May 20, 2010

More than 450 delegates from 80 countries agreed on a "Roadmap" aimed at "substantially increasing" global efforts to eliminate the worst forms of child labor by 2016.

The conference took place against the backdrop of a slowdown in the results of the global campaign against child labor, according to a Global Report issued recently by the International Labour Organization (ILO).  According to the quadrennial report, Accelerating Action Against Child Labour, the global number of child laborers had declined, but at a slower pace, from 2004 to 2008. The report stated that the global economic crisis could further delay progress, particularly in addressing the worst forms of child labor.

The Roadmap calls on governments, social partners, and civil society organizations to strengthen access to education, social protection, and decent work. It also calls on social partners to take "immediate and effective measures … to secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour as a matter of urgency, including through policies and programmes that address child labour."

The Hague Global Child Labour Conference was organized by the Dutch Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment and the ILO's International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC), in cooperation with UNICEF and the World Bank.

Link to Roadmap

Link to Report