To mark the World Day Against Child Labour, the ITUC-Asia Pacific will organise a virtual meeting to discuss the child labour practices in the region and the existing initiatives towards its elimination and to explore trade union actions that can be done to contribute to the Durban Call to Action.

The Fifth Global Conference on the Elimination of Child Labour held in Durban from 15 to 20 May 2022, concluded with a resolution known as Durban Call to Action that includes following:

1. Accelerate multi-stakeholder efforts to prevent and eliminate child labour with priority given to the worst forms of child labour by making decent work a reality for adults and youth above the minimum age for work and;
2. End child labour in agriculture;
3. Strengthen the prevention and elimination of child labour including its worst forms, forced labour, modern slavery and trafficking in persons and the protection of survivors through data-driven and survivor informed policy and pragmatic responses;
4. Realise children’s right to education and ensure universal access to free compulsory, quality, equitable and inclusive education and training;
5. Achieve universal access to social protection; and
6. Increase financing and international co-operation for the elimination of child labour and forced labour.

The Durban Call to Action commits stakeholders to accelerating efforts to eliminate child labour by promoting decent work; protecting survivors; universalising access to education and social protection; and increasing multi-stakeholder cooperation and financing.

The ITUC and ITUC-Asia Pacific welcome the conclusion of the Conference, but call on governments to double their efforts to eliminate the scourge of child labour.

It is time to shift from commitment to action and inspire legislative and practical actions to eliminate child labour. Trade unions must push for a new social contract for  recovery and resilience that guarantees job creation, workers’ rights, social protection, equality, and inclusion. A new social contract will have a direct impact on poverty eradication. As poverty is one of the structural causes of child labour, a new social contract will certainly contribute to achieving target 8.7 of the Sustainable Development Goals – ending all forms of child labour by 2025.

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