Khulisa Management Services

The World Day against Child Labour will be celebrated on the 12 June 2010. It comes just one month after the International Labour Organization (ILO) released a new Global Report on the state of child labour – Accelerating action against child labour. The report cites a general decline of the global number of children 222 million to 215 million, or 3%, over the period 2004-2008, representing a slowing down of the global pace of reduction. In the previous report (covering the period 2000 – 2004), there had been a 10 percent decrease. The findings have created a surge of urgency to take immediate and effective measures to secure the ILO goal of eliminating the worst forms of child labour by 2016.

The global campaign to end child labour is at a critical juncture, as the current progress made in some parts of the world clearly indicates that the fight is in danger of being lost. The report indicates that despite the decrease in child labour for children aged 5-14, in the Asian-Pacific region, Latin America and the Caribbean, the number of children in economic activity for the same age group, is increasing in Sub-Saharan Africa. The situation is particularly alarming in Sub-Saharan Africa, where one in four children aged 5-17 are child labourers, compared to one in eight in Asia-Pacific and one in ten in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Against the backdrop of a slowdown in the results of the global campaign against child labour, Khulisa Associate Director Elna Hirschfeld and Senior Associate Rebecca Pursell attended the press launch of the ILO-FIFA Red Card Campaign, which aims to raise awareness during the FIFA World Cup 2010, in order to galvanise support by governments, employers and workers organisations and civil society to prevent, challenge and eliminate the worst forms of child labour. The press launch provided an opportunity to showcase the various activities planned by the ILO, UNICEF and other UN Agencies in conjunction with the FIFA World Cup. Among the activities was the launch of the Global Campaign “Go for goal: end child labour” – which will culminate on the World Day against Child Labour, during the first days of the FIFA World Cup 2010.

Evidently, the reality is such that while South Africa and the world are counting down the days to the inauguration of the FIFA World Cup 2010, another global countdown is ticking: the elimination of the worst forms of child labour by 2016.