a world free of child labour is possible.