CHILD LABOUR NEWS SERVICE
1 November 2001
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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** AFGHANI CHILDREN WORKING IN RUG FACTORIES IN PAKISTAN
** 32 COUNTRIES RISK FAILING EDUCATION PLEDGE
** TOBACCO INDUSTRY BANS USE OF CHILD LABOUR
** NIKE ADMITS TO MISTAKES OVER CHILD LABOUR
** NEWS-IN-BRIEF
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AFGHANI CHILDREN WORKING IN RUG FACTORIES IN PAKISTAN
Peshawar, Pakistan -- Behind the high walls and padlocked iron
gates of the AsiaTic carpet-weaving factory live 800 Afghan children
whose miserable existence as bonded labourers is a piece of Afghanistan's
present plight.
Inside the compound skinny, round-eyed boys tie carpet knots
from morning to night. Some of them are only 5 or 6 years old.
Alone at night some sob and call out for their parents. Many
will contract respiratory ailments from close exposure to wool
fibers. Others will go blind from contact with harsh dyes.
These little labourers live behind gates guarded around the clock
to stop them from running away. Many were handed over in the
last three weeks to groups that organize local child labour by
Afghan parents convinced their sons will be safer in Pakistan
away from U.S. air raids and better fed than in famine-stricken
Afghanistan.
But, because of the social upheaval in Pakistan caused by the
war and a sharp decline in orders for carpets from clients in
the United States and Europe, many of these children are being
laid off and left to their own devices.
The export of Afghan children to Pakistan's carpet sweatshops
is hardly a new phenomenon. Desperate Afghan parents without
a livelihood at home have been sending their children to Pakistan
as bonded labour for years, a practice that went virtually unnoticed
until the United States began military attacks on Afghanistan.
The boys work as carpet weavers while girls knead mud bricks
in quarries and kilns. They are paid just $1.60 for each 1,000
bricks they make.
At one pit a grizzled patriarch named Bashir Takij said he came
from Afghanistan with his family 20 years ago to escape the war
against the invading Soviet army. His granddaughter Seema, 7,
now works with him. Her little sister Aziza, 3, is learning.
In 1995 the Bonded Labour Liberation Front, a non-governmental
organisation, rescued Iqbal Masih from a carpet-weaving factory
and made him a symbol in the global battle against child labour.
A year later, the 11-year-old boy was killed in Lahore, Pakistan.
His death was seen by many as an apparent warning not to tamper
with an industry that exports products that are big moneymakers
for Pakistan.
The demand for boy workers in Peshawar, home to some 300 carpet-weaving
factories, has always been high. There is constant demand for
the nimble, tiny fingers of little boys able to pluck and knot
the thin wool threads with speed and accuracy.
# # #
(Chicago Tribune)
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32 COUNTRIES RISK FAILING EDUCATION PLEDGE
Paris -- Thirty-two countries are at grave risk of failing to
enrol all children in primary schools by 2015. In 15 of these
countries, less than half of children are attending school.
This warning is contained in a monitoring report released last
week on Education For All (EFA), a global compact that commits
countries to achieve universal primary school enrolment, establish
full gender equality in primary and secondary enrolment, and
cut adult illiteracy levels in half, all by 2015.
This report - prepared by UNESCO with inputs from partner organizations
- has been released to coincide with the first annual High-level
Meeting on Education for All, October 29-30, at UNESCO Headquarters,
part of the follow-up to the World Education Forum held in Dakar,
Senegal, in April 2000.
One out of every five school-age child in developing countries
does not attend school. In sub-Saharan Africa, Southern Asia
and the Arab States, nearly 100 million children, more than 60%
of them girls, are not in school. All told, the world will need
to make room for additional 156 million school-age children by
2015 over the number enrolled in schools in 1997. Of that total,
more than half - 88 million children - will be from sub-Saharan
Africa, while South Asian and Arab States will need to find school
places for 40 million and 23 million more children, respectively.
A massive effort is required in sub-Saharan Africa, which will
have to increase its 1990s pace of enrolment by between 2 and
3 times in order to achieve universal primary education by 2015.
Countries at grave risk like Angola, the Central African Republic,
the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lesotho, Liberia, Niger
and Somalia will need to accelerate ten-fold their 1990s pace
of increased enrolment.
African countries like Malawi, Mauritania and Uganda have doubled
enrolment to reach nearly 100% gross primary enrolment during
this decade. Zambia has reported a rise in its national literacy
rate from 55% in 1990 to nearly 70% in 1996. The report warns,
however, that many countries are increasing enrolments at the
expense of the quality of education.
Sustained donor and national support for EFA over the coming
decade is needed, with estimates ranging from $8 to $15 billion
additional funding per year over the coming 15 years in order
to achieve universal primary education alone. The highest estimate
($15 billion) represents only 0.06% of the GNP of donor countries,
or 0.3% of the GNP of developing countries, the report points
out.
The 32 countries at risk of failing to reach the EFA goals by
2015 unless "serious action is taken" are Afghanistan, Angola,
Bhutan, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic,
Chad, Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo,
Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana,
Haiti, Lesotho, Liberia, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda,
Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Somalia, Sudan, United Republic
of Tanzania, Yemen.
# # #
(United Nations)
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TOBACCO INDUSTRY BANS USE OF CHILD LABOUR
An international outcry over the use of child labour in Malawi
has prompted the local tobacco industry into action after threats
of trade sanctions promised to cripple commercial agriculture
in the country.
The Tobacco Association of Malawi (TAMA) have spearheaded the
creation of the Elimination of Child Labour Association following
threats by international tobacco buyers to lobby for a blanket
ban unless authorities took steps.
The association task force comprises government labour officials,
employers and the Malawi Congress of Trade Unions (MCTU).
TAMA vice-president, Amid Mponda-Lunga informed that the new
association confirmed Malawi's commitment to ending child labour
practices.
"We have looked at different perspectives of child labour in
Malawi and are going to pull every resource to damn this evil,"
said Mponda-Lunga.
Under Malawi's new Employment Act of 2000 the minimum age of
employment is set at 14 years, said labour commissioner, Zebron
Kambuto.
But Malawi has also ratified International Labour Organisation
(ILO) conventions that seek to raise the minimum age of employment
in commercial agriculture to 18, he added.
"It is criminal to employ a minor in any economic activity which
harms a child's physical and normal development," Kambuto said.
The offence is punishable by a R3 500 fine or five years in jail
but there are no official statistics on the number of children
under 14 employed in Malawi.
The tobacco sector in Malawi was the first to acknowledge the
existence of child labour in its sector, but other sectors, like
tea, refuted claims.
# # #
(African Eye News Service)
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NIKE ADMITS TO MISTAKES OVER CHILD LABOUR
The Multibillion-Dollar sportswear company Nike has admitted
that it "blew it" by employing children in Third World countries
but added that ending the practice might be difficult.
Nike attempted to present itself to its shareholders in its first
"corporate responsibility report" as a touchy-feely entity established
by "skinny runners" and employing young executives who worried
about the environment and the level of wages it paid.
The mere fact that Nike has produced such a report was welcomed
in some quarters, but its main detractors, including labour groups
such as Oxfam's Nike Watch and the Clean Clothes Campaign, said
they were not convinced.
Philip Knight, the company chairman, clearly stung by reports
of children as young as 10 making shoes, clothing and footballs
in Pakistan and Cambodia, attempted to convince Nike's critics
that it had only ever employed children accidentally. "Of all
the issues facing Nike in workplace standards, child labour is
the most vexing," he said in the report. "Our age standards are
the highest in the world: 18 for footwear manufacturing, 16 for
apparel and equipment, or local standards whenever they are higher.
But in some countries (Bangladesh and Pakistan, for example)
those standards are next to impossible to verify, when records
of birth do not exist or can be easily forged.
"Even when records keeping is more advanced, and hiring is carefully
done, one mistake can brand a company like Nike as a purveyor
of child labour."
The report said Nike imposed strict conditions on the age of
employees taken on by contract factories abroad, but admitted
there had been instances when those conditions were ignored or
bypassed.
"By far our worst experience and biggest mistake was in Pakistan,
where we blew it," the report said. In 1995 Nike said it thought
it had tied up with responsible factories in Sialkot, in Pakistan,
that would manufacture well-made footballs and provide good conditions
for workers. Instead, the work was sub-contracted round local
villages, and children were drawn into the production process.
Now, it insisted, any factory found to be employing a child must
take that worker out of the factory, pay him or her a wage, provide
education and re-hire them only when they were old enough.
Mistakes, however, continue to happen. In recent years, Nike
has been criticised for its employment of child labour in Cambodia,
but the company defended itself by saying fake evidence of age
could be bought in Cambodia for as little as $5.
"If Nike wants to be taken seriously as a company interested
in corporate responsibility then it needs to engage honestly
with its critics in the human rights community. Unfortunately
the company's new corporate responsibility report fails to do
this."
# # #
(The Independent -- London)
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NEWS-IN-BRIEF
-- UPCOMING ENTRY INTO FORCE OF TREATY ON CHILDREN'S RIGHTS HAILED
With the submission of Romania's tenth ratification on 18 October,
the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the
Child will become a legally binding instrument on 18 January
2002. Welcoming the upcoming entry into force of a treaty on
the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography,
the UNICEF announced the event would be a major step forward
in the protection of children from exploitation, trafficking
and sexual abuse. The agency estimates that one million children,
mainly girls, are forced into the multi-billion dollar commercial
sex trade every year. The first 10 countries ratifying the treaty
are Andorra, Bangladesh, Cuba, Iceland, Kazakhstan, Panama, Sierra
Leone, Norway, Morocco and Romania.
-- INTERNATIONAL BODY TO MONITOR CHILD LABOUR IN SIALKOT SOON
An international monitoring body to supervise and monitor the
elimination of child labour in soccer ball industry of Sialkot
and any other industry or business involved in manufacturing
of sports goods and other areas will be established shortly.
In furtherance of Atlanta Agreement, the ILO-IPEC had established
a system with the co-operation of Sialkot Chamber of Commerce
and Industry (SCCI) for achieving the ultimate goal to eliminate
child labour from soccer ball industry. ILO-IPEC and its partners
(SCCI, UNICEF, SCF, FIFA, SICA and WFSGI) would be transferring
the existing monitoring system to an independent locally-managed
institution with a management and governing board registered
under the Company's Law of Pakistan. A Board of Governors would
be constituted to supervise and oversee the performance of independent
national monitoring body to ensure transparency. The ILO will
continue to provide technical assistance to this monitoring body.
(Business Recorder)
-- GOVERNMENT TEAM TO FIGHT HUMAN TRAFFICKING
The Indonesian government has decided to establish an interdepartmental
team to launch various campaigns aimed at curbing rampant human
trafficking, Co-ordinating Minister for Peoples' Welfare Jusuf
Kalla announced. The decision was made in response to the United
Nations' evaluation, which categorised Indonesia in the third
grade -- the worst countries in handling human trafficking. This
team would be assigned to lower the evaluation to the second
grade within three years. "We will tighten surveillance and security,
especially along borders, and launch campaigns to address the
causes for human trafficking, which frequently ends with women
and children forced to become sex workers or illegal workers
overseas," Kalla remarked. (The Jakarta Post)
-- NIGERIA PRESIDENT SETS UP BODY TO FIGHT HUMAN TRAFFICKING
Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo has set up a committee on
human trafficking tasked with repatriating Nigerian victims of
the illegal business. The six-man committee, headed by deputy
justice minister Musa Elayo Abdulahi, will also ensure the prosecution
of all suspected and arrested human traffickers. The body will
also rehabilitate and reintegrate the victims into the society,
informed Mike Mku, president's special aide on human trafficking
and child labour. The human trafficking situation in Nigeria
"has assumed a serious and embarrassing dimension," Mku said.
(Agence France Presse)
-- NIGERIA AMONG TOP 20 COUNTRIES IN HUMAN TRAFFICKING.
The Nigerian government admitted that Nigeria is one of the top
20 countries in human trafficking worldwide. Submitting a memorandum
on human trafficking and child labour to a public hearing organised
by the Senate committee on women, the government pointed out
that human trafficking is ranked third in organised crime after
drug trafficking and gun running. The recent aggressive fight
against drugs and gun running has gradually made human trafficking
and child labour the safest transborder crime. The traffickers,
most of whom are citizens of Nigeria, use Benin, Guinea, Mali,
Libya and Morocco as transit countries, he said, adding that
there are thousands of Nigerians stranded in those countries.
-- CHILD LABOUR CRISIS IN NIGER
Niger is facing a critical problem of child labour, with some
girls working for 17 hours a day as maids and in other jobs.
A 1998 survey by the International programme for the eradication
of child labour on a sample of 600 working children, showed that
31% of these children were aged between 10 and 12, and that only
one-quarter were sent to school. The study focused on the informal
sector where most of the children are involved in cattle-breeding,
mining extraction, manufacturing and maintenance activities.
Another survey in 1995 put at 247,293, the number of children
between four and 20 years, employed in Niger's the informal sector.
Niger has since adopted a National Plan of Action for the eradication
of child labour, but experts say this has had little effect.
(PANA)
-- KAZAKASTAN - ANTI TRAFFICKING CAMPAIGN
Don't Agree with Slavery! With this slogan, the IOM anti trafficking
campaign, targeting girls and women between the ages of 15 and
30, got under way last week. Prior to the official launch, IOM
held a workshop with 40 participants from all over Kazakhstan
who will act as regional focal points for the campaign. IOM will
set up hotlines in all the regional capitals which will give
objective information to callers who have received offers for
work abroad. According to statistics compiled by a regional NGOs
last year, some 50 women were trafficked from a city with a population
of 150,000. Using this figure to arrive at an average for the
entire country, taking into account a total population of approximately
15 million persons, some 5,000 women could be trafficked from
Kazakhstan each year. IOM is carrying out the information campaign
with grants from the USAID and the SIDA totalling USD200,000.
-- PHILIPPINES - COMBATING CHILD TRAFFICKING
To combat child trafficking in the country, domestic shipping
company William, Gothong and Aboitiz has agreed to set up a monitoring
scheme for passengers of its popular Super Ferry vessels. The
safety net will be put in place initially at the Manila North
Harbour and will intercept potential victims of child trafficking
- estimated at around 2.5 million every year - upon their arrival
at the waiting area. The program will be implemented in co-ordination
with the Visayan Forum Foundation (VFF), a non-governmental organisation
promoting the welfare of migrant working children from Visayas
and Mindanao. Similar arrangements have been made with other
shipping firms such as Sulpicio Lines and Negros Navigation.
The monitoring program will be expanded next year to include
other major ports. A monitoring system will also be put up in
the ports of origin to prevent child trafficking before transit.
(Business World)
-- JAMAICA - GOVERNMENT TACKLES CHILD LABOUR
Government is pumping some $23 million into an assault on the
practice of child labour in Jamaica through a programme set to
begin this month. Developed in co-operation with the ILO, the
programme will channel funds into initiatives to stamp out the
worst forms of child labour over the next two years. The programme
aims to develop a national database on child labour in Jamaica;
craft and implement projects to remove children from the streets
and prevent child labour and implement a campaign to raise the
level of awareness on child labour. Some 22,000 or 4.6% of children
within the ages of 6 to 16 years are estimated to be involved
in the child labour in Jamaica. Many of these children can be
seen at major road intersections wiping windscreens. In some
tourist resort areas, children are forced into prostitution,
one of the worst forms of child labour. (The Gleaner)
-- NEW STEPS AGAINST HUMAN TRAFFICKING
Experts from West African countries have agreed on an action
plan against trafficking in human beings in the region following
a two-day meeting in the Ghanaian capital, Accra. The plan of
action calls for Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)
countries to adopt laws criminalising trafficking in human beings.
It also urges them to build the necessary administrative structures
including working in co-operation with NGOs and other representatives
of civil society, the setting up of new special police units
and training for officials including judges, customs and immigration
officials. The plan will be submitted through the ECOWAS Ministerial
Meeting for adoption by ECOWAS heads of state at their annual
summit in December.
-- SIX PER CENT OF CHILDREN IN KARNATAKA STATE ARE LABOURERS
The Human Development Report by the United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP) for Karnataka points out an increase in the
number of child labourers. The number of child workers has increased
from 8.09 lakhs in 1971 to 9.76 lakhs in the age group of five
to 14 now. At least, 6% of the children are labourers today in
the State. A profile of Child Labour in Karnataka identified
child workers in hotels, shops, garages, households, construction
industry, and small-scale industries. It also identified children
engaged in beedi-rolling, cotton-ginning, quarrying, fish-processing,
sericulture, agarbatti-making, and brick-making industries.
-- UNICEF FRANCE GIVES US $104,000 FOR GIRLS EDUCATION
The UNICEF Committee of France has chosen to sponsor a girls
education programme in the Kasai provinces of the Democratic
Republic of the Congo (DRC) with a contribution of US $104,000.
The experimental programme targets nine schools in the region
of Kazumba in Kasai Occidental province and in the regions of
Miabi and Tshilenge in Kasai Oriental province. The objective
of the project is to raise the number of girls attending school
full-time from 42% to 62% of the population; to reduce the rate
of dropouts to less than 10%; and to raise the rate of girls
continuing education at a secondary level. The project may be
expanded to other schools after an evaluation, due to take place
at the end of 2002. (IRIN)
-- WORLD BANK BACKING FOR PRIMARY EDUCATION
The World Bank announced its approval of a US $150 million interest-free
credit to support Tanzania's efforts to improve education quality,
expand school access and increase school retention at the primary
level. Under the Primary Education Development Programme project
measures are to be introduced to increase resource availability
and improve their allocation and use; improve educational inputs;
and strengthen institutional arrangements that ensure quality
primary education. Following the abolition of school fees and
added school resources, the external funding is critical particularly
at the early stage for effectively tackling the sector issues.
(IRIN)
-- ITALIAN TV AIRS REPORT ON SEX TOURISM IN COSTA RICA
The largest private television channel in Italy recently aired
a revealing investigation into the sexual exploitation of Costa
Rican children by foreign tourists. According to the award winning
Italian TV producers Sebastian Basco and Silvia Chiodin, who
spent several weeks in Costa Rica in August of this year investigating
and filming the one hour report, the program traces the life
and death of 14 year old Ivette, a sexually exploited child who
was disappeared, murdered and chopped up into pieces in December
of last year. The child murderer has never been caught and the
Costa Rican judicial authorities have no leads. (Casa Alianza)
-- SIERRA LEONE: CHILDREN REUNITED WITH FAMILIES
Some 95 child ex-combatants were reunited with their families
at a ceremony in Sierra Leone's northern town of Makeni, a statement
from the UN Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) said. The children
were brought to Makeni from the NGO Caritas-Makeni's interim
care centre in Lungi, in Port Loko district. The Special Representative
of the UN secretary-general in Sierra Leone, Oluyemi Adeniji,
called on the families to welcome their children back "with open
arms" and to give them "all the support they need to grow into
normal children".
-- UN DOCUMENTS CHILD LABOUR AMONG AFGHANS
Latest UN report shows that the number of Afghan children living
in Afghanistan and Afghan refugee children in Pakistan and Iran
who are forced by economic circumstances to work has increased.
Poverty and the ruling Taliban's laws restricting women's employment
drive children as young as 7 to work repairing cars, weaving
carpets, making bricks, cleaning houses and searching for scrap
metal to make up for lost household income. In Kabul, the capital,
the number of children working has nearly doubled in the last
five years, to 50,000, according to the United Nations. The
trend has spread to bordering countries with the flow of refugees.
(Baltimore Sun)
-- BAN ON CHILD LOTTERY SELLERS
Children under 18 years who work for newsagents will not be allowed
to sell lottery tickets after a State Government review. NSW
Gaming and Racing Minister Richard Face said it was illegal to
sell lottery tickets to anyone under the age of 18, yet school
children employed at weekends at news agencies were selling the
tickets. "As with any other form of gambling, the Government
believes that there should be responsible gambling practices
in place," he said. "And it is not acceptable that young children
should be in charge of implementing such practices." (The Daily
Telegraph - Sydney)
-- MEET TO CHALK OUT STRATEGY AGAINST CHILD ABUSE
Arab and African countries met for the first time in Rabat, Morocco,
to discuss the issue of sexual exploitation of children and formulate
common regional strategies. It discussed the issue of sexual
exploitation of children, in light of the six themes to be addressed
during the World Congress in Japan in December, with a special
focus on types of constraints peculiar to Arab and African countries.
The forum was one of a series of regional preparatory meetings
that are taking place for the second World Congress against Commercial
Sexual Exploitation of Children, due to be held in Yokohama,
Japan, from December 17 to 20. (Bahrain Tribune)
-- GLOBAL CAMPAIGN ON EDUCATION OUTLINES ITS EXPECTATIONS FOR
HIGH-LEVEL GROUP MEETING
On the eve of the first meeting of the High-Level Group, Global
Campaign for Education sent a letter to the UNESCO Director-General
outlining the Campaign's expectations for the outcome of the
meeting. The letter welcomed UNESCO's recent efforts to inject
new momentum into the EFA agenda and its increased recognition
of the central role that civil society plays in achieving the
Dakar goals. It urged the High-Level group to push for the completion
of National EFA Plans of Action before the end of 2002 and the
creation of a Global Initiative to send a clear signal that all
viable plans will receive a speedy and appropriate response from
the donor community. It also suggested that the High-Level Group
mandate a smaller, interim working group to elaborate concrete
proposals for a Global Initiative early next year.
(http://www.campaignforeducation.org)
-- ASIAN AND PACIFIC GOVERNMENTS APPROVE ACTION PLAN TO FIGHT
CHILD SEXUAL EXPLOITATION
During the recent East Asia and Pacific Regional Consultation
on the commercial sexual exploitation of children, for the first
time, delegates from around the Asia Pacific region committed
their governments to deadlines for putting in place legal and
social frameworks for preventing child sexual exploitation and
assisting survivors. The consultation was organised by ESCAP,
UNICEF, ECPAT, and the Government of Japan, in Bangkok. It was
attended by over 200 government leaders and representatives from
UN agencies, civil society organizations and the private sector,
as well as young people from around the region. "By agreeing
to time bound commitments for the first time, governments have
moved one step further towards action on critical initiatives
in this region," Ms Margie de Monchy, UNICEF's Regional Advisor
on Child Protection for East Asia and the Pacific said. (United
Nations Information Services)
-- ACTIVISTS CALL FOR TOUGHER LAWS AGAINST SEXUAL EXPLOITATION
The ILO reports that the number of children in El Salvador who
are sexually and commercially exploited is increasing. Along
with the Salvadoran Institute of Child Protection and other rights
groups, the ILO warns that both girls and boys are victims of
this abuse. El Salvador's Commission for Family, Women and Children
calls for legislative reforms to crack down on all those connected
with child abuse, particularly sexual and commercial exploitation.
Currently, those who are convicted of these crimes face up to
three years in prison. (San Salvador El Diario de Hoy)
-- 2001 ANTI-SLAVERY AWARD
Association for Community Development (ACD) has been chosen for
the 2001 Anti-Slavery Award for its outstanding work against
trafficking in Bangladesh. Each year thousands of women and children
are trafficked from Bangladesh to India, Pakistan and the Middle
East. They are forced to work in factories, as domestic workers
or as prostitutes. ACD works to reintegrate former trafficked
persons through counselling, education and training. The Award
ceremony on 13 November 2001 marks the launch of Anti-Slavery's
campaign against trafficking.
-- VATICAN RATIFIES PROTOCOLS AGAINST CHILD SOLDIERS AND CHILD
PROSTITUTION
The Vatican formally submitted its ratification of amendments
to halt the use of child soldiers and protect children from sexual
abuse and exploitation. Archbishop Renato Martino, the Holy See's
UN observer, deposited instruments of ratification of the two
optional protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child
and encouraged all other nations to "join in furthering the legal
protection of children." "The fact that the Holy See has now
ratified the two optional protocols ... is another sign of its
ceaseless recognition of the fundamental importance of protecting
the human rights of children and promoting their well-being,"
the archbishop said. (United Nations)
-- U. NORTH CAROLINA SIGNS ANTI-SWEATSHOP LABOUR DEAL WITH NIKE
In an agreement whose focus was not just financial gain, but
also human rights, the University of North Carolina and Nike
sportswear company collaborated last week on an eight-year merchandising
agreement worth $28 million. Under the agreement, Nike agreed
to an anti-sweatshop labour code that applies to uniforms and
other merchandise with UNC's logo. According to the code, workers
are to be treated by the internationally recognised labour codes
including child labour laws, said Scott J. Nova, the executive
director of the Worker Rights Consortium at UNC. (University
Wire)
-- The 9TH CONSULTATIVE MEETING OF THE TASK FORCE TO PROTECT
CHILDREN FROM SEXUAL EXPLOITATION IN TOURISM will take place
on 12 November 2001 in London, UK. Information regarding activities
of your organisation/country against the sexual exploitation
of children in tourism are requested to enable the Task Force's
Executive Committee to co-ordinate actions at the international
level and to identify projects that could be potentially supported
by its members in future. For further information contact Francesca
Ciabatti, World Tourism Organization, Capitán Haya 42, 28020
Madrid, Spain. Tel: (34 91) 567 8100; Fax: (34 91) 571 3733;
Email: fciabatti@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx; Website: www.world-tourism.org
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For comments or any further information please contact:
Upasana Choudhry
Editor, Child Labour News Service
c/o Global March Against Child Labour
L-6 Kalkaji, New Delhi 110 019, INDIA
Tel : (91 11) 622 4899, 647 5481
Fax : (91 11) 623 6818
Email : childlabournews@xxxxxxxx or yatra@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Website: http://www.globalmarch.org/clns/index.html
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"A CHILD IN DANGER IS A CHILD THAT CANNOT WAIT" - KOFI ANNAN
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