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ILAB News Release: [05/12/2004]
Contact Name: Mike
Biddle
Phone Number: (202) 693-5051
Labor Department Secretary Praises Children’s World
Congress
WASHINGTON—U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao praised
the efforts of an international assembly of 500 children and world leaders who
are meeting in Florence, Italy at the Children’s World Congress to find
better ways to combat the worst forms of child labor.
“The community of civilized nations must accept this challenge and
responsibility,” said Chao. “Abusive forms of child labor must not be
tolerated. No child should be subjected to prostitution or bonded labor, no
child should be trafficked and no child should be forced to serve in armed
conflicts or participate in illegal activities.”
Arnold Levine, the deputy under secretary for international labor
affairs for the U.S. Department of Labor, spoke at one of the congress’s
Dialogue and Accountability sessions. The sessions were designed to give
children an opportunity to talk with world leaders about their progress on
commitments made to eliminate exploitive child labor and provide increased
access to quality, basic education.
Since 1995, the U.S. Department of Labor has contributed more than $275
million for international projects in more than 60 countries designed to
prevent and eliminate the worst forms of child labor.
The host of the Children’s World Congress, the Global March Against
Child Labor, is a non-government organization founded six years ago with the
objective of building worldwide support for an International Labor Organization
convention on the worst forms of child labor.
The Children’s World Congress is a forum to empower children to
lead worldwide efforts to end child labor and to ensure free, quality education
for all children. A delegation of six children from the United States is
attending the event. In addition to participating in the dialogue and
accountability session with world leaders, the children are developing a
Children’s Action Plan, which will be presented to the governments and
international organizations. The children are also participating in a massive
march tomorrow.
Exploitive child labor is the most common abuse against children today.
About 211 million children were working around the globe in 2000.
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ILAB conducts research on and formulates international economic,
trade, immigration and labor policies and provides international technical
assistance in support of U.S. foreign labor policy objectives.
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