Child Labor

Friday Session: March 4, 2005

Human Development Study Group
Hiromi Ishida, Satoko Okamoto,
Rika Morioka & Yoshie Fukumoto
Outline
1. Child Protection & Law
2. Child Labor
3. CSR
4. Child Labor & CSR
5. Policy Recommendations
1. Child Protection and Law
Child Protection
“ Children should be protected. Child
protection leads to their survival, health
and well-being.” → 　 Human Development
 Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)
- Children have a right to life, survival and
development. (Article 6)
- Parents are responsible for protecting
children’s rights (Article 5 & 18)
CRC
 Article 32/1

States Parties recognize the right of the child

to be protected from economic exploitation
and from performing any work that is likely
to be hazardous or to interfere with the child's
education, or to be harmful to the child's
health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or
social development.
ILO-IPEC
 International Programme on the Elimination of Child
Labour (IPEC)
 ILO Convention No.138 & No. 182
- No. 138: Convention concerning Minimum Age for
Admission to Employment
- No. 182: Convention concerning the Prohibition and
Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst
Forms Child Labor
2. Child Labor
What is the “Child Labor”?
Current Situation in the World-1/2

 Child Labor: All children below 12 years of

age working in any economic activities, those
aged between 12 and 14 engaged in more than
light work, and all children engaged in the
worst forms of child labor. (ILO, Conventions
138 and 182)
What is the “Child Labor”?
Current Situation in the World-2/2
 An estimated 246 million children are
engaged in child labor.

Latin America and the

Caribbean

Sub-Saharan Africa

Asian and Pacific regions

harbor

0 50 100 150
million
Action Against Child Labor: UNICEF
 Preventing all forms of child labor that are
detrimental to children
 Using the Convention on the Rights of the Child
 Supporting other key areas of the child's
development ( health, nutrition and sanitation)
 Building alliances with other partners
 Working for the ratification and implementation of
ILO Convention No.182 to immediately end the
worst forms of child labor
Toward what / How to approach?

 Education
 Poverty
 Street Children
 Child Soldier
 Partnership with government and NGO
Action Against Child Labor: ILO

 Standards and Fundamental Principles

and Rights at Work Sector
 InFocus Programme on Child Labor:
 International Programme on the Elimination of Child
Labor
InFocus Programme on Chile Labour:
International Programme on the Elimination of
Child Labour (IPEC)
 Goal
The progressive elimination of child labour,
to be achieved through strengthening the
capacities of countries to deal with the
problem and supporting a worldwide
movement to combat child labour.
 Country Ownership
 Global Ratification Campaign
Partner-Specific Target Programs
 Government – dialogue, ratification, policy,
national projects
 Employers – high-standard and norm setting,
partnership with Int’l Org of Employers (IOE)
 Workers – supporting union initiatives, research,
direct support (work condition, education)
 NGOs – funding and collaboration w/ children's
rights, women's rights, education or health groups
 Schools – educating, mainstreaming former child
workers, awareness-raising, increase access to
school, innovative education methods
Areas of Action
Surrounding Child Labor
 Child Domestic Labour
 Child Soldiers
 Child Trafficking
 Education
 Gender Mainstreaming
 HIV AIDS
 Hazardous Work
 Legal Aspects
 Labour Inspection
 Monitoring and Evaluation
 Policy and Research
Statistical Information & Monitoring
Programme on Child Labor (SIMPOC)

 Provides technical assistance to ILO member

States to generate reliable, comparable and
comprehensive data on child labour.
 developing and implementing surveys
 enhancing capacity of member states to collect,
process, disseminate and analyze data on child
labour on a regular and sustainable basis
Time-Bound Programmes:
Country specific program within a defined period of time
 Assistance to ratifying countries
 Focus on the worst forms of child labour –
multiplier effect on society
 Comprehensive national plans underpinned by
extensive data collection, involving intense
participation of multiple stakeholders (policy-
makers, businesses, practitioners, workers)
 Focus on country specific needs and circumstances
 Direct assistance for the removal, rehabilitation and
social integration of children
Components of
Time-Bound Programme
 Prevention – legislation, access to education,
raising household income, awareness raising
 Rehabilitation – health and counseling
services, gender-sensitive educational and
skills training for former child workers
 Protection – legislative protection from
exploitation and hazardous work,
enforcement of labor standards,
improvements in working conditions
Action Against Child Labor:
World Bank
 Global Child Labor Program (GCLP)
- Established in 1998.
- Objectives:
1. Identify and to strengthen the comparative
advantage of the World Bank on this issue
2. Engage the World Bank to proactively address the issue
of child labor in its lending and non-lending operations
3. Have the World Bank facilitate greater cooperation
among the multilateral agencies.
3.CSR
What is the “CSR”? -1/5
 Cooperate Social Responsibility
 60-70s: Civil rights movement, Antiwar movement in
Vietnam 　→　 Excluded companies which are related to the
war from asset management at universities.
 70-80s: Social movement to exclude companies which are
related to abuse of human rights (esp. 1986: comprehensive
anti-apartheid law in the U.S.→ SRI investment trust↑)
Economic retrogression in the U.S.

‘Corporate Social Investment’ New Concept

What is the “CSR”? -2/5
 80s: Concept of ‘Corporate Citizenship’
 90s: ‘Corporate Citizenship’ → Multi-stakeholder (stock
holder, employee, customer, local people, NPO, job
applicant, government, investor, monetary institution)
 1997: ‘Triple Bottom Line Concept’ (economy standards,
environmental friendliness, relevance to the society)→SRI
What is the “CSR”? -3/5
 Global Compact
- Initiated by UN Secretary-General Kofi A. Annan
at the World Economic Forum, Davos, in 1999
- Voluntary international cooperate citizenship network
- Both private sector & other social actors
- Human Rights, Labor, Environment, Anti-corruption
- Principle 1 & 5 → 　 To Protect Human Rights; To Abolish
Child Labor
 SA 8000
What is the “CSR”? -4/5
 Other factors
1. Globalization
2. Development of Civil Society
3. Interests in corporate activity
4. Change in value among individuals
5. Mass media & Internet
 What is the “CSR”? -5/5
Social Compliance CSR
Corporate
Values Strategic Philanthropy
ILO Tripartite Code of Conduct
Declaration Global Compact

Univ. Declaration
of Human Rights MDGs

National Social Entrepreneurship

Legislation
Multilateral Legal Public Private Partnership
Agreements

Unions
Action Against Child Labor:
International Organizations
 World Bank
　　 Negative Report: Impacts on NIKE → Model Companies in
the apparel business 　
　
 UNICEF & ILO 　
Supporting local NGOs i.e.) SGFI
Red Card Campaign etc → Consumer product labels
4. Child Labor & CSR
Counter Arguments & Real World
 Consumer product labels are NOT effective to
reduce child labor.
 Economic sanctions by developed countries are NOT
effective to reduce child labor.
 Children have to work because of the poverty.
 Economic development comes first to reduce child
labor.
Case Study:
Sports Goods Foundation of India-1/4
 Sports Goods Foundation of India (SGFI)
 Towards an agreement with WFSGI, ILO-IPEC and SCF:
25 exporters of sports goods joined hands together voluntarily
and created the foundation in 1998.

Goal: By the end of 2001 all the members would be 100%

compliant and none of their products would involve child
labor at any stage.
Sports Goods Foundation of India-2/4
Objectives:
1. To prevent and progressively eliminate child labor in the manufacture or
assembly of soccer balls in Jalandhar district and its environs.
2. To identify and remove children under the age of 14 years involved in the
manufacture or assembly of soccer balls and provide them with educational
and other opportunities.
3. To facilitate changes in community and family attitudes to child labor.
4. To provide a social awareness & protection program objectives of which are:
a) Children (both school going and non-school going) found stitching
footballs be rehabilitated in schools and made aware of the
importance of education.
b) Parents of such children, and the community as a whole be made
aware of the importance of educating their children and ensuring that
they do not engage in the practice of child labor.
Sports Goods Foundation of India-3/4
 Monitoring System
- Registration for stitch workers
- Internal monitoring by each manufactures & External monitoring by
SGS India Pvt Ltd.
 Rehabilitation Program
- Schools by SGFI: For very poor children
- Non-formal education: SGFI provides textbooks, uniforms, stationery
& snacks to children
- Money: Parents get 100 rupee/month if they make their children go to
schools
Sports Goods Foundation of India-4/4
 Outcomes
- Number of member companies : 25 → 31
- Non-formal Education : Some of the children proceed to
formal school.
- Win-Win Relationship : Education ↑ → 　 Child Labor ↓
Analysis -1/2
 Impact of Eco Label
Depends on
→ 　 Positive in the market.
maturation
 Reaction in the market level
 Reaction among stakeholders of the society

Cf.) Increasing Awareness of Environmental Issues

↓
　　 Environmental Economics, Eco Label 　　 CSR
Child Labor
Analysis -2/2
Progress of SRI Working Asset
in the U.S.
US$billion

23200
25000 21590 21750

20000

15000 11850

10000 6390

5000

0
1995 1997 1999 2001 2003
Trend in Development Studies
 What is the “Development”?
- Human Development
Expanding the choices people have to lead lives that they
value. Much more than economic growth, enlarging
people ’s choices.
- Gross National Happiness (GNH)
i.e.) The Kingdom of Bhutan
5. Policy Recommendations
Key Issues
 Economic Development & Human
Development
 CSR→ Voluntary
 Multi-stakeholder → Consensus
- How do they have their consensus?
- What is their consensus?
Policy Recommendations
 Promote CSR →Improve effective regulation
= CRC
 Promote SA 8000 → Reduce child labor,
Expand opportunities for education
　　　　　　　　　　　
Human Development, Human Capital ↑
Thank you!

Hiromi Ishida, American University

Satoko Okamoto, IoE, University of London
Rika Morioka, University of California, San Diego
Yoshie Fukumoto, GSPIA, University of Pittsburgh