| Latest News |
 Child Leaders in the Fight Against Trafficking Share Experiences with US TIP Office |
18 September 2007, New Delhi (BBA): The Director of the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons Ambassador Mark P. Lagon and his colleagues met with enthusiastic former bonded child laborers, who are leading the fight against trafficking today under the banner of Bachpan Bachao Andolan (Save the Childhood Movement).
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| Britain's retailers take shirt off B'lore sweatshops |
September 3, 2007 (Hindustan Times) Two of Britain’s big-ticket retailers have found out that factory workers who make their clothes in India are paid as little as Rs 10.50 (13 pence) per hour for a 48-hour week, The Guardian reported on Monday.
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| Sad reality of Labor behind labels |
Maya Sharma, Priyanka Pruthi, September 6, 2007 (Bangalore, New Delhi) The human cost of high street fashion has been exposed yet again. Two of UK's biggest clothing retailers, Primark and Mothercare, face accusations of breaching international labour standards in India.
Guardian, a London-based newspaper, investigated into the pay and condition of workers who make their clothes in Bangalore and found that in one of the factories, workers were being paid as little as Rs 11 an hour for a 48-hour week.
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| China Blames Foreigners for Abuse |
By STEPHEN WADE Associated Press Writer - A top Chinese union official is blaming foreign businesses for alleged labor abuse including child labor in the production of official Olympic-licensed products in southern China.
"We welcome foreign companies that respect Chinese laws and look after their workers," Xie Liangmin, a senior official with the All-China Federation of Trade Unions, said Tuesday in the state-run China Daily newspaper. "Those relying on cheap labor and making profits by violating workers' rights will finally be ousted." The ACFTU is the Communist Party-controlled umbrella group for government approved unions.
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| The Philippines: Hard times keep kids working, says labor dep't |
Jerome Aning, Inquirer, September 1, 2007, Manila, Philippines – The Department of Labor and Employment estimated the number of child workers at four million, but admitted that bringing down the number may be difficult because of hard times and a huge population that continues to expand.
Ma. Teresa Soriano, labor assistant secretary for especial concerns and external affairs, said Friday that more and more children were still being employed in various establishments and sectors nationwide, ironically because their parents could not themselves land jobs.
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| United States: CBS feels bite of `Kid Nation' controversy |
By Charlie McCollum, San Jose Mercury News, September 2, 2007 – CRITICS ACCUSE REALITY SHOW OF SKIRTING CHILD LABOR LAWS
In the weeks leading up to the new television season, the networks pray for publicity for their new series. So cluttered is the landscape in those first few weeks of the season that any attention is viewed as a good thing.
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| United States: Child labor laws a work in Progress |
Danielle Shapiro, Herald News, September 3, 2007 - Fact: Agricultural work accounted for a whopping 42 percent of all work-related fatalities for young workers between 1992 and 2000, according to a 2003 study by the National Institute for Occupational Safety.
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| South Africa: Farmers in War of Words With Cosatu |
By Neels Blom, Business Day (Johannesburg) September 3, 2007 – ALLEGATIONS of violence, victimization and exploitation of children made against farmers by organized Labor threaten SA's agricultural export prospects and risk destabilizing commercial agriculture, farmers' unions say. The North West branch of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) last week issued a statement condemning what it termed "the attitude of the majority of farmers in North West who continue assaulting and even killing farm workers, using abusive language and exploiting child Labor".
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| India: Country determined to wipe out child Labor: President |
The Hindu, Sept 5, 2007, New Delhi (PTI): Taking up the cause of child Laborers, President Pratibha Patil today lamented the lack of adequate laws to tackle the problem.
"I feel deeply for those unfortunate children who are working in fields, factories, shops, streets to earn their livelihood or to support their families," Patil said at a function to award school teachers for meritorious service.
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| Gambia: Labor Bill Amended NAMs Tough On Child Labor |
By Alhagie Jobe, The Daily Observer (Banjul) 5 September 2007 – Members of the National Assembly has condemned the upsurge in child Labor and street begging. The NAMs also called on the relevant authorities to deal with this situation by implementing the laws stated in the Bill and ensure that the Bill protects both employees and employers.
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| The New Labor Law in Line With ILO Convention |
The Daily Observer (Banjul), 5 September 2007 - The amendment of the Labor Bill of 2007 by members of the National Assembly on Monday is yet another positive move in putting The Gambia in line with internationally accepted Labor standards.
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| Yemen: Labor ministry and ILO announce first policy against child labor |
September 5, 2007, SANA'A, NewsYemen – Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor, in cooperation with the International Labor Organization ILO, launched Wednesday the first national policy to limit the child labor in Yemen and identifying the decent labor.
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| Ghana: Allow countries to agree on what constitute child Labor – Ebai |
September 5, 2007 (GNA) – The question of the worst form of child Labor must be clearly distinguished from child work and apprenticeship, which is part of the African culture, Mr. Sona Ebai, Secretary General of the Cocoa Producers' Alliance (COPAL), said in Accra yesterday.
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| Cleaning up the high street |
John Hilary, September 4, 2007, Guardian Unlimited, Last December Tesco, Asda and Primark were named and shamed by War on Want for exploiting garment workers in their quest for ever cheaper clothes to sell to bargain-hungry British shoppers.
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| China refutes on child labor abuse accusation by overseas groups |
BEIJING, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- China on Tuesday refuted on overseas groups' accusation on child labor abuse, saying the country attaches particularly great importance to protecting the rights and interests of children.
Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Jiang Yu made the remarks on Tuesday at a regular press conference. She noted that the Chinese government has always respected internationally recognized labor rights and interests and relevant labor standards.
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| ILO-IPEC gives excellence award to Bacolod Gender Council |
September 4, 2007 – Award of Excellence from International Labor Organization – International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor (ILO-IPEC) for a project implemented by the Bacolod City Gender and Development (GAD) Council to address child labor, particularly commercial and sexual exploitation of children (CSEC).
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| KMU: Better jobs, wages would mean fewer child workers |
By Jerome Aning, Inquirer, September 4, 2007, MANILA, Philippines -- Substantial wage increases and regular, secure jobs could bring down the number of child workers, militant labor group Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU, May First Movement) told the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Monday.
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| ILO: PRESS CONFERENCE ON KEY INDICATORS OF LABOR MARKET REPORT |
September 4, 200, UNITED NATIONS (PressZoom.com) - “The only asset that the poor have is their Labor, and if we can find ways to improve the way they work, we can have a dramatic increase in poverty alleviation,” the author of a new International Labor Organization (ILO) report told correspondents at a Headquarters press conference this morning.
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| CHINA Report: Child labor use rises in China |
BEIJING (AP) — Child labor is a growing problem in China, a monitoring group said Monday, adding to long-standing concerns voiced by human rights groups and even the International Olympic Committee.
A combination of poverty, weak laws, and defects in the education system are allowing the practice to flourish, the Hong Kong-based China Labor Bulletin said.
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| Supplier Takes Stand Against Child Labor |
August 30, 2007 - Continental Clothing Co. (asi/46410) has announced its latest stand on the state of Uzbekistan's child labor cotton-picking industry: As of this fall, the company is going 100% organic. The initiative makes Continental Clothing the first major clothing company to boycott cotton sales from Uzbekistan, the world's second largest exporter of cotton. To implement the large-scale switchover in inventory, Continental Clothing is purchasing 750 tons of organic cotton as part of its initial conversion. The company will now also label these garments with the "country of origin," not the "country of manufacture," as is usually the case.
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| Pakistan: ILO workshop on child Labor |
August 29, 2007 (Daily Times) LAHORE: Pakistan is experiencing the worst form of child Labor, but with a total of 3.3 million child Laborers, a point of concern for all stakeholders, efforts are being made to control this menace by implementation of laws and more public awareness, speakers at a one-day capacity-building workshop titled “Activating media in combating worst forms of child Labor in Pakistan” remarked. The workshop, arranged by MediaMark, was organized by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and the International Labor Organization (ILO).
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| Children in Cambodia suffer from the worst forms child labor |
August 29, 2007, Report from LICHADO – Although Cambodia has seen rapid economic growth in recent years, it is still one of the poorest countries in the world with most of its citizens living in poverty. The reality of poverty is that it is indiscriminate and affects not only adults but also children. This sadly forces many young children to engage in domestic and manual labor to support their families, with a large proportion working under severe conditions. According to the NGO Committee on the Rights of the Child (2006 NGO Statement to the Consultative Group), Cambodia has more than 1.5 million child laborers, of whom 250,000 are working in the most severe forms of child labor such as in brick factories, brothels, drug factories and mines. Research by the National Institute of Statistics in 2003 indicated that in Phnom Penh alone there were 27,950 children working as domestic workers. These children do not have an opportunity to receive an education and most of them face exploitation and physical and verbal abuse, every day.
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| Yemen: Fears over possibly rising number of child Laborers |
SANAA, 27 August 2007 (IRIN) – The number of child Laborers in Yemen may be increasing due to the country’s deteriorating economic conditions, including price hikes, activists and experts have warned. The future of these children is at stake mainly because they leave school at an early age, they said.
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| Child labor still plagues Yemen, says Children’s Parliament |
August 14, 2007, by Thuria Ghaleb (Yemen Observer) - Child labor is still a serious problem threatening Yemeni society and requiring effective solutions, said the Children’s Parliament in its fifth convention. The convention was held in three sessions, from August 6 to 8 in the Yemeni Parliament building. The sessions were held under the slogan, “Child labor: A problem requiring a solution,” and were supported by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation.
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| Another 359 People Freed From Slavery In China's Brick Kilns |
Linda Young, Taiyuan, China (AHN) - Two months after the scandal first broke that brick factories in China had enslaved people to work, another 359 people have been rescued from slavery in Shanxi province, officials said Monday.
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| Child labor in BT cotton fields |
August 12, 2007, Megha Prasa (TIMES NOW) Little nimble fingers moving between plants, pollinating them so that BT cotton seeds are ready for the market - the struggle to live brings children from across the border from Dungarpur in impoverished Southern Rajasthan to districts in North Gujarat.
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| Ghana Government to Eliminate Child Labor By 2011 |
August 9, 2007 (Modern Ghana) Ghana Government has embarked on a long-term project to completely eliminate child labor on cocoa farms in all the 46 cocoa producing districts of the country by July 2011. Mrs Joana Annan, of the Department of Child Labor at the Ministry of Manpower, Youth and Employment, announced this yesterday at a day's workshop at Cape Coast in the Central Region, to sensitize cocoa farmers and other stakeholders on the harmful effects of engaging children as farmhands.
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| NEPAL: CHILD LABOR a Hard Reality |
August 5, 2007, By Nirakar Poudel, Media for Freedom, Nepal - An orphan from an early age, Madan Karki (name changed),14, used to work at his uncle's small farm in Jeevanpur of Dhading District, 50 kilometer west of capital. Madan's job was to take the cattle for grazing the whole day. One day, a family friend approached him with offer for work at his home in Kathmandu with a promise that he will be admitted in a school.
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