AN International Labour Organisation special conference in Geneva this week aims to secure support for a new ILO convention outlawing child labour. A report released yesterday by the organisation shows an estimated 13.2 per cent of the world's children have to work for a living.
Fortunately, for the first time since it was established in 1919, it looks likely that the ILO will win the consensus it needs this week to introduce a new convention. The report, along with this week's debate, may also help generate the public concern needed to make that convention effective.
Several countries where child labour is most prevalent, such as Pakistan and Nigeria, have at last accepted there is a need for change. In large part this is a tribute to consumer power. Apart from seasonal agricultural work, most child labour is concentrated in export industries such as textiles, carpets and footwear.
Adverse publicity in recent years means there is increasing resistance among shoppers in the developing world to buying these goods. And, increasingly, western countries are beginning to pass legislation under which their own citizens can be prosecuted for availing of child prostitution abroad, which is now a major growth industry.
Ironically, child labour is one of the main props of many local economies and often children have to work to pay the cost of their education, or that of a more fortunate brother or sister. Despite its prevalence, it has been extremely hard for the ILO to obtain exact figures on child labour.
The report estimates that the majority of children who are forced to work are aged 10 to 14. But in many countries children as young as five are working. (In some countries anyone aged over 14 is no longer classified as a child.)
Among the 10 to 14 age group, over 50 per cent of children in some African states are active members of the labour force, especially during the harvesting season. In Asia, an estimated 44.6 million children, or 13 per cent of the child population, work, and in South America 5.1 million, or 9.8 per cent, do so.
But child labour is prevalent much nearer home. In Turkey 24 per cent of children work while within the EU 1.76 per cent of Portuguese children work and 0.4 per cent of Italian children.
In southern Europe there has been a tradition of allowing children to work in seasonal activities such as harvesting, as well as street trading and in small workshops. The practice is now spreading to central and eastern Europe, where the collapse of communism and its associated social security systems mean that children are beginning to join the labour force in significant numbers. The ILO says it is too early to obtain reliable figures.
Globally, the ILO estimates that 13.2 per cent of all children aged between 10 and 14 have to work for a living.
The countries which are the worst offenders include Mali, where 54.53 per cent of children are forced to work for a living, Burkina Faso with 51.05 per cent, Burundi with 48.97 per cent, East Timor with 45.39 per cent, Uganda with 45.31 per cent, Ethiopia with 42.30 per cent, Senegal with 31.4 per cent, Bangladesh with 30.1 per cent, Nigeria with 25.8 per cent, Haiti with 25.30 per cent, Turkey with 24 per cent, Pakistan with 17.7 per cent, Brazil with 16.1 per cent, India with 14.4 per cent and China with 11.6 per cent.
Child labour has been a key element in driving down global wages and working conditions in labour intensive industries.
Yet children employed in places such as carpet factories are among the more fortunate members of the child labour market. They at least work indoors and some employers provide limited educational and other facilities.
Children working on plantations, building sites, quarries and mines endure extreme physical hardship, carry heavy loads and use dangerous chemicals and power driven tools.
Another area of concern is domestic service. The ILO report says that these children are frequently the victims of physical, mental and sexual abuse on a level that has seriously damaged their health.
Prostitution is a growing area of child labour abuse. The report states: "The AIDS epidemic is a contributing factor to this trend, as adults see the use of children for sexual purposes as the best means of preventing infection. The laissez faire attitude of the authorities in charge of national and international tourism is largely responsible for the current situation."
Slavery and child trafficking across international borders are also highlighted in the report. These practices are particularly prevalent in sub Saharan Africa and South Asia, although instances have been found in South America.
The report says that while poverty is a main cause of child labour, there are several others, including public indifference and other government priorities in the countries concerned.
It proposes tackling the problem through a number of strategies, including heightening public awareness of the problem, tightening up international and national labour legislation, and providing resources to make it easier for certain developing economies and industries to replace child labour with adults.
The report warns: "What is at stake is the future of young people and hence of society itself."