Children Working

on the Street
Yoshie NOGUCHI,
Senior legal officer, IPEC

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International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour

Contents
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Children working on the street

General overview on child labour
What is child labour (CL), and its
worst forms (WFCL)?
Challenges/lessons in addressing
CL and WFCL on the street
Data collection: CL on the street
Eliminating WFCL by 2016 !
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Children Working on the street

Economic

activities
selling small objects,
shoe-shining,
portering
Sexual exploitation (prostitution)
Illicit activities
scavenging,
begging
Criminal acts
drug dealing,
pick-pocketing
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Child labour statistics

215

million in child
labour, globally

115

million of these
children in
hazardous work

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ILO Global Report 2010

Child

labour continues to decline,

[3% decline between 2004-2008]
but more modestly than previously
[10% decline between 2000-2004]
On present trends, the goal of
eliminating the worst forms of child
labour by 2016 will not be reached
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Different trends: girls and boys

Fewer

girls are now in

child labour.
declined

Worrying

by 15%.

trend for boys

Increase

by 20%
among older boys (15-17)
in hazardous work

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Regional trends
Asia and Pacific significant reduction down to
96m (14.8 % of children)
Latin America and Caribbean slight reduction
down to 10m (9%)
Sub Saharan Africa further increase to 58m
(28.4%)
No separate figure for Europe or developed
countries lack of surveys
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CRC and child labour

The

right to be protected from

economic exploitation (32) = the
protection from child labour (ILS)
The right to education, health
Non-discrimination
Two issues under the Op Protocols
(sexual exploitation, armed conflict)
= Worst Forms of Child Labour
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What is Child Labour?

Child labour to be eliminated =
Worst Forms of Child Labour (C182)
and
Work done by a child below the
minimum age for that kind of work
(specified by national law, in line with
C138 and CRC article 32(2))
See: UN SG Report to GA 2009 [A/64/127]
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International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour

What is child labour?

Work that is NOT Hazardous work
hazardous or
or other WFCL
other WFCL
18y

14/15/16

Children
above the
minimum
age but
below 18y

Children
below the
minimum
working age

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Worst Forms of Child Labour

a)

Children in slavery, forced or

compulsory labour, child trafficking
Including debt bondage, forced
recruitment for use in armed conflict

Children used in prostitution and

pornography
c) Children used in illicit activities
d) Children in hazardous work
See : ILO C182, Article 3
b)

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C 182: coverage
All

sectors of economic activity

without any exception
Girls and boys under 18 years
Special attention for most vulnerable
e.g. minorities, girls, very young, and
on the street !
Worst forms of child labour as urgent
priority target for action
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Child labour and its worst forms

on the street
Forced labour, including in
begging, child trafficking
b) Sexual exploitation
c) The use of children in illicit
activities or crime (e.g. drugs)
d) hazardous work
= work likely to jeopardize/harm a
childs health, safety or morals
a)

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Challenges in addressing
child labour on the street

Outside

the scope of child labour legislation

- absence of an employer, or formal relation
- not considered in the hazardous work list
The children may be perceived as delinquents
rather than victims of WFCL
Interest in / access to education ?
Decent Work prospect for these children ?
Social protection measures may focus adults
or families: e.g. Cash Transfer, income support
Maybe lacking ID, birth certificate, legal status...
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Some good practice examples

Listing

street vending among the hazardous

work and prohibit for children (Lebanon)
Comprehensive rehabilitation for girls on the
street and/or at risk of sexual exploitation
(Russian Federation)
Mobile schools: facilitating the transition from
street to school (Romania)
Mobilizing public action by raising awareness
among teachers and students (Paraguay)
SCREAM (Supporting Childrens Rights through
Education, the Arts and the Media) methods
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Some lessons learned

Clearly define what is not acceptable in labour, criminal,

or childrens rights or other laws;
Consider and address difficulties of enforcement
Raise awareness among stakeholders of the specific
risks [of working street girls]; thus help raise the issue
higher on the political agenda
Gradually prepare the children for social / family
integration
Involve government entities from the beginning, giving
them ownership
Mobilize children and young people; conveying the
message to the public (families, community and
institutions) and also the business community
Respect and adapt to the socio-economic and cultural
characteristics of each country and each community
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Child labour statistics

SIMPOC* (Statistical Information and
Monitoring Programme on Child
Labour) help countries in :
household-based surveys,
establishment-based surveys,
baseline surveys, and
rapid assessments
[* www.ilo.org/ipec/ChildlabourstatisticsSIMPOC ]
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Child labour statistics (2)

Need

to develop methodologies
Need to define concepts for
statistical operation < legal definitions
Resolution by the 18th International
Conference of Labour Statisticians
concerning statistics of child labour
(ICLS Resolution) - 2008
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Challenges in collecting data on

child labour on the street
Household-based

surveys can
gather information only on children
living with their family and working on
the street
Establishment-based surveys may
not cover any child labour on the
street
Childrens accessibility, availability
and interest in the data collection
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Rapid Assessment
Methodology

jointly developed by ILO

and UNICEF
Especially useful for some WFCL
Qualitative information obtained
through a rapid assessment will
apply with certainty only to the limited
sample population and context
[See: manuals available on SIMPOC website]
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Capture-Recapture method
See

the UCW example

(Study on child beggars in Dakar)
Previously used (2002 Global Report
on Child Labour) in estimating the
scale of the WFCL other than
hazardous work a huge challenge
for us all in CL statistics
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Ethical considerations in
child labour data collection

The

best interest of the child

Pre-research issues
Assess the safety risk to the child of
participating in the survey (and to the
researchers): especially for children
exploited in / by organize crime
Informed consent for all interviews;
in a child-sensitive way; with the right
to say No at any time
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Ethical considerations in
child labour data collection (2)

Issues during research

Language and logic: to avoid jargon and
adapted to each child (age, sex, culture)
Trust: to be built patiently on relationship
Conditions of listening: carefully, with
positive and neutral expression
Pay and promises: consider carefully
Post research issues
Right to privacy / sharing info & outcome
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Accelerating action against child labour

an

increased global effort

to tackle child labour and
enhanced Government
commitment
reach out to children at
special risk:
e.g. on the street !
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Further measures
international

cooperation

social

dialogue and cooperation

= Partnership with business and trade unions

advocacy
decent

and mobilisation

work for youth/adults

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The Global Action Plan

Eliminating

the worst forms of

child labour by 2016 !
Roadmap

2010 (The Hague)

Attention: children on the street

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Thank you for your attention !

International Programme on the
Elimination of Child Labour
4, Route des Morillons
CH-1211 Geneva 22
Switzerland
Tel.: (+41 - 22) 799 81 81
Fax: (+41 - 22) 799 87 71

E-mail: ipec@ilo.org
Child labour website:
http://www.ilo.org/ipec
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