CHILD LABOUR NEWS SERVICE
15, November 2001
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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** SCANDAL OF BRITAIN'S CHILD SLAVES REVEALED
** U.N. BAN ON CHILD SOLDIERS TO TAKE EFFECT
** CHILDREN ON THE FRONT LINE
** FORUM TO ACT ON SEXUAL EXPLOITATION OF CHILDREN
** NEWS-IN-BRIEF
** ANNOUNCEMENTS
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SCANDAL OF BRITAIN'S CHILD SLAVES REVEALED
Hundreds of West African children have been brought illegally
into Britain and other European countries in a modern-day form
of slavery, according to a BBC investigation.
The probe, triggered by the tragedy of Victoria Climbie, says
that the practice of children being brought to Europe amid promises
of a life of comfort and a good education is widespread.
The Climbie case - the subject of a far-reaching-public inquiry
- has been seen as a horrifying isolated case. She was taken
from the Ivory Coast to London by her great-aunt, Marie Therese
Kouao, in the spring of 1999.
The eight-year-old was subjected to seven months of torture and
died with 128 separate injuries.
The BBC Radio 4 Today programme investigation claims that hundreds
of children brought to Europe by distant relatives or family
friends are "put to work around the home as domestic slaves and
never set foot in a classroom.Some are beaten and abused, others
end up as the sexual playthings of paedophiles".
The BBC claims to have uncovered evidence that some of the people
bringing West African children to Europe also try to pass off
children as their own in order to claim child benefits and get
easier access to council housing.
Karin Astrom, the head of Save the Children in the Ivory Coast,
said organised gangs across West Africa are trafficking children,
with the collusion of government officials.
She said: "Children are being brought to Europe to be exploited,
either for work or sexually. It is poverty, which is creating
this phenomenon. Certainly it is organised, with involvement
at high levels - even government in some countries.
Unconfirmed reports suggest there may be 10,000 West African
children living with strangers in the UK.
Investigators also discovered a trade in girls who can be bought
for £ 5 a time at a market in Abidjan. Documents can be quickly
acquired through corruption - after a few minutes outside the
Ministry of the Child, Welfare and the Family, a tout approached
an African producer posing as a hopeful parent - $ 500 and less
than 12 hours was all he needed for the paperwork to be in order,
and for the stranger to become, officially, his daughter.
The British Ambassador to the Ivory Coast, FranAois Gordon, accepts
that not all of the 200-300 visas issued annually to children
are for the genuine offspring of the applicant.
# # #
(From the Files of Daily Mail - London)
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U.N. BAN ON CHILD SOLDIERS TO TAKE EFFECT
An international treaty banning the use of child soldiers will
come into force on February 12, 2002, the United Nations said
after New Zealand became the tenth country to ratify it.
New Zealand's foreign minister, Phil Goff, deposed his country's
instruments of ratification for the optional protocol on the
involvement of children in armed conflict to the 1990 Convention
on the Rights of the Child on November 12.
The protocol, adopted by the UN General Assembly on May 25, 2000,
prohibits the participation of children under the age of 18 in
armed conflict, and their forced recruitment or conscription.
Goff was in New York for the Assembly's weeklong general debate,
which ends on Friday.
Human Rights Watch welcomed New Zealand's ratification as "a
huge advance in the effort to end the use of children as soldiers."
An estimated 300,000 child soldiers are currently fighting in
armed conflicts in approximately 40 countries.
Countries most affected include Angola, Colombia, the Democratic
Republic of Congo, Myanmar, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan,
where recent reports indicate recruitment and use of children
as soldiers by both the Taliban and Northern Alliance forces.
In a statement, Jo Becker, children's rights advocacy director
for Human Rights Watch said, "a growing consensus that children
are not acceptable tools of war is now backed up by binding international
law."
To date, 87 countries have signed the protocol. The 10 that have
ratified it are: Canada, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Andorra, Panama,
Iceland, Vietnam, Holy See, the Democratic Republic of Congo
and New Zealand.
"These 10 countries have shown real leadership," said Becker.
"We urge all other governments to follow their example and ratify
the protocol as soon as possible."
# # #
(Files from the United Nations)
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CHILDREN ON THE FRONT LINE
As bombs drop on Afghanistan and the efforts to destroy the al
Qaeda network and track down Osama bin Laden continues, the children
of Afghanistan are suffering.
Reports of the dire situation of many of Afghanistan's children
are widely known. While over 25% of Afghan children die before
the age of four - most due to treatable disease, many others
in Afghanistan are feeling the affects of war first hand, as
soldiers.
The use of children by the warring parties is not new to Afghanistan.
Many young boys fought against the Soviet invasion and have since
remained in a war-fighting capacity.
Recruitment and use of children to participate in war continues
today. Report prepared by the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child
Soldiers highlights patterns of child recruitment by the Taliban,
United Front (Northern Alliance) and other warring factions in
Afghanistan.
The Taliban has been vocal in its opposition to using young children
as soldiers, but are reported to use the madrasa system to ensure
new young recruits to fill their ranks. The Taliban rely on these
schools, in Afghanistan and abroad, to find young, vulnerable
children to indoctrinate with the Taliban ideology. Some madrasas
are "run by different religious sects, political parties and
factions affiliated to warring factions in Afghanistan, Jammu
and Kashmir." While the Taliban claim to rely on "voluntary"
recruitment, they are also believed to have demanded certain
numbers of new recruits from particular villages or force individuals
to buy their exemption. Girls have not been used as soldiers
by the Taliban, but the Coalition reports that there have been
forced marriages of young girls.
The Northern Alliance has a documented record of using children
as young as 11 to fight the Taliban, even though the Northern
Alliance say their soldiers must be 18 to join. Some Northern
Alliance leaders began their military service as teenagers during
the 1980s, and now command units that include young children.
In addition, members of the Western countries that are part of
the coalition fighting al Qaeda also use children under 18 in
their ranks, including the United States. Thirteen of the 19
NATO member countries allow under 18 to be recruited for the
military. Russia is them only permanent five member of the Security
Council of the United Nations to have legislation prohibiting
the use of soldiers under the age of 18.
While the US government has stated a commitment to ending the
use of child soldiers, such practices have not yet been implemented.
In July 2000, President Bill Clinton signed the Optional Protocol
to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement
of children in armed conflict, but the Senate has not yet ratified
the protocol and the United States is not yet bound to implement
it's provisions.
The protocol requires states to "take all feasible measures"
not to have under-18's participate in armed conflict, and prohibits
non-state groups to recruit, use, and conscript children under
18 in hostilities. The United States has deployed under-18s in
recent military actions in the Gulf, Bosnia, Somalia, and Kosovo.
# # #
(For further information, contact: Centre for Defence Information,
79 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W. Washington D.C. 20036, USA. Tel:
(1 202) 332 0600; Fax: (1 202) 462 4550; Email: info@xxxxxxx;
Website: www.cdi.org)
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FORUM TO ACT ON SEXUAL EXPLOITATION OF CHILDREN
Forty Arab and African countries have agreed to accelerate action
against the sexual exploitation of children by breaking the wall
of silence on the issue and by increasing human and financial
resources to overcome the increasing sexual exploitation of children
throughout the region.
The Arab-African Forum Against Sexual Exploitation of Children,
held in Rabat, Morocco, from October 24-26 adopted a declaration
noting that among the key challenges that face the countries
of the region, the subject of sexual exploitation of children
remains a taboo in many countries.
Speaking at the closing ceremony, the Minister for Women's Status,
Family and Child Protection and Integration of Handicapped, Ms.
Nezha Chekrouni, emphasised the common features and causes faced
by participating countries when tackling the issue of sexual
exploitation of children.
This, she said, facilitated settling regional priorities and
will enable Arab and African countries to participate more effectively
in the Second World Congress against Commercial Sexual Exploitation
of Children, to be held in Yokohama, Japan, from December 17-20,
2001. She restated the active participation of civil society
in the meeting.
Mrs Rima Salah, UNICEF Regional Director for West and Central
Africa, said the common position adopted will allow all the countries
to break the silence on the sexual exploitation of children and
to ensure that action is taken in the political, economic and
social spheres.
"We must commit ourselves to ensuring that children's rights
to innocence and dignity are restored," she insisted.
The declaration, adopted on the final day of the Forum, which
brought together more than 250 delegates representing 40 Arab-African
countries, renewed commitment to put an end to child sexual exploitation
in the leadup to the Yokohama meeting.
It underscored the need for governments to harmonise national
legislation with the provisions of the Convention on the Rights
of the Child and ensure their enforcement.
It urged countries to ratify and implement the two optional protocols
related to the sale of children, child prostitution and child
pornography, and the involvement of children in armed conflicts,
and ILO Convention 182 on the worst forms of child labour.
# # #
(Files from the African Church Information Service)
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NEWS-IN-BRIEF
-- ILO TO INVEST $600,000 TO HELP ELIMINATE CHILD LABOR
The ILO plans to invest $600,000 in programs to end the worst
forms of child labour in Nicaragua, which one academic study
reveals remain high in the country's capital, Managua. ILO's
International Program on the Elimination of Child Labour National
Co-ordinator Rosa Berta Guerra said funding would go to strengthen
health centres and improve the economic conditions for parents
of working children. A study by the Central American University
reveals that more than 20% of workers at a garbage dump in Managua
are children, working in the worst forms of child labour and
earning less than $45 a month for their families. Many of these
children have been working since age 4. (La Prensa).
-- ILO TEAM FINDS LIMITED IMPACT OF NEW LEGISLATION AGAINST FORCED
LABOUR IN MYANMAR
Recent report from an ILO High-Level Team reveals that despite
new legislation, forced labour still exists in Myanmar. Forced
labour previously had been found to be a widespread practice
in Myanmar by a Commission of Inquiry, established under relevant
ILO constitutional provisions, in 1998. The Myanmar authorities
agreed in October 2000, for the first time, to adopt a framework
of legislative, executive and administrative measures making
all practices of forced labour illegal and a criminal offence
for all authorities including the military. This year in May,
the authorities further accepted an objective ILO assessment
as regards the "practical implementation and actual impact."
The report finds that its impact on the realities has been limited.
In particular forced labour is practised in its various forms,
portering, building of military camps, agricultural work, etc.
(For further information, contact the Department of Communication
(DCOMM) at Tel: +41.22.799.7912, Fax: +41.22.799.8577 or Email:
communication@xxxxxxx)
-- GABON: FOUR-MONTH CAMPAIGN AGAINST CHILD TRAFFICKING
UNICEF, Gabon's labour ministry and several non-governmental
organisations have launched a four-month information campaign
to combat child labour and trafficking. In addition to sensitising
masses, the campaign, which relies heavily on the media, aims
particularly to inform victims of child trafficking on how to
get help. Most of the victims are from Benin, Nigeria and Togo,
while others come from Burkina Faso and Mali. Gabon's government
is also trying to create a legal framework to combat the practice
effectively. Two presidential decrees with penalties such as
fines and prison terms were signed this year and a bill drafted
by the justice ministry is waiting to be introduced. (IRIN)
-- US CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE COMMERCIAL SEXUAL EXPLOITATION OF
CHILDREN
Several child advocacy organisations and service providers across
the US have created the US Campaign Against the Commercial Sexual
Exploitation of Children (CSEC) to increase public awareness
and end the sexual exploitation of children in the United States.
It calls for the development of a national plan against CSEC
that will include input from youth and community organisations
as well as leaders at the state and federal levels of government.
The Campaign Steering Committee is composed of representatives
from ECPAT-USA, Sisters Offering Support, SAGE Project, The Protection
Project, Youthlink, YouthCare, Girls Educational and Mentoring
Services, Paul & Lisa Program, and Youth Advocate Program International.
(Contact Laura Barnitz, US Campaign Against CSEC, Tel.: (1 202)
244 1986)
-- GAPING LOOPHOLE IN US CHILD SEX ABUSE LAWS
As the US federal government this month ordered 14 States to
tighten up their child sexual abuse laws or loose millions of
dollars of federal funding, a Central American human rights organisation
has brought to light a gaping hole in the US legislation. According
to Casa Alianza, a recognised defender of Central America's street
children who are victims of "sex tourists", - many of whom come
from the United States - any US citizen who is convicted of sexual
abuse of children outside their country is not listed on the
US register of sex offenders against children. (Contact Casa
Alianza - Costa Rica; Tel.: (506) 253 5439 or 253 8850; Email:
bruce@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx; Website: www.casa-alianza.org)
-- NICARAGUA: ACTIVISTS WANT MORE FUNDS TO FIGHT SEXUAL EXPLOITATION
Non-governmental groups called on Nicaragua to allocate more
funding to prevent, control and eradicate the commercial and
sexual exploitation of children and adolescents in the country,
as officials prepare for the Second World Congress against Commercial
Sexual Exploitation of Children scheduled to be held in Japan
in December. At the first world congress in Sweden in 1996, Nicaraguan
officials promised to make development and implementation of
plans to combat sexual and commercial exploitation of children,
including the allocation of resources for these programs, a priority.
However, despite Nicaraguan legislation and acceptance of the
Convention on the Rights of the Child to protect children and
adolescents from sexual exploitation, the problem persists in
the country. Nicaragua recently approved legislation to protect
children from abuse and exploitation, but activists say the government
has not provided enough funding. (La Prensa)
-- GOVT PLANS TO INCREASE FINES FOR CHILD EXPLOITATION
Fines for employers who exploit children could rise from $100
to $10,000 under proposals unveiled by the Victorian government.
Releasing a paper on child employment for public comment, Industrial
Relations Minister Monica Gould said the government wanted to
better protect children under 15 from various employment risks.
"The current maximum penalty for exploiting a child who works
is just $100 or one month's jail - the same as the fine for littering
in the street or a parking ticket," Ms Gould said in a statement.
"This sends the wrong signals to unscrupulous employers and places
a low community value on the protection of our kids. "The Bracks
government is committed to increasing that fine one-hundred-fold
to $10,000." (AAP Newsfeed)
-- OVER 100 ESTONIAN MINORS WORK IN PROSTITUTION
More than 100 prostitutes aged 16 or 17 are offering their services
in Estonia, Aire Trummal, who studies the abuse of minors, has
claimed. Trummal notes that prostitution among minors is well
sheltered in Estonia and there is little information on the subject.
Girls are afraid to discuss their work and experience, since
they fear revenge from pimps and ending up in court. According
to Trummal, 60% of the customers of Tallinn brothels are Finns.
Currently there are three cases being investigated in Finland
where Finnish men are suspected of having had sex with children.
One of these is to do with Estonia. (BBC Worldwide Monitoring)
-- 50 NIGERIANS DEPORTED FROM GAMBIA, GUINEA
At least 50 Nigerians, mostly young girls who are believed to
be victims of human trafficking, have been deported from Gambia
and Guinea for prostitution and other illicit trades. According
to the report, it is unlikely that the deportees would be charged
to court for embarrassing the nation abroad, but they would be
counselled on the need to shun prostitution. President Olusegun
Obasanjo earlier reiterated his administration's support for
any effort to eradicate the scourge of human trafficking, especially
woman trafficking and child labour. It is reported that about
50,000 Nigerian girls engaging in sex trades have been stranded
in the streets of Europe and Asia. More than 3,000 Nigerian women
trafficked abroad have been deported from their countries of
arrival in the past three years.
(Xinhua News Service)
-- TOMMY HILFIGER CORP. JOINS COMPANIES SHUNNING MYANMAR PRODUCTS
Tommy Hilfiger Corp., Wal- Mart Stores Inc. and 23 other companies
have promised not to buy or stock products made in Myanmar in
response to a coalition's low- key effort to punish the country
for allegedly using forced labour. The Free Burma Coalition has
sought the pledges since June 2000 without trying to organise
high-profile boycotts, an approach business groups say they appreciate.
The strategy is easy to apply to Myanmar because the ILO has
cited it in advising other countries to review their trade ties
to make sure they aren't encouraging forced labour, said Jeremy
Woodrum, director of the Free Burma Coalition's Washington office.
"I don't think companies want to be associated with forced labour,"
Woodrum said. (Bloomberg News)
-- THEME PARK FINED OVER CHILD WORKERS
Thorpe Park theme park has been fined more than £ 2,500 for exploiting
child labour. Eight children were found to be working illegally
at the park in Chertsey, Surrey, with some of them putting in
an eight-hour day during the school week when they were supposed
to be on study leave revising for GCSEs. Surrey County Council
officers visited the park in July and found pupils employed without
work permits and for well over the hours allowed. One child clocked
up a 36-hour week, followed by 50 hours the next week - four
times the legal limit. The Tussaud's Group, which owns Thorpe
Park, admitted more than 40 breaches of the regulations governing
the employment of young people when it was prosecuted before
magistrates at Woking. (The Evening Standard (London)
-- JAMAICA READIES NEW CHILD PROTECTION DRIVE
Parliament is to receive by year-end a new Child Care and Protection
Act drafted among a raft of government ideas to clamp down on
sexual, labour, and other abuses of children's rights. The act
promises Jamaican children "a decent life and adequate provisions
for the opportunity to survive," says Prime Minister P.J. Patterson.
In addition to the new law a new and independent Child Development
Agency is being formed. The initiatives come amid a reported
increase in the numbers of sexually abused, homeless, and working
children -- particularly those working as prostitutes and being
used as drug couriers. It is illegal for children under the age
of 16 to work here, but a 1994 study sponsored by the UNICEF
showed that 22,000 children, 4.6% of all Jamaicans aged 6-12,
go out to work each day. Last year, the ILO sponsored a study
that identified more than 4,000 working children in the tourist
centres of Montego Bay and Negril. (IPS)
-- MORE THAN 400,000 DOMINICAN CHILDREN MUST WORK TO SURVIVE
Santo Domingo -- A new study on child labour in the Dominican
Republic indicated that 428,720 Dominican children must work
in order to survive and that their education suffers because
of this reality. The report by the Labour Secretariat also showed
that of the 2,400,000 children and teenagers living in Dominican
Republic, between the ages of 5-17, nearly half a million cannot
read and write - an illiteracy rate of 18.6%. Basic Education
Action (EDUCA) President Celso Marranzini, who was cited in the
article, sad that the results of the survey are "discouraging"
and warned that the situation "can be worse" because the study
does not include street children who lack representation. Labour
Secretary Milton Ray said that the Dominican government will
invest $ 300,000 in a plan to address child labour. (EFE News
Service)
-- ZAMBIA; CHIRWA SEEKS TO END CHILD LABOUR
Launching the Child Labour in Commercial Agriculture Project
in Lusaka, Alec Chirwa, Ministry of Labour permanent secretary
informed that 80 million children work for a living in Africa.
"Almost half of this number worked full time all year and as
many as 70% toil in dangerous environment," he said. Agriculture
is one of the most hazardous occupations worldwide. In absence
of protective clothing or other work gears children are more
vulnerable. Chirwa called on the stakeholders to work relentlessly
to ensure that the trend was reversed for the better future of
the growing children. He also disclosed that the Zambian government
would ratify the ILO Convention No. 182, which will ensure proper
occupational safety and health. (The Post)
-- PAKISTAN SIGNS PROTOCOLS ON CHILDREN'S RIGHTS
Pakistan having completed its constitutional and procedural obligations
has signed two optional protocols to the Convention on the Rights
of the Child. The Pakistan permanent representative to the United
Nations, Shamshad Ahmad, signed the optional protocols, which
included optional protocol on sale of children, child prostitution
and child pornography, and optional protocol on involvement of
children in armed conflict. The federal Cabinet had accorded
approval to this effect during its meeting on July 4. Pakistan
was among the first countries to ratify the Convention on the
Rights of the Child in September 1990. (Business Recorder)
-- 100 BOY SOLDIERS KILLED IN COLD BLOOD
More than 100 Taliban child soldiers have been massacred by Northern
Alliance troops. The atrocity happened when the youngsters some
barely teenagers tried to hide from enemy forces in a school
in Mazar-i-Sharef. All are believed to have been summarily executed
while the key north- eastern Afghan city was being liberated.
The children's bodies were found on Saturday, the day after Alliance
soldiers stormed into the city. As the UN confirmed the atrocity,
there were fears that all of them were Pakistani volunteers.
The Pakistanis are often students sent from religious schools
or madrassas in the ethnic Pashtun border areas of their country.
The young men join the war equipped with religious fervour, but
little military training. (DAILY MAIL (London)
-- HUTU REBELS ABDUCT 107 BURUNDI CHILDREN FROM REFUGEE CAMPS
IN TANZANIA
Hutu rebels have abducted 107 Burundian children from refugee
border camps in Tanzania, of whom only two managed to escape.
This was in addition to around 200 children between the ages
10-13 who were reportedly seized last week from three schools
outside Ruyigi town, in eastern Burundi. "The reports are that
Hutu rebels started a campaign a week ago, they burned two schools
and health centres, and started to abduct children," said UNICEF
spokesperson Wivina Belmonte, adding that it was difficult to
track exact numbers or the proportion of boys and girls. The
children were possibly being recruited as child soldiers or messengers
in the conflict area. The girls are often used as domestics,
she said. (AP)
-- GUJARAT REPORTS ONLY 39 CHILD WORKERS IN STATE
In its latest data submitted to the National Human Rights Commission
the state has reported a mere 39 child workers in its four cities
- Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara and Rajkot. NHRC representative
Justice K. calls the inspection data as 'too low and below standard'.
In the latest survey, in four cities, no child worker was found
in Surat's 221 units, only two were detected in 456 Rajkot units,
16 were found in 587 Vadodara units and 21 in Ahmedabad in 543
units! Campaign Against Child Labour estimates thousands of child
workers at construction sites and garment units all over Gujarat,
silver and gold jewellery units in Ahmedabad, bidi and agarbatti
units in the eastern belt, carpet and powerloom units in south
Gujarat and ceramics units in Saurashtra. Post-quake, the incidence
of child workers has gone up, as normal schooling has not yet
begun in Kutch and Saurashtra." (The Times of India)
-- IN NORTH BIHAR, GIRLS COME A DIME A DOZEN: NGO STUDY
The north Bihar region, including Katihar, Purnea, Araria and
Kishanganj districts, has become a fertile hunting ground for
child traffickers who buy teenage girls from impoverished parents
and sell them off into prostitution, a recent NGO study has shown.
The hapless girls end up in the red light areas of Mumbai and
Gulf countries, the survey by NGO Bhoomika Vihar, which has been
working in these four districts, said. The report blames grinding
poverty of the populace because of recurring floods and dwindling
employment opportunities for this phenomena. At present the 17
red light areas in the region employ some 2,250 prostitutes.
These brothels have also become transit points for procuring
or exchanging girls from Nepal, Bangladesh and West Bengal. Up
to 45% of the prostitutes are in the age group of 13-18.
-- 37 LAWS, BILLION OF RUPEES FAIL TO PROTECT CHILD'S RIGHTS
India - Despite 37 laws to protect children's rights, there are
over 100 million child labourers and 450,000 child prostitutes.
Over 10 billion rupees are spent annually to improve the lives
of disadvantaged children, with no visible results. These stark
and depressing facts were highlighted by representatives of non-governmental
organisations and government agencies at a public hearing on
the rights of the child organised by the Shikshan Hakka Abhiyan,
an NGOs working with child-labourers. Policies need to be put
in place to ensure these children do not have to work, but the
government has failed to come up with anything remotely like
one despite all the laws it has passed. While everybody was
expressing serious concern about child labourers, Ramchandra
Patil, labour commissioner claimed child labour was on the decline
and that a recent survey of hazardous industries did not reveal
a single case of child labour. (The Times of India)
-- CHILD LABOUR ON THE RISE
Dinajpur, Bangladesh -- Number of child labourers is on rise
in all the 13 upazilas of the district hampering the universal
primary education programme of the government. Sources said the
children aged between 7 and 13 years are engaged in various odd
jobs like hotel boy, tempo helper, van driver, cowboy and domestic
help leaving school. According to an unofficial survey, there
are nearly 40,000 child labourers in the district working at
minimum wages to support their respective family. The low paid
child labourers are the assets for the private entrepreneurs
as the employment minimises the overall cost of production. (United
News of Bangladesh)
-- 'HITTING THE TARGET: DOUBLING PRIMARY ENROLMENTS IN SUB-SAHARAN
AFRICA BY 2015
New research estimates that to attain Universal Primary Education
(UPE) by 2015 sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) would need to double 1998
primary enrolment levels. To hit this target, overall enrolment
growth rates would not need to be much greater than during the
1990s, but at least half of all countries will require very high
levels of sustained enrolment growth over the next 15 years.
Even with this additional capacity, however, demand for primary
schooling is likely to remain below the UPE level unless parental
perceptions of the payoffs to primary education can be raised.
(View full article at http://www.id21.org/education/e1pb1g2.html)
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ANNOUNCEMENTS
-- REGIONAL CONSULTATION ON COMMERCIAL SEXUAL EXPLOITATION OF
CHILDREN IN CANADA, MEXICO AND THE
UNITED STATES
December 2-3, 2001, University of Pennsylvania School of Social
Work, USA
The consultation will bring together an array of concerned participants
from government agencies and non-governmental organisations,
academic institutions, service providers and the private sector
from three countries in an effort to develop ways to reduce and
ultimately end the commercial sexual abuse of children. It is
planned as an opportunity to share knowledge and experiences
about progress made and lessons learned within the region since
the World Congress Against the Commercial Sexual Exploitation
of Children was held in Stockholm in 1996. It will prepare the
way for the Second World Congress Against the Commercial Sexual
Exploitation of Children to be held in Yokohama from December
17-20, 2001. (Contact: ECPAT - USA, Tel.: (1 212) 870 2427; Fax:
(1 212) 870 2512; Email: naconsultation2001@xxxxxxxxxxx; Website:
http://www.ecpatusa.org)
-- INTERNATIONAL SEMINAR ON STRATEGIZING TO COMBAT TRAFFICKING
IN WOMEN AND CHILDREN
February 15-16, 2002, Dhaka, Bangladesh
The Centre for Women and Children Studies (CWCS) is planning
to organise a two-day International Seminar on Strategizing to
Combat Trafficking in Women and Children, 15-16 February 2002,
Dhaka, Bangladesh. The main objective of the Seminar is to promote
dialogue and create a platform for sharing experiences of the
concerned stakeholders, lessons learnt in awareness raising,
advocacy, networking, rescue, repatriation, rehabilitation and
reintegration interventions related to trafficking in women and
children. (Contact Prof. Ishrat Shamim, President, Centre for
Women and Children Studies Tel.: (880 2) 911 3526; Email: ish@xxxxxxxxxx)
**********************************************************
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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