24/04/2024 Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
Despite international pledges to work towards ending child labour in all its forms, the latest figures show a “worsening global situation”, according to PACE’s Social Affairs Committee – with some 79 million children worldwide, between 5 and 17, working in hazardous conditions.
Approving a report by Eka Sepashvili (Georgia, EC/DA), the committee pointed out that in Europe alone, some 3.6 million children are in the world of work – according to the ILO – with half of them doing dangerous work.
The committee urged Council of Europe member states, partners for democracy and observer states to draw up national action plans to end child labour, involving government agencies, employers, trade unions, schools, the media, parliaments, local authorities and faith-based organisations.
Existing laws and policies should be better applied, the parliamentarians said, obliging enterprises to respect human rights and eliminate child labour in global supply chains and giving police, labour inspectorates and child protection services greater powers to detect harmful practices.
Meanwhile, the root causes of child labour should also be addressed, by giving children adequate social protection, and greater aid to build capacity in developing countries.
The report should be debated by the Assembly or its Standing Committee in due course.