Young people focus on child labour in supply chains

The ILO marked the 2016 World Day against Child Labour with a live, interactive talk, calling on young people to be aware of child labour in global supply chains.

Press release | Bangkok, Thailand | 14 June 2016
The live talk by Ambassador Jesús Miguel Sanz, Head of the European Union Delegation to Thailand.
(ILO News) BANGKOK – The International Labour Organization (ILO), supported by the Delegation of the European Union to Thailand and in collaboration with NIST International School, marked the 2016 World Day against Child Labour with a live, interactive, talk calling on young people to be aware of child labour in global supply chains.

The talk on “Ending Child Labour and Unacceptable Forms of Work in Global Supply Chains" was given by Ambassador Jesús Miguel Sanz, Head of the European Union Delegation to Thailand, at NIST International School, in Bangkok, on 9 June, ahead of the World Day against Child Labour (12 June).

“We need to know, and we are entitled to know, what we consume, what we buy, what we eat, what we wear. Awareness. Be aware is the key word,” said Ambassador Sanz at the event, which was also streamed live to online audiences.

With 168 million children still in work, the awareness-raising campaign engaged young people as responsible consumers in line with this year’s World Day against Child Labour’s focus on children in supply chains.

Ambassador Sanz.
“It [awareness] might end up changing a consumption pattern, favouring certain brands and rejecting others. And hopefully increasing the level of compassion that we have towards those in need,” said Ambassador Sanz.

According to the ILO’s latest figures for child labour, the ILO Global Estimates on Child Labour 2000-2012, Asia and the Pacific remains the region with the largest number of child labourers – about 78 million, which is just under 10 per cent of the child population aged 5-17 years, or 1 in 10 children.

Opening the event, James McDonald, Head of NIST International School Thailand, told the students; “You have won the lottery. Your parents put you in a school like this. A lot of children around the world did not win the lottery and they are subjected to child labour. So, it’s a very real issue, a very relevant issue.”

More than one hundred students from NIST International School and Mechai Bamboo School attended the live talk, followed by a Q&A session.

Simrin Singh, the ILO Senior Specialist on Child Labour.
Asked by the students if it was practically possible to avoid products that are made by child labour, Simrin Singh, the ILO Senior Child Labour Specialist replied: “What you can do is to be aware. Awareness goes so far in bringing about the change you need to bring, on changing the situation, [diminishing] the need for child labour”.

Maurizio Bussi, Director of the ILO Country Office for Thailand, Cambodia and Lao People's Democratic Republic, gave the audience a challenge; “You can be the first generation where the issue of child labour around the world can disappear. Can this be true? Can you be a factor to that?”

Students from NIST International School and Mechai Bamboo School at the live talk event.
At the end of the event the young people were asked to help raise awareness and share their ideas for combatting child labour by joining the ILO’s online vox pop campaign - #youthrespond.
You can watch the event here.

For further information please contact:

Jiraporn Wongpaithoon
Communications Officer
ILO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, Bangkok
Tel.: 02288 1664
Email: jiraporn@ilo.org

Simrin Singh
Senior Specialist on Child Labour
ILO Decent Work Technical Support Team
Tel.: 02288 1774
Email: singhs@ilo.org