World Day Against Child Labor

WORLD DAY AGAINST CHILD LABOR

Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, yesterday was the annual commemoration of the International Labor Organization's, ILO, World Day Against Child Labor, the day we set aside to speak out against the fact that millions of children around the globe continue to be trapped in forced and abusive labor, often in extremely hazardous conditions.

The good news, this year, is that child labor is in decline across the globe. According to the recent ILO report, ``The End of Child Labor: Within Reach,'' released on May 4 of this year, between the years 2000 and 2004, the number of child laborers worldwide fell by 11 percent, from 246 million to 218 million. Even better, the number of children and youths aged 5-17 trapped in hazardous work decreased by 26 percent, declining from 171 million in 2000 to 126 million in 2004. Among younger child laborers, the drop was even sharper at 33 percent.

This is remarkable progress in just 4 years' time. And looking to the future, the ILO report cautiously predicts that, ``if the current pace of decline is maintained, and if global efforts to stop child labor continue.'' We have a real opportunity to eliminate child labor in its worst forms within 10 years' time. However, difficult challenges lie ahead, especially in agriculture, where 7 out of 10 child laborers work. I know this firsthand from my work trying to end child labor in the cocoa industry. Child labor is deeply entrenched in cocoa plantations in Ivory Coast and elsewhere. But, with the cooperation of the chocolate industry, we are making progress in fighting it.

Likewise, in the broader fight against child labor, the ILO report verifies that we are on the right track to eliminating abusive and exploitative child labor. The great work of the ILO's International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor, IPEC, really vindicates the confidence I placed in this program early on. I secured the first Federal appropriation for the IPEC program back in 1996, and over the last decade, I have secured a total of more than $323 million for the program. Clearly, that money has made a real difference in the lives of children. It has given them an opportunity to get an education and to break the cycle of poverty.

In August 2005, I visited Pakistan and spent time at an IPEC program funded by the U.S. Department of Labor to combat child labor in the Pakistani carpet industry. I was able to sit down and talk with young adults who had been laborers in the carpet industry as children but had been removed and given the opportunity to go to school. In Pakistan, the Department of Labor's international child labor program has helped to ensure that 20,000 children between the ages of 10-18 have been removed from hazardous work conditions and provided with either nonformal education or vocational training. I have also visited child labor rehabilitation programs in Brazil, Nepal, and Bangladesh. These visits have showed me the incredibly beneficial impacts that governments can make, but I also realize that industry partnerships are essential to the real eradication of child labor.

Although there has been a tremendous amount of progress in ending child labor, now is not the time to become complacent. Unfortunately, hundreds of millions of children are still forced to work illegally for little or no pay. Economic development alone is not enough, and we must focus on human rights and educational opportunities for those in poverty. Social change must go hand in hand with economic development, which requires workers' and employers' organizations. Our keys to success will be mainstreaming child labor efforts with other human rights and development goals, as well as getting national governments, NGOs, and international organizations all working cooperatively to end child poverty.

We should not think about these children only on June 12 each year. We should think about this last vestige of slavery 365 days a year. I have remained steadfast in my commitment to eliminating abusive and exploitative child labor. It was in 1992 that I first introduced a bill to ban all products made by abusive and exploitative child labor from entering the United States. In my view, we can make significant progress to eliminate this scourge if we all do our part and redouble our efforts. This means that governments must not merely pass laws but enforce them, while also striving to provide quality, free education. Businesses must take responsibility, as well, by not hiring children, and by paying adults livable wages so they can provide for their families. Multilateral institutions must also play a robust role. Together, we can eliminate the worst forms of child labor by 2016.

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