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Media advisory

ILO to issue new global report on child labour on eve of major conference in The Hague

The International Labour Office (ILO) is to launch a new report on the state of child labour around the world. The report is being launched on the eve of a major global meeting organized by the Netherlands in close collaboration with ILO, aimed at intensifying efforts to eliminate the worst forms of child labour within the next decade.

Press release | 14 April 2010

GENEVA (ILO News) – The International Labour Office (ILO) is to launch a new report on the state of child labour around the world. The report is being launched on the eve of a major global meeting organized by the Netherlands in close collaboration with ILO, aimed at intensifying efforts to eliminate the worst forms of child labour within the next decade.

The new ILO Global Report on Child Labour, entitled “Accelerating action against child labour”, will be launched worldwide under embargo on 7 May. The report assesses progress made in the global campaign against child labour and lays out the challenges that remain if the goal of eliminating the worst forms of child labour by 2016 is to be achieved. The ILO set that goal in 2006, when its last global assessment of the state of child labour was issued.

The Hague Global Child Labour Conference on 10-11 May is being organized by the Dutch Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment in close collaboration with the ILO's International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) and in cooperation with UNICEF and the World Bank.

The main objective of the conference is to strengthen the worldwide movement to achieve universal ratification of ILO Conventions Nos. 138 (Minimum Age) and 182 (Worst Forms of Child Labour) and to advance efforts to reach the 2016 target.

The conference will provide opportunities for countries, workers’ organizations, employers’ organizations, non-governmental organizations and other parties to showcase good practices and lessons learned in the fight against the worst forms of child labour and consider a "Road Map" providing concrete steps towards achieving the 2016 target.

Note to the media:

The report will be available as of Friday 7 May under embargo for publication on or after 00:01 GMT on Saturday 8 May. Please contact communication@ilo.org or call +41 22/799-7912 for more information. A PDF of the report will also be available upon request in English, French and Spanish. A press release will be issued on Friday 7 May under embargo as stated above.

Video coverage of the press conference as well as video interviews with the authors of the report will be available for broadcasters. Please contact the Department of Communication/Radio and TV Unit on +4122/799-7935 or by emailing naets-sekiguchi@ilo.org

Interviews with experts from the ILO’s International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) can be scheduled via the Department of Communication. For further information, please contact communication@ilo.org or call +4122/799-7912.

For Geneva correspondents:

A press conference on the Global Report will be held under embargo on 7 May at 11:30 AM local time in Press Room III of the Palais des Nations. The briefing will be attended by Constance Thomas, Director of the International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) and Frank Hagemann, Chief of Policy and Research, IPEC.