World Day Against Child Labour
On the occasion of the World Day Against Child Labour (12th June), High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security
Policy/Vice President of the Commission Catherine Ashton, Vice-President
Viviane Reding, the EU's Justice Commissioner, Development Commissioner Andris
Piebalgs, Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion László
Andor and Commissioner for Home Affairs Cecilia Malmström made the following
statement:
"Throughout the world, 15.5 million children are
engaged in paid or unpaid domestic work outside their own homes, according to
estimates from the International Labour Organisation (ILO). These children are
being denied their childhoods. Worse still, more than half of these children
are engaged in hazardous forms of work, sometimes in exploitative situations of
child trafficking – with their lives being endangered on a daily basis.
We continue to campaign against all forms of child
labour. We have called on all Member States to ratify ILO Convention 189 on
Decent Work for Domestic Workers, which will enter into force on 5 September
2013 and which will extend labour protection to millions of workers, mostly
women and children. We are advocating against child labour in our human rights
dialogues and multilateral fora. Assistance is provided through projects
providing equitable access to basic education and skills development.
This time last year, the
Council endorsed the EU Strategic Framework on human rights and
democratisation, which includes actions to eliminate child labour globally. The
European Union will also take an active role in the third Global Conference on
the Worst Forms of Child Labour, to be held in Brasilia from 8-10 October 2013.
On the occasion of the World Day Against Child Labour, as on every other day of
the year, the EU remains fully committed to reaching the target of eliminating
the worst forms of child labour by 2016."
