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TO ALL EI MEMBER ORGANISATIONS

Brussels, 29 April 2011

WORLD DAY AGAINST CHILD LABOUR, 12 June 2011

“Warning! Children in hazardous work - End child labour”

Dear colleagues,

This year again, Education International joins the World Day against Child Labour activities organised by the International Labour Organisation around 12 June 2011 and we invite teacher organisations to also contribute with public activities in your country geared towards the global efforts to end child labour and promote education opportunities for all children.

In 2011, the World Day against Child Labour (WDACL) will focus on children engaged in hazardous work. EI and the International Programme for the Elimination of Child Labour of the International Labour Organisation (ILO-IPEC) have developed a publication entitled “Warning! Children in hazardous work - End child labour”. This publication provides a clear picture of what is hazardous work and how to tackle it. It also highlights the key role of education in fighting child labour. The publication can be downloaded on EI’s website. A few copies will be sent to all member organizations prior to the World Day.

The ILO has estimated that there are 215 million children in child labour and, of these, 115 million are directly involved in hazardous work. Hazardous work, which is one of the worst forms of child labour, is defined as work that is likely to harm children’s physical, mental or moral health. In some cases the work may even jeopardise children’s lives.

Hazardous child labour cannot be addressed in isolation. It is part of the global problem of child labour, which is closely linked to lack of quality educational opportunities for children, and factors linked to poverty, lack of social protection and lack of decent work for adults and youth.

EI’s Mandate to fight Child Labour

EI cooperates with its members and partner organizations to document the impediments to the right to education and lobby governments and the UN to adopt policies and programmatic responses towards the elimination of all forms of child labour.

Through its participation in the Global Task Force on Child Labour and Education for All, EI together with national delegations, UN institutions, other trade unions and civil society organisations contributed to the adoption of the landmark The Hague Roadmap for the elimination of the worst forms of child labour by 2016. The Roadmap highlights education as a key strategy to combat child labour.

Child Labour and Education

Child labour has major repercussions on the education process of children, with many working children either not attending school at all, or dropping out of school at an early age, being absent, repeating grades or having low educational achievement.

Globally, 69 million primary aged children of whom more than half are girls, and 71 million children of junior secondary school age, are not enrolled in school. Many others who are enrolled are not attending on a regular basis, often because of long working hours or because of the costs of schooling. Providing access to free, compulsory and quality education for all children until the minimum age of employment is a key strategy. It is the first step in tackling all forms of child labour. Hazardous child labour does not remove a child from poverty. A quality education can!

What your organisation can do

Teacher unions have been pioneers in the movement to prevent and eliminate child labour.

Depending on the national and local context there are many ways teacher unions can support this year’s World Day against Child Labour. You will find ideas for activities to be carried out by teachers in their union and in their classroom around the 12 June in the joint EI/ILO-IPEC publication. We encourage you and your members to use this publication.

For further information, please visit the websites of EI (go.ei-ie.org/childlabour/) and ILO-IPEC (www.ilo.org/ChildLabourWorldDay). You can also join the ILO Facebook page on WDACL.

We thank you in advance for all your support and we look forward to hearing about your activities to celebrate the World Day against Child Labour in your country on 12 June 2011!

Sincerely yours,

Fred van Leeuwen

General Secretary