date: 3 June 2005

embargo: 08:00hrs Sunday 12 June 2005

Lift 250 million working children out of poverty and into school

If the Make Poverty History campaign succeeds nearly 250 million children worldwide could be lifted out of work and into school, said the TUC today (Sunday 12 June) on the World Day Against Child Labour

The TUC, a member of the Make Poverty History coalition, have today exposed the powerful link between poverty and young children being forced into unsafe and often deadly jobs. Ensuring free education for all boys and girls 15 and under and decent jobs for adults is the only way to break this chain. The TUC has called on the UK government to help developing countries invest in education and job creation by pushing world leaders at the G8 Summit next month to eradicate their debt, increase and improve foreign aid and start building a fairer global trade system.

Brendan Barber, TUC General Secretary, said: 'Instead of being in school one in every eight children worldwide is being forced into dangerous work, drug trafficking, prostitution and armed conflict.

'Children as young as five being forced down mines are trapped into a life of poverty. Through the G8 the UK government can lead the world’s richer countries to Make Poverty History and set 250 million children free from work and into the classroom, where they can become the entrepreneurs, teachers and leaders who will take their countries out of poverty.

'To be able to invest resources in education for all developing countries need debt relief and better aid, backed by a trade system that no longer relies on or allows cheap child labour. But developing country governments cannot shirk their responsibilities, they have to make the political decision to provide school for all, rather than just their elite groups.

'Only public pressure on G8 leaders will make this happen so the TUC is urging people to join the July 2 Make Poverty History demonstration in Edinburgh'.

The London Director for the International Labour Organisation (ILO), Bill Brett said:

'A crucial element in bringing children out of poverty is ensuring that their parents or guardians are paid a decent wage for a decent job.

'ILO Standards exist to ensure social justice and fair working conditions for millions worldwide, and all 178 member nations are bound to uphold fundamental conventions. These include the elimination of the worst forms of child labour, equality, freedom of association and the abolition of forced labour.

'This year’s World Day against Child Labour, which focuses on children in mining and quarrying, is a reminder that working conditions are totally unacceptable for far too many poor people, young and old who struggle not just to make a living but to survive.'

World Day Against Child Labour - 12 June 2005

An estimated 245 million children worldwide are engaged in work that deprives them of adequate education, good health or basic freedoms. Of these, 179 million - or one in every eight children worldwide - are exposed to the worst forms of child labour, such as work in hazardous environments, slavery or other forms of forced labour, illicit activities such as drug trafficking and prostitution, and armed conflict. Over 70 million children at work are under 10. As a member of the Make Poverty History campaign the TUC is calling on the UK to use its leadership of the G8 summit in Gleneagles in July to push world leaders to:

  • Commit to action to realise the goal of universal education for all boys and girls under 15 and ban the employment of children under this age.

  • Enable developing countries to invest in education by eradicating debt. The world’s poorest countries pay debt repayments of over £30 million every day to the rich world, which could be invested in basic services such as education. Also, creditor countries have intervened in the management of debtors' economies. Countries are forced to push through drastic spending cuts in areas such as education and abolish employment rights, leading to the lowering of wages so that families need to send their children to work in order to survive. In many cases children are the only members of the household who can get paid work.

  • Increase and improve aid to support investment in education and decent work for adults. Currently aid is often given in the form of goods and services from the donor country. This prevents governments making their own decisions about investing in education, the expansion of their domestic industry and creating decent jobs for adults. Also, aid is often tied to policy changes such as the privatisation of services including education. The resulting cost can prevent poor families from sending their children to school or sending their children to work part time to pay school bills.

  • Building a fairer system of global trade that does not rely on or allow child labour. Global trade rules are rigged in favour of rich countries who continue to protect their domestic economies but force free trade policies on the poor by making them lower tariffs and end subsidies. Enforced 'market-friendly reforms' have left workers in poor countries open to the full exploitation of multinational companies. Poor country competes against poor country for foreign investment leading to a race to the bottom in terms of the eroding of workers’ pay and protections. With no enforcement of minimum employment standards, child labour persists and countries that protect workers are undercut by those who don’t.

  • This year’s World Day Against Child Labour, the fourth organised by the International Labour Organisation (ILO), focuses on one of the worst forms - children working in mines and quarries. An ILO report published today, ‘A Load Too Heavy: Children in mining and quarrying’ says:

  • The ILO estimates that around one million children aged 5 to 17 are working in the mining sector across the world.

  • Most work in small-scale operations in remote areas, mining materials such as gold, silver and gemstones or quarrying construction and industrial materials.

  • Children are involved in all aspects of mining from excavation to odd jobs, often doing adult work. They can work as deep as 90 metres underground with no ventilation, only a flashlight or candle for light and just a rope with which to climb in or out.

  • In small mines children dig and haul heavy loads of rock, search for minerals in rivers and flooded tunnels, set explosives for underground blasting and crawl through tunnels barely as wide as their own bodies.

  • In quarries children dig sand, rock and dirt, carry it on their heads or backs, and spend hours pounding larger rocks into gravel using adult-sized tools to produce construction materials for roads or buildings.

  • Mines and quarries are dangerous for children, who risk spinal injuries and deformities from carrying heavy loads, and disease and illness from exposure to toxic substances such as mercury in gold mines. They run the constant risk of being killed by rock falls and collapsing underground tunnels.

  • The ILO has launched a number of pilot projects in Tanzania, Niger and South America that show child labour can be ended in mines and quarries through a mixture of enforced worker protections, educational opportunities and community awareness.

NOTES TO EDITORS:

- ILO case studies and images of child workers and of projects to end child labour are available from the TUC press office and the ILO website. Further information about World Day Against Child Labour and children working in mining and quarrying is available from the ILO press office and website: http://www.ilo.org/public/english/bureau/inf/event/cl2005/index.htm

- As a member of the Make Poverty History campaign the TUC is urging people in the UK to wear a white band and join the mass demonstration in Edinburgh on July 2 to call for action from the G8 Summit taking place in Gleneagles.

Contacts: Media enquiries:

TUC: Ben Hurley T: 020 7467 1248; M: 07699 713182 ; E: bhurley@tuc.org.uk
ILO: Monica Evans (in Geneva) M: 079 593 1412

Press release (1,400 words) issued 12 Jun 2005

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