[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 8]
[Senate]
[Page 10919]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     WORLD DAY AGAINST CHILD LABOR

  Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, yesterday was the annual commemoration of 
the International Labor Organization's, ILO, World Day Against Child 
Labor, the day we set aside to speak out against the fact that millions 
of children around the globe continue to be trapped in forced and 
abusive labor, often in extremely hazardous conditions.
  The good news, this year, is that child labor is in decline across 
the globe. According to the recent ILO report, ``The End of Child 
Labor: Within Reach,'' released on May 4 of this year, between the 
years 2000 and 2004, the number of child laborers worldwide fell by 11 
percent, from 246 million to 218 million. Even better, the number of 
children and youths aged 5-17 trapped in hazardous work decreased by 26 
percent, declining from 171 million in 2000 to 126 million in 2004. 
Among younger child laborers, the drop was even sharper at 33 percent.
  This is remarkable progress in just 4 years' time. And looking to the 
future, the ILO report cautiously predicts that, ``if the current pace 
of decline is maintained, and if global efforts to stop child labor 
continue.'' We have a real opportunity to eliminate child labor in its 
worst forms within 10 years' time. However, difficult challenges lie 
ahead, especially in agriculture, where 7 out of 10 child laborers 
work. I know this firsthand from my work trying to end child labor in 
the cocoa industry. Child labor is deeply entrenched in cocoa 
plantations in Ivory Coast and elsewhere. But, with the cooperation of 
the chocolate industry, we are making progress in fighting it.
  Likewise, in the broader fight against child labor, the ILO report 
verifies that we are on the right track to eliminating abusive and 
exploitative child labor. The great work of the ILO's International 
Program on the Elimination of Child Labor, IPEC, really vindicates the 
confidence I placed in this program early on. I secured the first 
Federal appropriation for the IPEC program back in 1996, and over the 
last decade, I have secured a total of more than $323 million for the 
program. Clearly, that money has made a real difference in the lives of 
children. It has given them an opportunity to get an education and to 
break the cycle of poverty.
  In August 2005, I visited Pakistan and spent time at an IPEC program 
funded by the U.S. Department of Labor to combat child labor in the 
Pakistani carpet industry. I was able to sit down and talk with young 
adults who had been laborers in the carpet industry as children but had 
been removed and given the opportunity to go to school. In Pakistan, 
the Department of Labor's international child labor program has helped 
to ensure that 20,000 children between the ages of 10-18 have been 
removed from hazardous work conditions and provided with either 
nonformal education or vocational training. I have also visited child 
labor rehabilitation programs in Brazil, Nepal, and Bangladesh. These 
visits have showed me the incredibly beneficial impacts that 
governments can make, but I also realize that industry partnerships are 
essential to the real eradication of child labor.
  Although there has been a tremendous amount of progress in ending 
child labor, now is not the time to become complacent. Unfortunately, 
hundreds of millions of children are still forced to work illegally for 
little or no pay. Economic development alone is not enough, and we must 
focus on human rights and educational opportunities for those in 
poverty. Social change must go hand in hand with economic development, 
which requires workers' and employers' organizations. Our keys to 
success will be mainstreaming child labor efforts with other human 
rights and development goals, as well as getting national governments, 
NGOs, and international organizations all working cooperatively to end 
child poverty.
  We should not think about these children only on June 12 each year. 
We should think about this last vestige of slavery 365 days a year. I 
have remained steadfast in my commitment to eliminating abusive and 
exploitative child labor. It was in 1992 that I first introduced a bill 
to ban all products made by abusive and exploitative child labor from 
entering the United States. In my view, we can make significant 
progress to eliminate this scourge if we all do our part and redouble 
our efforts. This means that governments must not merely pass laws but 
enforce them, while also striving to provide quality, free education. 
Businesses must take responsibility, as well, by not hiring children, 
and by paying adults livable wages so they can provide for their 
families. Multilateral institutions must also play a robust role. 
Together, we can eliminate the worst forms of child labor by 2016.

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