16 December 2010

U.S. Urges International Action to Eradicate Child Labor

By Stephen Kaufman
Staff Writer

Washington — The U.S. Department of Labor is highlighting the worldwide problem of exploitive child labor practices and offering strategies for addressing it.

Three reports on international child labor practices just released by the department’s Bureau of International Labor Affairs identify areas where governments need to take action as well as goods that have been produced by child or forced labor. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis called on governments around the world to take urgent and effective steps to eradicate child labor practices in their countries.

Speaking to reporters in Washington December 15 with Senator Tom Harkin, who has been a longtime advocate against child labor practices, Solis said the international community collectively needs to agree to take action to end the suffering of an estimated 115 million child laborers around the world.

“No one has the right to threaten the health, education and well-being of children by involving them in illegal or inappropriate work. No family should have to depend on the labor of its children to put food on the table, and no person should be forced to work in captivity,” Solis said.

The reports, modeled after the State Department’s annual report on human rights, highlight child labor practices from country to country and what governments are doing in response. One report includes the first set of proposed actions for countries to take, along with legislation, enforcement, policies and social programs they can use to address the worst forms of child labor.

A second contains an updated list of goods produced by child or forced labor. “This year’s report includes six new goods from 12 new countries for a total of 128 goods from 70 countries. These are goods that the Department of Labor has reason to believe are produced by forced labor or child labor in violation of international labor standards,” Solis said.

The United States has acknowledged the existence of child labor within its own borders, and the secretary said she has been working to step up domestic enforcement efforts. “The department has added over 350 new field investigators, issued regulations to keep young workers out of hazardous, nonagricultural jobs, and instituted a tougher penalty structure for employers found illegally employing children workers,” she said.

In 2010, the Labor Department provided $60 million for programs to address child labor exploitation around the world, including $40 million in support of the International Labour Organization’s efforts to eliminate the practice of child labor in 12 targeted countries.

“We’re working with governments, the private sector, civil society to combat exploitive child labor in agriculture, including the West African cocoa sector, the Thai shrimp and seafood sector, the West African mining and quarrying sector, along with projects in Bolivia and El Salvador,” Solis said.

She also reported that, for the first time, the Labor Department was able to remove a country from its list of nations where there is forced child labor, saying the Brazilian government has successfully eliminated the practice of children working in charcoal mines.

Senator Harkin said the Labor Department’s reports are “an invaluable tool” to expose and eliminate the worst forms of child labor.

“Let me be clear about what we mean by the worst forms of child labor. It is not a son or a daughter helping out on the family farm. It’s not a kid working after school,” Harkin said.

“I’m talking about children who are forced to work, and denied the opportunity to go to school. These children endure long hours for little or no pay. They’re exploited for the economic gains of others.”

The exploitation of even one child diminishes everyone, he said.

“A nation cannot achieve prosperity on the backs of its children. The only route to true prosperity is by developing the brains of our children,” Harkin said.

The reports, Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor, List of Goods Produced by Child or Forced Labor, and Proposed changes to the List of Goods Produced by Child or Forced Labor can be found on the Labor Department’s website.

(This is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://www.america.gov)