CHILD LABOR IN ASIA: CHALLENGES AND RESPONSES OF THE
INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANIZATION IN THAILAND AND INDIA
by
MAKIOKUSA
A THESIS
Presented to the Interdisciplinary Studies Program:
International Studies
and the Graduate School of the University of Oregon
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of
Master of Arts
June 2008
"Child Labor in Asia: Challenges and Responses of the International Labour
Organization in Thailand and India," a thesis prepared by MaId Okusa in partial
fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Arts degree in the Interdisciplinary
Studies Program: International Studies. This thesis has been approved and accepted by:
Dr. Anita M. Weiss, Chair of the Examining Committee
ii
Committee in Charge:
Accepted by:
Dean of the Graduate School
Dr. Anita M. Weiss, Chair
Dr. Kathie L. Carpenter
Dr. Shankha Chakraborty
iii
An Abstract of the Thesis of
Maki Okusa for the degree of Master of Arts
in the Interdisciplinary Studies Program: International Studies
to be taken June 2008
Title: CHILD LABOR IN ASIA: CHALLENGES AND RESPONSES OF THE
INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANIZATION IN THAILAND AND INDIA
Approved: __ ..._ ...------( .._ _.
Dr. Anita M. Weiss
Child labor is an important global concern. Among 317 million children who are
engaged in any type of labor around the world, Asia harbors the largest number of child
workers. The International Labour Organization (ILO) has focused on and worked toward
the global elimination of child labor, especially its worst forms. Child labor is a complex
problem which needs comprehensive approaches in policy implication, education and
economic development. The ILO has worked closely with governments to establish and
revise policies related to child labor and to implement child labor programs.
This study addresses current child labor trends in Asia and the challenges and
responses ofthe ILO through analyzing its operations in Thailand and India. It examines
various steps to eliminate child labor taken by the ILO and other organizations and
suggests ways the ILO could be more effective in its efforts to eliminate child labor in
Asia.
IV
vCURRICULUM VITAE
NAME OF AUTHOR: MaId Okusa
PLACE OF BIRTH: Nara, Japan
DATE OF BIRTH: October 1, 1976
GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE SCHOOLS ATTENDED:
University of Oregon
Kyoto University of Foreign Studies
DEGREES AWARDED:
Master ofArts, International Studies, 2008, University of Oregon
Bachelor ofArts, Hispanic Studies, 2000, Kyoto University of Foreign Studies
AREAS OF SPECIAL INTEREST:
Child Labor
Child Soldier and Disannament, Demobilization and Reintegration
Children and Education
Gender and Development
Women's Rights
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:
Teaching Assistant, International Studies Program, University of Oregon, Eugene,
2005-2008
Intern, Japan International Cooperation Agency Bolivia Office, La Paz, Bolivia,
December 2007-February 2008
Intern, International Labour Organization Regional Office for Asia and the
Pacific, Bangkok, Thailand, May 2007-September 2007
Spanish Instructor, GEOS Language Institute, Osaka, Japan, 2004-2005
Administrative Staff, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Japan Embassy of Japan in
Argentina, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2000-2002
GRANTS, AWARDS AND HONORS:
Graduate Speaker of the 2008, University of Oregon International Studies
Program, 2008
Thurber Award, Child Labor in Asia: Challenges and Responses ofthe
International Labour Organization in Thailand and India, University
of Oregon International Studies Program, 2007
vi
Vll
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I wish to express a sincere appreciation to Dr. Anita Weiss, my graduate advisor,
mentor and a person whom I admire as a professional woman for her valuable support and
guidance to finish this thesis and accomplish my graduate study. I would also like to thank
Dr. Kathie Carpenter and Dr. Shankha Chakraborty for their valuable advice which
strengthened this thesis. Of course, I could not finish my graduate study nor this thesis
without supports from my friends in Eugene and around the world as well as the staff ofthe
International Studies Program. Their encouragement, warmth and smiles always cheered
me. I would like to give special thanks to Mrs. Masako King, who has always given me her
love, support and belief in me as if! was her real daughter. I appreciate Ms. Urmila Sarkar
and all members ofthe ILO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific for giving me the
opportunity to work with them and allowing me to collect data for this thesis as well as to
deepen my understanding ofthe challenges confronting the elimination of child labor.
Finally, I greatly appreciate the love and support from my father, Akira Okusa, who has
always encouraged me to pursue what I want and all my family members for their love.
VIll
To my mother, Mayumi Okusa, who was and continues to be my number 1
supporter in the sky. As you gave me unconditional love and support, I will keep pursuing
what I believe is right and just and share my love and experiences with people around the
world.
To Mr. Ralph E. King, who gave me his encouragement to pursue graduate study.
Your belief in me and constant encouragement will stay with me throughout my life.
To Rob Proudfoot, who taught me things we could never learn from books. I
would love to be a person like you who can leave something in peoples' hearts.
ix
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter Page
I. INTRODUCTION 1
Objectives and Purposes ofThis Research 4
Organization................................................................................................... 5
History ofthe International Labour Organization 7
International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour 9
II. WHAT IS CHILD LABOR? 10
International Legal Framework on Child Labor 15
ILO Convention No. 138, the Minimum Age Convention of 1973 16
ILO Convention No. 182, the Worst Forms of Child Labor
Convention of 1999..... 17
United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child 18
The Millennium Declaration and the Millennium Development Goals.... 20
United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.......................... 21
Obligations of States Parties to ILO Conventions 21
Weaknesses ofthe International Legal Framework....................................... 22
III. CURRENT CHILD LABOR TRENDS IN ASIA............................................ 24
Causes of Child Labor in Asia 26
Regional Characteristics................................................................................ 28
Economic Sectors Where Children Are Working.......................................... 30
Child Labor by Sex 33
The ILO in Asia............................................................................................. 34
Approaches for the Elimination of Child Labor 38
Policy Implementation 39
Education.............................. 40
Economic Development............................................................................ 42
xChapter Page
IV. CHALLENGES OF CHILD LABOR IN THAILAND:
RESPONSES OF THE ILO 45
Child Labor in Thailand................................................................................. 47
The AEON-ILO Project in Chiang Rai Province 50
Evaluation of the AEON-ILO Project............................................................ 57
Challenges Facing the ILO in Thailand 60
V. CHALLENGES OF CHILD LABOR IN INDIA:
RESPONSES OF THE ILO 62
The ILO in India............................................................................................ 64
Child Labor in India....................................................................................... 68
Ban on Child Domestic Labor in India.......................................................... 74
How the Notification Came to Be............................................................. 75
Significance of Legislation and Its Challenges.... 77
What Has Happened in the Past Year? 78
Challenges Confronting the ILO in India................... 79
VI. BEST PRACTICES FOR THE ELIMINATION OF CHILD LABOR 82
Comparison ofThailand and India 83
Conclusions on Best Practices 92
Role and Challenge of the ILO 94
APPENDICES 100
A. CHILD WORKER POPULATION.......................................................... 100
B. ECONOMIC ACTIVITY RATES............................................................ 102
C. CHILD WORKER POPULATION BY INDUSTRy.............................. 104
D. ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE OF THAILAND AND INDIA............. 106
BIBLIOGRAPHY 108
Table
Xl
LIST OF TABLES
Page
2.1 Age and type oflabor allowed in the definition of child labor ..... .......... 14
3.1 Global trends in children's economic activity in 2004 (age 5-14).......... 24
3.2 Regional trends in the number ofworking children (age 5-14).............. 29
3.3 ILO programs: Targets, priorities and time-frames 36
4.1 Number of children enrolled in Chiang Rai province in 2005................ 52
6.1 Public expenditure on health in Thailand and India (2005).................... 85
6.2 Public expenditure on education and literacy rates (2005) 87
6.3 Economic performance and poverty in Thailand and India (2005) 88
6.4 GDP per capita and child labor participation rate ofThailand and
India 91
6.5 Ratifications of Conventions No. 138 and 182 in Asia 96
1CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
Children are the most vulnerable human beings yet are also the hope for
humanity's future. The place where we were born and the culture where we grow up
make us unique as an individual and allow us to build up our own perceptions towards
the world. Regardless of our differences, children are tomorrow's future. However, while
there are children who have grown up with economic and physical security in some parts
of the world, many children, mostly in developing countries, suffer economic, physical
and emotional insecurities. A large number of these children must work for their survival
often doing things unthinkable in wealthy countries of the world.
In 2004, there were approximately 218 million child laborers between the ages
of 5 to 17 around the world (International Labour Organization [ILO], 2006a, 2006b).
There are many reasons why child work, but poverty is the most critical. Since child
labor becomes the norm in impoverished families, the demand for education remains low
and the lack of educational opportunity perpetuates both poverty and child labor. Recent
globalization trends in the world has also accelerated the pace of children entering the
labor market to comprise a cheaper labor force, and many parents are willing to offer
children to employers to increase the family income for their daily survival.
Considering the diversity of customs and cultures in addition to the ongoing
process of economic globalization, we cannot criticize child labor or children in the
workplace from a unilateral point of view. The economic help that children provide is
2necessary for their daily survival in many countries, and many child workers can
successfully combine their daily work with education and play. However, far too many
children are placed in dangerous conditions and put their whole future in jeopardy
without being guaranteed their rights as a child. While most children work to support
their family, many children are treated as slaves and work under indefensible exploitative
conditions.
The international community has made determined efforts to respond to child
labor by setting high global goals and standards. The Convention on the Rights of the
Child (CRC) requires that children be protected from all exploitative and hazardous work
and from work that interferes with their education and development. International Labor
Conventions on Child Labor, such as the Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) and
the Worst Forms of Child Labor Convention, 1999 (No. 182), set the boundaries of the
types of work that are acceptable under international standards.
The elimination of child labor has emerged as a worldwide priority. As the result
of recent global collective action against child labor, the number of child workers has
fallen by 11 percent oftotal child workers between 2000 and 2004, while that of children
in hazardous work decreased by 26 percent (lLD, 2006a, 2006b). This data shows that
when there is a strong international commitment to the elimination of child labor and
acceptance of policy measures that contribute to reducing the number of children at work,
a significant decline comes over time. However, the global community recognizes there is
a need to implement more progressive solutions.
3The issue of child labor is very complicated and difficult to solve. Simply
releasing children from work cannot fully solve this problem since there are many factors
involved in child labor, the most compelling being the economic difficulties of families,
cultural acceptance of child labor, and inappropriate and ineffective education systems. A
more holistic approach ranging from poverty reduction strategies, substantive and useful
education, effective law and policy implementation, and negative sanctions on social
acceptance are essential to tackle this problem.
Many organizations are committed to eliminating child labor through working in
their respective fields of expertise. The International Labour Organization (ILO) has
tackled child labor through offering advice to governments on setting policies or
regulations as well as implementing numerous programs. These include direct projects
such as offering vocational training to children and indirect projects to strengthen the skill
of government officials and members of employers and workers' organizations. The
United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has worked on improving access to and the
quality of education and health services. Various non-governmental organizations
(NGOs) at the grassroots level have implemented such programs as releasing children
from work as well as offering non-formal education options.
It is important to consider why children are working and under what conditions,
and to ascertain if the work that children perform is allowed within the framework of
protecting their rights as a child in a given country. Thus, in order to tackle the issue of
child labor, it is necessary to take into consideration the implementation of flexible and
adaptable programs suited for children and the society in which they are living.
4Objectives and Purposes of This Research
This thesis is based on my internship experience at the ILO Regional Office for
Asia and the Pacific in Bangkok, Thailand, from May to September 2007. My goal was to
explore the situation of child labor in Asia and the role being played by the ILO for the
elimination of child labor. As part ofmy internship responsibilities, I conducted research
on regional child labor issues. Assisting the International Programme on Elimination of
Child Labour (IPEC) Thailand deepened my understanding towards the issue of child
labor and the role of the ILO for the elimination of child labor.
This thesis has four objectives. The first objective is to clarify what child labor is
and to present the current international legal framework on child labor. The ILO has
International Labor Conventions to set international labor standards. Two ofthese
conventions are specifically aimed at child labor, defining the minimum age and working
conditions in which children are allowed to work. Many governments and organizations
adhere to those two conventions when they set labor laws or plan specific programs to
tackle the issue of child labor.
The second objective is to present an overview of child labor trends in Asia. Asia
harbors the largest number of economically active children age 5 to 14 years-122
million in total (ILO, 2006b)-and many children are found in dangerous and
exploitative working conditions. It is important to be aware of industrial sectors in which
children are working and if there is gender segregation by industries so as to grasp a more
accurate situation of child labor in the region.
5The third objective is to analyze the programs ofthe ILO. The ILO is the leading
multilateral organization focused on eliminating child labor. In 1992, it created the IPEC,
which has become the largest program of its kind globally and the biggest single
operational program ofthe ILO to address the issue of child labor. This thesis analyzes
the strengths and weaknesses ofthe program ofthe ILO carry out in Thailand and India.
Both Thailand and India have historically had an abundance of child laborers. Today,
however, Thailand has considerably less child labor than India has. Here we can see
clearly the effects of programs underway.
The fourth objective is to analyze the major approaches currently being
undertaken to alleviate and eliminate child labor by governments and many organizations.
The most effective practices to prevent and eliminate child labor around the world are
considered to be policy implementations, introduction of compulsory education, and
promotion of economic development. Through a comparison ofThailand and India,
which are at different stages of development, I analyze what kinds of approaches serve
best to alleviate child labor from countries which have different economic circumstances
and opportunities.
Organization
Chapter II presents the internationally accepted definitions related to child labor
as well as detailed descriptions of international Conventions on child labor. The
Conventions of the ILO are widely accepted to measure acceptable working conditions
and sectors and minimum ages to enter work. Governments that have ratified the
6international Conventions and support organizations which work for the issue of child
labor usually follow the standards stated in those international Conventions.
Chapter III presents the regional characteristics of child labor in Asia and
discusses the types oflabor in which children are engaged. Around the world and without
exception in Asia, most child workers are employed in agriculture. The majority of
children also perform domestic duties. Through statistical data in Asia, I present the
current situation of child workers there. Chapter III also presents the ILO's operations in
Asia and the factors that contribute to child labor and elaborates upon the three major
approaches undertaken to alleviate child labor. It is widely understood that poverty, lack
of education and child labor are linked strongly to each other. Child labor is a central
obstacle to realizing the rights of children to education by depriving them of the
opportunity to go to school and hence perpetuating the cycle of poverty. The policy
implications of labor law regulations mandating that children be released from work are
important to consider, for are there enough educational opportunities provided for such
poor children. The availability of universal education is a precondition before it is viable
to release children from work and also empower them. Economic development of a
country is a necessity to raise households' income to avoid children engaging in
productive activities. I also discuss the current discussion regarding the consequences of
economic growth on child labor.
Chapters IV and V discuss the ILO programs on child labor through case studies
in Thailand and India. As the ILO is the leading organization dedicated to the elimination
of child labor, analyzing the programs ofthe ILO helps us understand and identify the
7problems such organizations face and the current trends and best practices of donor
agencies to tackle the issue of child labor. I also present my own observations and
analysis based on my internship with the ILO. The approach towards the elimination of
child labor by multilateral organizations like the ILO and other organizations such as
NOOs is quite different. Each organization has both strengths and weaknesses, as I point
out in these chapters.
Chapter VI identifies the factors which have brought more success for Thailand
in decreasing child labor than in India. Even though both Thailand and India have
adopted similar approaches, Thailand has achieved better results than India. I conclude
this thesis with suggestions for what India needs to do to decrease child labor,
enumerating successful examples ofThailand and challenges the ILO still faces to
accelerate the elimination of child labor.
History of the International Labour Organization
The International Labour Organization (ILO) is an affiliate ofthe United Nations.
Its specialization is on labor issues and it is comprised of a body of 178 states members.
It is one of the oldest international organizations, created in 1919 as part of the Treaty of
Versailles that ended World War 1. Its creation was to reflect the belief that universal and
lasting peace can be accomplished only if it is based on social justice. The ILO's own
history asserts that driving forces behind its creation arose from security, humanitarian,
political, and economic considerations (ILO, n.d. c). Since its creation, the ILO has four
main strategic objectives:
8• Promote and realize standards and fundamental principles and rights at work
• Create greater opportunities for women and men to secure decent
employment and income
• Enhance the coverage and effectiveness of social protection for all
• Strengthen tripartism and social dialogue
The ILO has been devoted to advancing opportunities for women and men to
obtain decent and productive work in conditions of freedom, equity, security and human
dignity. Its main aims are to promote rights at work, encourage decent employment
opportunities, enhance social protection and strengthen dialogue in handling work-related
issues (ILO, n.d. a). The ILO helps advance the creation of decent jobs and the kinds of
economic and working conditions that give working people and businesses a stake in
lasting peace, prosperity and progress. The ILO hosts an International Labor Conference
once a year considered as "the international meeting place for the world of work" (ILO,
n.d. b). The ILO consists of experts on work and employment who focus on the critical
roles that these issues play in bringing about economic development and progress. At the
heart of its mission is helping countries build the institutions that are the bulwarks of
democracy and to help them become accountable to the people (ILO, n.d. b).
The most prominent characteristic of the ILO is that it encourages tripartism,
bringing together workers, employers and governments within member States by
promoting social dialogue to help design and implement national policies. The
achievement of fair terms of employment, decent working conditions, and development
for the benefit of all cannot be conceived without the consent of workers, employers and
governments, including a broad-based effort by all ofthem. The ILO emphasizes and
encourages strengthening social dialogue among the tripartite constituents and helps
9governments, employers and workers' organizations to establish sound labor relations,
adapt labor laws to meet changing economic and social needs and improve labor
administration (ILO, n.d. e). Employers and workers' organizations have an equal voice
with governments in all its deliberations.
International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour
When the United Nations adopted the watershed Convention on the Rights of the
Child (CRC) in 1989, the ILO was poised to provide direct assistance to countries to
tackle child labor (ILO, 2006a). In 1992, the ILO created the International Programme on
the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) with the overall goal of the progressive
elimination of child labor, which was to be achieved through strengthening the capacity
of countries to deal with the problem and by promoting a worldwide movement to
combat child labor (ILO, n.d. d). IPEC is the single largest operational and technical
cooperation program ofthe ILO focused exclusively on child labor.
Since 2002, IPEC's projects and programs have reached around 5 million
children. It currently operates in 88 countries with an annual expenditure on technical
cooperation projects that reached over US$74 million in 2006 (ILO, 2006a). Even though
the goal of IPEC is to prevent and eliminate all forms of child labor, the priority targets of
IPEC for immediate action are the worst forms of child labor, which are defined in the
ILO Convention No. 182, the Worst Forms of Child Labor, 1999.
10
CHAPTER II
WHAT IS CHILD LABOR?
Child labor is work done for payment by a person who is at the stage of
childhood, under 18 years of age.
But what exactly are "child" and "childhood"? Considering the diversity of
cultures, economies and political settings, there is no single standard definition of "child"
or "childhood." Since each society has its own interpretation ofthese two terms, it is
ambiguous and challenging for many organizations to define and draw the line between
"child" and "adult."
The term "child labor" is also ambiguous. When we hear "child labor," we
imagine it as any type of labor conducted by children. However, in the field of
development, the term "child labor" does not include all piecework conducted by
children. In the international Conventions, "child labor" or, in other words, "all economic
performance conducted by children," is classified into several different categories by
grouping them by the magnitude of the working conditions. Thus, the term "child labor"
in the field of development becomes highly differentiated.
In this chapter, I introduce and clarify these three terms-ehild, childhood, and
child labor-based on the definitions described in international Conventions which serve
as the legal standard and guiding principle for many organizations working in the field of
development. Generally, both governments and organizations plan and implement
11
programs based on international Conventions and there is no exception for the issue of
child labor.
Definition of "Child" and "Childhood"
The Oxford Dictionary of English (2003) defines a child as "a young human
being below the age of fully physical development," "an immature or irresponsible
person," and "a person who has little or no experience in a particular area." In reality,
each country and society draws a different line between being a child and being an adult.
In most countries, 18-year-old is generally the age which divides being a child from an
adult. However, this line varies by sociocultural, institutional, economic, and political
factors of a given country. For instance, the legal age ofmajority in Argentina, Bahrain,
Cameroon, Guinea, Lesotho, Namibia, Singapore and Swaziland is 21 years, while that of
Nepal, Pakistan and Uzbekistan is 16 years (INTERPOL, n.d.). On international
Conventions, Article 1 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child
(CRC) defines a child as "any human being below the age of 18 years." In the field of
development, a "child" is considered to be a person under the age of 18, following the
definition described in the CRC.
"Childhood" is interpreted as "the state ofbeing a child," "the time in which
persons are children" and "the condition or time from infancy to puberty" (Oxford
Dictionary of English, 2003). In the field of international development, childhood is
recognized as much more than just the space between birth and the attainment of
adulthood. UNICEF defines childhood as
12
the time for children to be in school and at play, to grow strong and confident
with the love and encouragement of their family and an extended community of
caring adults. Thus, childhood refers to the state and condition of a child's life, to
the quality of those years (UNICEF, n.d. a).
Childhood is to be a period of school-learning, of recreation, and of physical, mental and
social development, and not primarily income-bearing work. It should, ideally, be a time
for children to live free from fear, safe from violence, and protected from abuse and
exploitation.
Definition of "Child Labor"
The global community has the consensus view that work that falls within the
legal limits established by the country where the child is employed, and does not interfere
with the child's health and development or prejudice their schooling, can be a positive
experience (ILO, 2006a). When the United Nations (UN) organizations present global
estimates and trends, there are three different categories of work performed by children:
economic activity, child labor, and hazardous work. Each category includes different
types of productive work and is tackled differently by organizations in order to identify
and prioritize the children who need our support the most in the field.
"Economic Activity" is a broad concept that encompasses most productive
activities undertaken by children, whether for the market or not, paid or unpaid, for a few
hours or full time, on a casual or regular basis, legal or illegal, excluding chores
undertaken in the child's own household and schooling. To be counted as economically
active, a child must have worked for at least one hour on any day during a seven-day
reference period (ILO, 2006a). "Economically active children" is a statistical rather than
13
a legal notion. The ILO currently estimates that there are approximately 317 million
children who are "economically active" in the world (ILO, 2006a, 2006b).
"Child Labor" is a narrower concept than "economically active children,"
excluding all those children aged 12 years and older who are working only a few hours a
week in permitted light work and those aged 15 years and above whose work is not
classified "hazardous." Light work is the work permitted by law for children of at least 12
or 13 years of age that is not harmful to a child's health and development and does not
prejudice attendance at school or participation in vocational training (Blagbrough &
Matsuno, 2006, p.vii). For statistical purposes, the ILO defines light work as that which
does not exceed 14 hours per week. Approximately 218 million out of 317 million
economically active children are classified as "child laborers" (ILO, 2006a, 2006b).
"Hazardous Work" by children is any activity or occupation that, by its nature or
type, has or leads to adverse effects on a child's safety, both physical and mental health
and moral development. The ILO estimates that 126 million out of the 218 million child
laborers are engaged in "hazardous work" (ILO, 2006a, 2006b).
In sum, the definition of "Child Labor" refers to the work conducted by children
up to age 17, but does not include light work conducted by children age 12 to 14 and light
and regular work conducted by 15 to17 years. Within the framework of the definition of
"child labor," the ages which are permitted to work and its type are in Table 2.1 :
14
Table 2.1 Age and type of labor allowed in the definition of child labor
Age Light Work Regular Work Hazardous Work
5 to 11 X X X
12 to 14 ,61 X X
15 to 17 0 0 0
Source: ILO, 2005, 2006a
As evident in this table, children age 5 to 11 are not pennitted to perfonn any type of
economic activity. Children age 12 to 14 are pennitted to perfonn only light work if
national labor law ofthe country where children reside allows them to do so. Children
age 15 to 17 are pennitted to perfonn both light and regular work, however they are
barred from hazardous work that is hannful for their physical and psychological health
and moral development.
When the global community takes actions against child labor, they specifically
target children who perfonn the "worst fonns of child labor," "labor perfonned by a child
who is under the minimum age specified for that kind of work," and "hazardous work"
(ILO, 2006b). The ILO and its member states have been working to pursue the goal ofthe
effective elimination of child labor by committing themselves first to the elimination of
all the worst fonns of child labor by 2016 (ILO, 2006a).
"Worst fonns of child labor" is internationally defined as slavery, trafficking into
exploitative situations, debt bondage, and other fonns of forced labor, forced recruitment
of children for use in anned conflict, prostitution, pornography, and illicit activities.
1 Whether children of age 12 to 14 are able to carry out light work or not varies by a country's national
labor legislation.
15
"Labor perfonued by a child who is under the minimum age specified for that kind of
work" is defined as work which likely impedes the child's education and full
development. The minimum age specified for that kind of work is defined by national
legislations in accordance with accepted international standards. "Hazardous work" is
defined as work which involves toxic chemicals or fumes, high-powered equipment or
vehicles, cutting, pounding or blasting (ILO, 2005). Hazards could also derive from
excessive use workload, physical conditions ofwork, and/or work intensity in tenus of
the duration of the hours of work even where the activity or occupation is known to be
non-hazardous or 'safe.' Children at any age are prohibited to be engaged in both "worst
fonus of child labor" and "hazardous labor." Each country sets the minimum age for the
employment of children in any kind of work based on the international Conventions.
International Legal Framework on Child Labor
There are very specific multinational agreements on labor standards, including
on children that fall under the jurisdiction ofthe ILO. Two particularly important
Conventions specifically focused on child labor are the "Minimum Age Convention of
1973" (No.138), which puts forth the most comprehensive and authoritative international
definition ofminimum age for admission to employment and sets the boundaries of the
types of work that are unacceptable under international standards, and the "Worst Fonus
ofChild Labor Convention of 1999" (No.182), which prohibits and eliminates the worst
fonus of child labor.
16
ILO Convention No. 138, the Minimum Age Convention of 1973
The Minimum Age Convention of 1973, the Convention concerning Minimum
Age for Admission to Employment was adopted in June 26, 1973 at the 58th Session of
International Labor Organization Conference and it entered in force in June 19, 1976. At
the time ofApril, 2008, the Convention No. 138 is ratified by 150 countries (ILO, 2008).
The Convention No. 138 requires in Article 1 that ratifying states to pursue a
national policy designed to ensure the effective abolition of child labor and progressively
raise the minimum age for admission to employment of work to a level consistent with
the fullest physical and mental development of young persons. Article 2 states the
minimum age should not be less than the age of completion of compulsory schooling,
setting the minimum age for admission to employment as 15 years of age. However, it
also allows an exception ofminimum age of 14 years for member states whose economy
and educational facilities are insufficiently developed. Article 3 specifies that the
minimum age for admission to any type of employment or work that jeopardizes the
health, safety or morals of young persons should not be less than 18 years. However, it
also allows the national laws, regulations or the competent authority to authorize
employment from the age of 16 years on condition that the health, safety and morals of
the young persons concerned are fully protected and the young persons have received
adequate specific instruction or vocational training in the relevant branch of activity. The
age limit varies by type of work, but Article 7 sets 13 years of age being the minimum for
"light work."
17
ILO Convention No. 182, the Worst Forms of Child Labor Convention of 1999
The Worst Fonns of Child Labor Convention, 1999, the Convention concerning
the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Fonns of Child
Labor was adopted on June 17, 1999 at the Session of the 8ih International Labour
Organization Conference and it entered in force on November 19, 2000. The Convention
No. 182 requires in Article 1 that ratifying states to take immediate and effective action to
secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst fonns of child labor as a matter of
urgency. At the time ofApril, 2008, the Convention N0.182 is ratified by 165 countries
(ILO, 2008).
Article 2 specifies the term "child" should apply to all persons under the age of
18 years, and Article 3 describes the worst fonns of child labor as;
• all fonns of slavery or practices similar to slavery, such as the sale
and trafficking of children, debt bondage and serfdom and forced or
compulsory labor, including forced or compulsory recruitment of
children for use in armed conflict;
• the use, procuring or offering of a child for prostitution, for the
production of pornography or for pornographic perfonnances;
• the use, procuring or offering of a child for illicit activities, in
particular for the production and trafficking of drugs as defined in the
relevant international treaties;
• work which, by its nature or the circumstances in which it is carried
out is likely to hann the health, safety or morals of children.
The Convention allows the last category (d) to be determined by national laws or
regulations or by the competent authority by taking into consideration relevant
international standards and the Worst Fonns of Child Labor Recommendation, 1999.
In addition to Convention No. 182, the ILO adopted "Worst Fonns of Child
Labor Recommendation No.190" in 1999 at the Session of the 8ih International Labour
18
Organization conference as a supplement of the Convention No.182. Recommendation
No.190 contains recommendations on the types of hazards that should be considered for
inclusion within a country-based definition of the Worst Form Hazards faced by Children
at work. Recommendation No.190 should be applied in conjunction with the Convention
No.182.
In addition to those two ILO conventions, there are other key intemationallaws,
which also set the limit and labor standards for the employment of children. The United
Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) acknowledges the rights ofthe
child and requires that children be protected from all exploitative and hazardous work
and from work that interferes with their education and development. The United Nations
Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Millennium Declaration also supports the
elimination of child labor. These declarations do not explicitly include the eradication of
child labor, however, they indirectly support it by recognizing the right of all children to
education, which is one ofthe ways to impede the early entry of children to employment.
These Conventions allow national authorities some discretion in setting boundaries for
children's work.
United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child
The United Nations Convention on the Rights ofthe Child (CRC) was adopted
and opened for signature by the United Nations General Assembly on November 20,
1989. It was entered into force on September 2, 1990 after it was ratified by 20 nations.
The CRC is monitored by the United Nations' Committee on the Rights ofthe Child,
19
which is composed ofmembers from countries around the world. The CRC is currently
ratified by 192 countries (Office ofthe High Commissioner for Human Rights
[UNHCHR],2003).
As Article 2 ofthe CRC requires states parties to respect and ensure the rights of
each child, the CRC is child-centric and the only international treaty to guarantee the civil
and political rights as well as economic, social, and cultural rights of children. It requires
ratifying states to act in the best interests ofthe child and provides the strongest, most
consistent international legal language prohibiting illegal child labor. Article 32 ofthe
CRC states that children should be protected from economic exploitation and from
performing any work that is likely to be hazardous or to interfere with the child's
education, or to be harmful to the child's health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or
social development.
In addition to the CRC, the Optional Protocol ofthe Convention on the Rights
of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography was
adopted by the United Nations in 2000. It was entered into force on January 18, 2002 as a
supplement to the CRC in response to the increase of international traffic in children for
the purpose ofthe sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. States
Parties are required to protect the rights and interests of child victims of trafficking, child
prostitution, child pornography, child labor, and especially the worst forms of child labor.
The Optional Protocol promotes international law enforcement through
provisions covering diverse issues such as jurisdictional factors, extradition, mutual
assistance in investigations, criminal or extradition proceedings and seizure and
20
confiscation of assets. Unlike the CRC, in which States Parties commit themselves only
to take appropriate measures to prevent certain practices, the Optional Protocol places an
explicit obligation on states under Article 1 to prohibit the sale of children, child
prostitution and child pornography.
The Millennium Declaration and the Millennium Development Goals
The Millennium Declaration is a United Nations resolution, adopted at the 8th
plenary ofthe Millennium Summit meeting on September 8, 2000, with eight major
development goals known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by the year of
2015:
1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
2. Achieve universal primary education
3. Promote gender equality and empower women
4. Reduce child mortality
5. Improve maternal health
6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases
7. Ensure environmental sustainability
8. Develop a global partnership for development
The Millennium Declaration and the MDGs do not specifically infer the
eradication of child labor or set labor standards for children. However, achieving the
fulfillment of the MDGs is strongly related to the eradication of child labor. Eradication
ofpoverty reduces the risk of children falling into employment to meet daily needs.
Achieving universal primary education may release working children from their daily
labor as well as delay the early entry of children into employment. Promoting gender
equality can reduce discrimination against girls towards education and traditional burdens
put on girls in their own households. Combating HIV/AIDS can reduce the number of
21
AIDS orphans that are another contributing reason for child labor. Developing a global
partnership can develop decent and productive work for youth since child labor in its
worst fonns often has cross border links and that decent and productive work for youth
are undennined by the existence of child labor (Grimsrud, 2003).
United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted and proclaimed by the
General Assembly on December 10, 1948. The Declaration has served as the foundation
for the two original legally-binding UN human rights covenants, the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic,
Social and Cultural Rights.
As the Millennium Declaration and the MDGs, the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights does not specifically refer the eradication of child labor or set labor
standards for children. However, it states that no one should be held in slavery or
servitude in Article 4 and everyone has the right to education, and elementary education
should be compulsory in Article 26.
Obligations of States Parties to ILO Conventions
When states ratify an ILO convention, they are bound by Article 22 of the ILO
Constitution to submit regular reports on their laws and practices. These are examined by
the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations,
made up of independent experts in law and social policy. States are also obliged to send
22
copies of their reports to employers' and workers' organizations which have the right to
comment on them (Blau & Moncada, 2006).
In the case of the CRC, States Parties are required to take all appropriate
measures to ensure that the child is protected against all forms of discrimination or
punishment on the basis of the status, activities, expressed opinions, or beliefs ofthe
child's parents, legal guardians, or family members. Governments of countries that have
ratified the CRC are required in Article 44 and 45 to report to, and appear before, the
United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child periodically to be examined on
their progress with regards to the advancement of the implementation of the Convention
and the status of child rights in their country.
Weaknesses of the International Legal Framework
The number of states that have ratified the international Conventions has
increased since their creation. The number of child workers worldwide has fallen by 11
percent between 2000 and 2004, while that of children in hazardous work decreased by
26 percent (ILO, 2006a). International Conventions enable many organizations to
monitor how states tackle the problem of child labor and suggest possible intervention if
necessary. Ratification of international Conventions also places the responsibility and
accountability to take action on the government of each state.
However, the international legal framework has weaknesses. International
Conventions are not legally enforceable and their ratification is completely dependent
upon the voluntary participation of states. For instance, not all UN and ILO member
23
states have ratified the Conventions related to child labor. For example, India, the country
which harbors the largest number of child workers in the world, has not ratified either
ILO Conventions No.138 or No.182 yet. Since India has not ratified them, the
Government of India does not have a responsibility to report back to the ILO committee
nor establish law specific to child labor contained in the standards defined in the
Conventions. While India has several laws banning child labor, without appropriate
international vigilance, many organizations have raised questions about its enforcement.
The ILO describes ratification of its Conventions as "the negotiating table at
which all interested parties come together and make plans around a common platform
and in a spirit of accountability" (ILO, 2005, p.9). Ratifying international Conventions
enhance the responsibility and accountability of the government of ratified states. Since
the international Conventions take an active role in eliminating child labor, all already
States Parties and organizations should put pressure on non-Parties to join the
Conventions. This will enable the ILO and all member states to strengthen their efforts to
develop coherent and comprehensive approaches to eliminating child labor worldwide.
24
CHAPTER III
CURRENT CHILD LABOR TRENDS IN ASIA
Asia and the Pacific region is home to the largest number of children of any
region ofthe world, approximately 650 million in 2004. Table 3.1 shows that the Asia
and the Pacific also harbors the largest number of economically active children in the 5 to
14 age group, approximately 122 million in total (ILO, 2005).
Table 3.1 Global trends in children's economic activity in 2004 (age 5-14)
Region Child population Economically active Activity rate( million) children (million) (%)
Asia and the Pacific 650 122.3 18.8
Latin American and 111 5.7 5.1the Caribbean
Sub-Saharan Africa 186.6 49.3 26.4
Note. ILO only offers data ofAsia and the Pacific.
Source: adapted from ILO (2006a, p.8)
While the activity rate is lower than in Sub-Saharan Africa, the largest numbers of
children who are engaged in hazardous work are found in Asia and the Pacific. The ILO
estimates that 62 million out of74 million children age 5 to 14 who are engaged in
hazardous work around the world are found in Asia and the Pacific (ILO, 2006a).
In this chapter, I present the statistical data that I developed during my internship
regarding the situation of child labor trends in Asia. My statistical data is a synthesized
study based on three sources: the Statistical Information and Monitoring Program on
25
Child Labor (SIMPOC) of the ILO, the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 2 (MICS2) of
the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), and the Understanding Children's Work
Country Statistics and Report (UCW) ofthe inter-agency research cooperation project on
child labor by ILO, UNICEF and the World Ban1e All three sources adopted somewhat
different methods and criteria when they conducted research, hence each source presents
slightly different data.
There are several points that we should keep in mind when we review the child
labor trends through my statistical data. First, the SIMPOC and both the UNICEF MICS
2 and the UCW present data on different age groups of child workers. While the SIMPOC
presents the data of child workers age 5 to 17, the UNICEF MICS 2 and the UCW
present that of age 5 to 14. The age of child workers in the three sources also varies by
country. The UNICEF MICS 2 and the UCW present data for most countries' child
workers age 5 to 14, but in the case of Bangladesh, it only includes data on children age 8
to 14 and for India, children age 6 to 9. In some countries, "unpaid" child workers were
excluded from the data while they were included and reflected in the data of other
countries.
The reason for these differences is that the data in each source was collected
from already existing documents that each government already had, such as the National
Child Labor Surveyor the National Census. Each state has its own definition of child
labor and sets its own criteria when it conducts research for child labor statistics. Each
country decides what age group of children or what industries it studies and surveys. For
instance, unpaid child workers toiling alongside their parents are not reflected in India's
26
child labor figures in these three sources because the Census of India does not recognize
nor count this group of children as child workers. However, many other countries count
those unpaid child workers and these figures are reflected in the child labor statistics of
their studies.
The data I present in this chapter and Appendices A, B, and C is synthesized
"official" data that is recognized and announced by each government. For some countries,
figures differ widely. For instance, regarding the number of child workers in India, many
organizations have different estimates. UNICEF estimates that since 83 million children
between 6 to 14 years are out of school; it expects that most of those children are doing
some sort of work, in the home or outside, unpaid or paid in cash or kind (Burra, 1995).
Human Rights Watch (1996) estimates approximately 60 to 115 million are engaged in
labor in India. The National Sample Survey Organization estimates nearly 16.4 million
Indian children aged 5 to 14 are engaged in economic activities and the World Bank puts
that figure at 44 million (Chopra, 2006, ~42). Most organizations' estimate ofthe number
of child workers is far higher than the one announced by the government. I use official
data that the UN organizations avail when they publish statistics on current child labor
trends in this region.
Causes of Child Labor in Asia
Poverty is a main cause and consequence of child labor in the region.
Impoverished families without other coping mechanisms may see sending children out to
work, even at a very young age and under conditions that expose them to extreme risk, as
27
the only way to make ends meet (ILO, 2005). Poverty also brings forth children living on
the streets enforcing them to live separately from their parents or relatives and to make
their own livings. In many cases, these children find themselves on the streets because
they have run away from their families, or have been abandoned or kidnapped for many
reasons, including economic ones (Burra, 1995). Other forces come into playas well such
as poor access to quality education, social attitudes, inadequate legislation, weak labor
markets, inadequate health and social policies, weak enforcement of laws and policies,
and the overall macroeconomic environment. Political volatility and conflict and recent
natural disasters have increased the vulnerability of children being forced to work for
their survival as well (ILO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific [ILO ROAP], 2006).
Tradition and culture is also a cause of child labor, especially for female children.
Perceptions of childhood and the role and responsibilities of female children towards
their elders and siblings often determine whether a child is sent to school or to work. In
many Asian societies, female children are seen as poor longer-term 'investments' because
someday they will marry and leave the family. While growing up, they are expected to
care for siblings and older family members, contribute to household chores or work to
help finance the education ofboys in the family (ILO, 2005). In Asia, the culture of
female children being considered as less valuable than male children can accelerate
putting them into any type ofwork.
'Sudden poverty' also pushes children into work. Sudden poverty occurs when a
family that is generally coping is suddenly faced with an unexpected event such as a
death, a larger economic crisis, or a natural disaster or outbreak of conflict that causes a
28
family to now be unable to meet its daily needs (ILD, 2005). In those situations, many
parents may consider withdrawing children from school and place them into some kind of
employment. The risk of exploitation of the child is high in a situation where the supply
of available child labor increases suddenly and the family's bargaining powers are
restricted (ILD, 2005). A good example ofthis situation is the increase in the number of
children who were placed into a vulnerable situation in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, by losing
their own jobs or whose parents lose their livelihoods in the Tsunami disaster in
December 2006. UNICEF discovered a text message advertising to sell at least 300 Aceh
orphans for labor which was sent out widely around Asia; there was one confirmed case
of child smuggling to Thailand (McCormack, 2005).
Regional Characteristics
Child labor is indeed widespread and seemingly entrenched in Asia. The region
contains some ofthe poorest countries in the world but also some ofthe most successful
in development terms. The ILO estimates that 104 million children between the ages of 5
and 17, and 62 million aged 5 to 14 are engaged in hazardous work in Asia, and at least
6.6 million children are engaged in one ofthe unconditional worst forms ofchild labor
(ILO, 2005, 2006a, 2006b).
Table 3.2 shows that there is a registered decline in both the child population and
in the number of economically active children from 2000 to 2004. The absolute number
of economically active children has reduced 5 million, from 127 million to total of 122
million over four years. However, the situation among child workers has remained more
29
or less stable, both in absolute and in relative tenns since the incidence decreased only
0.6 percent, from 19.4 to 18.8 percent.
Table 3.2 Regional trends in the number of working children (age 5-14)
Population Number at Incidence rate Change of(million) work (million) (%) incidence
2000 2004 2000 2004 2000 2004 rate
Asia and 655 650 127.3 122.3 19.4 18.8 -0.6the Pacific
Source: adapted from ILO (2006b, p.l 0)
Child labor in Asia is not a static phenomenon. The nature of child labor in the
region is diverse and there is no one pattern. There has been a marked reduction in the
number of children trapped in child labor. For instance, the majority of child workers
engaged in the gannent industry in Bangladesh or in the soccer ball industry in Pakistan
have been released from their work. However, new fonns of exploitation such as
trafficking have emerged (lLO, 2006b). Industrial sectors where children are working
also vary by country.
There is no single year study to compare the population of child workers in each
country, since each country has conducted its study in different years. However, the
approximate numbers ofthose children and economic activity rate in each country is
shown in Appendix A and B. India harbors the largest number of child workers,
approximately 12 million (2001), followed by Bangladesh (4.7 million, 2003), Pakistan
(3.3 million, 1996), Philippines (2.4 million, 2001), Vietnam (2.3 million, 2000), Nepal (2
30
million, 1999), Cambodia (1.5 million, 2001), Indonesia (1.1 million, 1999), Sri Lanka
(0.47 million, 1999), Lao PDR (0.38 million, 2000) and Mongolia (0.035 million, 2003).
Regarding the economic activity rates against the child population, Cambodia has the
highest rate of 45% in 2001, followed by Lao PDR (34%,2000), Nepal (32%, 2004),
Vietnam (26%,2000), Bangladesh (14%,2003), Sri Lanka (14%, 1999), the Philippines
(11 %,2001), Pakistan (8.8%, 1996) and Indonesia (2.7%, 1999). India does not offer any
official economic activity rate of child workers, so even though India has the largest
number of child workers, we do not know exactly which country has the highest
economic activity rates by children.
Economic Sectors Where Children Are Working
The most common industries where children are found working in the region are
agriculture, manufacturing and domestic services. Studies conducted by the ILO reveals
that approximately 70 percent of children work in the agricultural sector and the
remaining 30 percent are found in other sectors (ILO ROAP, 2006). The worst forms of
child labor found in the region include slavery, trafficking into exploitative situations,
debt bondage and other forms of forced labor, forced recruitment into armed conflict,
prostitution, pornography and other illicit activities. The trafficking, both internal and
external, has emerged to be a serious problem, which contributes to the increase of worst
forms of child labor.
Appendix C presents 11 major industries where children are working, such as
agriculture, forestry, hunting and fishing, mining and quarrying, manufacturing,
31
construction, wholesale and retail trade, electricity, gas and water, transport,
communication and storage, hotel and restaurant, finance and real estate, community,
social and personal service, and others including private household, and approximate
number of children working in those sectors. Since each country has different
interpretation of industrial sectors, some countries do not identify nor recognize several
sectors and they are not appeared in Appendix C. As we see, in most countries of the
region, except India, the highest number of child workers is found in agricultural sector,
including forestry, hunting and fishing, and in case for India, the majority of child
workers are found in manufacturing sector. It is widely believe that many Indian child
workers are found in agricultural sector, however, this recognition is not reflected to the
official data announced by India.
The incidence oftrafficking associated with economic globalization, sex
industries and forced labor is one of the prominent characteristics of the region and is
identified in several countries such as Thailand, China's Yunnan Province, Lao PDR,
Cambodia, Indonesia, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal (ILO, 2005). In Thailand,
many trafficked children, especially from neighboring countries such as China's Yunnan
Province, Cambodia and Lao PDR are found working in fisheries and the sex trade
(Ptanawanit & Boribanbanpotkate, 2007). In India, many trafficked children from Nepal
and Bangladesh are found in all kinds of industries. The internal trafficking from rural to
urban areas within the country is also common. For instance, in Indonesia, internal sex
and labor trafficking is rampant throughout the country. The Riau Islands have continued
as transit and destination points for Indonesian women and girls trafficked for sexual
32
exploitation going abroad and within the country (United States Department of State,
2007, p.118). Trafficking is associated with the worst forms of child labor and trafficked
children tend to be engaged in those forms of labor because of their vulnerability.
Street traders are recognized as one of the hazardous occupations for children,
but do not usually appear in child labor statistics. "Street children" is often used to
describe both children who work in the streets and markets of cities selling or begging
and live with their families, as well as homeless children who work, live and sleep in the
streets often lacking any contact with their families (West, 2003). The number of street
children is almost impossible to ascertain given the nature ofmobility of this group. In
2002, there were at least 100 million street children around the world and approximately
25 million of those were found in Asia (UNICEF, 2002). The Consortium for Street
Children (n.d.), a UK-based organization, estimates the number of street children in
Bangladesh is 445,226, Nepal is 30,000 and India at 11 million; however, it does not offer
estimates for Asia as a whole.
Street children may be self-employed such as shoeshine boys or girls, newspaper
vendors, ragpickers, hawkers, and vendors, or they may work in establishments such as
small food stalls or shops, or as domestic workers and porters, or as casual workers on
construction sites (Burra, 1995). They are particularly vulnerable when living or working
on their own and are often subjected to both physical and psychological abuses. Girls are
considered even more vulnerable since they are more likely to face sexual abuse. "Almost
all female street children have been sexually abused by other street kids as part of an
initiation process, and then later by local boys or men who take advantage of their
33
vulnerability" (Nair, n.d.). While boys and girls can be child prostitutes, it is more
common for girls. Girls on the street are coerced into sexual acts or raped owing to the
fact that they have nobody to protect them. Older males may take advantage of their
physical weakness and harass them sexually (Selby, 2008).
Child Labor by Sex
In the region as a whole, the ILO reveals that there is almost no difference
between the number of male child workers (58 million) and female child workers (62
million) of age 5 to 14 (ILO, 2006b). As we see in Appendix A and B, in Bangladesh,
Mongolia, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Sri Lanka, more male children are found
working than female children. In Cambodia and India, almost the same number of
children of both sex is identified as working. Only in Nepal, more female children are
found working than male children. However, Appendix C shows that more male children
are working than female children in every industry studied. Thus, the reason why the total
number of female working children appeared higher than male children in Nepal is
unknown. The World Bank also presents data that there is no large difference between the
number of male child workers and female child workers. It claims that in 2000,
approximately 5 percent ofboth boys and girls age 7 to 14 years in India were
economically active, and in Cambodia approximately 52 percent of boys and girls of this
age group were engaged in economic activities (World Bank, n.d.).
As we see in Appendix C, industrial gender segregation of working children is
found. Most male children are found working in sectors where more physical strength is
34
required such as mining, manufacturing, and construction. Most female children are
found in the service sectors, including domestic service. However, since the exact number
of children who are engaged in domestic work, and the number of female children who
are engaged in the sex industry is unknown, the number of female children who are
engaged in any type of work is commonly considered to be much higher.
The fLO in Asia
The ILO has contributed to a marked decrease in child labor in Asia. The ILO
has initiated various "upstream actions" such as support to the preparation of national
plans and strategies and input on policy formulation, and "downstream actions" working
directly, alongside partners, with children and their families in programs to prevent
children from entering the labor pool, to protect victims of child abuse, and those at risk,
and to support children withdrawn from exploitative situations (ILO, 2005). In Asia, the
ILO is providing technical assistance to governments and social partners as they develop
more cohesive strategic platforms for action against child labor (ILO, 2005). Child labor
considerations are successfully mainstreamed into the preparation, planning and
implementation of national strategies growing out of international commitments and
national needs throughout Asia. For instance, Pakistan's Poverty Reduction Strategy
Paper (PRSP) makes specific mention of bonded labor and child labor, and in the
Philippines, child labor has become a part of the national education reform agenda. The
government of the Lao PDR has incorporated child labor, in particular trafficking as a
worst form of child labor, into the National Growth and Poverty Eradication Strategy
35
(ILO, 2005). Currently seven countries in Asia-Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR,
Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan and Viet Nam-are in the process of implementing poverty
reduction strategies articulated in PRSPs and the ILO has been working with
governments in these countries to support decent work and child labor-focused initiatives
(ILO, 2005, p22).
The ILO, through the International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor
(IPEC), has been engaged in supporting ILO-member State governments in the
preparation and implementation ofTime-Bound Programs (TBPs) for the elimination of
the worst forms of child labor in many countries in Asia. The TBP is a national plan of
action that the government of a member State has developed and implemented in
cooperation with constituents and civil society. The TBP links action against child labor
into national development strategies but targets priority sectors in which children are
engaged in a worst form of child labor, with a view to eradicating them within a
designated time frame (ILO, 2005). A government is the most important actor in this
arena and the right mix of policy choices and programs is the most important guarantor of
success to decrease child labor. The ILO-IPEC promotes the TBP approach as one of its
leading implementation strategies and provides assistance to governments implementing
such plans of action through its "project of support" if financial resources and technical
support are needed (ILO, 2007, p.8). Currently 7 out of 18 countries globally that are in
the process of setting up or implementing TBPs are in Asia; by February 2007, the
ILO-IPEC had supported TBPs in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia, Mongolia, Nepal,
36
Pakistan, and the Philippines. Table 3.3 shows the examples of past and ongoing TBPs in
five ofthese countries: Cambodia, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, and the Philippines.
Table 3.3 ILO Programs: Targets, priorities and time-frames
Country Targets Priority sectors/ Time framegeographical areas
Withdraw 7,270 • Child domestic labor
children from worst • Fishing
Cambodia
forms of child labor • Brick-making September 2004-(WFCL)
• Salt production December 2008
Prevent 8,660 children • Rubber plantations
at risk • Work as porters
Withdraw 5,100 • Off-shore work and diving
children from WFCL • Trafficking into WFCL
Indonesia • Mining September 2003 -
Prevent 31,500 • Footwear industry September 2007
children at risk • Production and trafficking
of drugs
• Bonded child laborWithdraw 15,300
• Child domestic laborchildren from WFCL
Nepal • Child rag pickers, porters September 2001 -
• Mining August 2006Prevent 9,000 children
• Carpetat risk
• Child trafficking
• Mines and quarries
• Rag pickers/ street children
Pakistan • Surgical instruments September 2003 -11 ,000 children
• Glass bangles August 2007
• Deep sea fishing
• Tanneries and leather
• Sugar cane plantationsWithdraw 22,000
• Mining and quarryingchildren from WFCL
Philippines • Pyrotechnics September 2002 -
• Deep-sea fishing December 2006Prevent 22,500
• Child domestic laborchildren at risk
• Prostitution
Source: adapted from ILO (2005, p.28)
37
In the Philippines, for example, the Philippines' National Program Against Child
Labor has set the goal to reduce the worst forms of child labor by 75 percent by 2015. As
a support of the TBP process, the ILO-IPEC has been providing both technical and
financial support to achieve this goal. Technical support includes direct actions on behalf
of working children and broad-ranging capacity building of government agencies,
employers and workers' organizations, civil society and community organizations.
ILO-IPEC has also contributed significantly to a successful advocacy campaign by
government and civil society groups for the inclusion of child workers as target
beneficiaries of formal education under the Education For All (EFA) National Plans of
Action. It has contributed to the knowledge base on child labor through policy studies,
rapid assessments and baseline surveys on children in various sectors including sugar
cane plantations, pyrotechnics, deep sea fishing, mining and quarrying, prostitution,
domestic labor, and drug trafficking (ILO, 2005).
The government of Cambodia's time-bound National Plan ofAction on the
elimination of the worst forms of child labor has been supported by ILO-IPEC surveys
and consultations. These have contributed to its successful implementation by enhancing
the capacities of implementing agencies, contributing to the development of
sector-specific policy, mobilizing actors and resources (in particular by providing new
knowledge and data collection and analysis), and undertaking a number of demonstration
projects that might serve as examples for replication and wider use (ILO, 2005).
In addition to supporting the TBPs, the ILO-IPEC has also implemented other
programs focusing on specific industrial sectors or regions. A decade ago, in 1997, its
38
project "Elimination of child labor in the soccer ball industry in Sialkot, Pakistan" had
successfully removed children under the age of 14 from 95 percent of the hand-sewn
soccer manufacturing lines and offered education for those withdrawn children (ILO,
2005). Currently the ILO-IPEC implements "Monitoring to keep garment factories child
labor free: Eradication of hazardous child labor" in Bangladesh in addition to its TBP. In
Sri Lanka, it implements "Children affected by war: Upgrading ofvocational skills
training centers in Mannar, Mullaitivu, Amparai and Vavuniya" (ILO ROAP, 2007).
Through cohesion and mainstreaming of child labor concerns, the ILO-IPEC has been
successful in contributing to the decrease in the number of child workers in Asia, in
particular to those engaged in the worst forms oflabor throughout Asia.
Approaches for the Elimination of Child Labor
In order to tackle child labor effectively, there are three major approaches taken
by governments, international organizations and NGOs: policy implementation,
promoting educational opportunities and economic development. Policy implementation,
including regulation of labor laws as well as on education and health, can be effective to
release children from work. Compulsory education is widely recognized as a precondition
for the elimination of child labor. If child labor is a symptom ofpoverty, "development is
considered as the best overall cure for child labor" (Edmonds & Pavcnik, 2005, p.200).
However, since economic growth takes time to improve living standards, it is widely
recognized that providing financial incentives to the poor and improving the educational
39
system can bring more rapid solutions to the incidence of child labor (Edmonds &
Pavcnik, 2005).
Policy Implementation
Education and health policies, alongside labor law reforms, are indispensable.
Such policies are the proof of strong commitment by governments and become the basis
of any programs towards elimination of child labor. Policies draw clear lines between
what is acceptable and what is not. They determine what is legal and what is illegal and
make it easier for organizations that work in a country to complete their mission as well
as monitor the enforcement of policies by the government.
Adopting policies and laws to regulate labor standards and conditions by setting
minimum age to enter into employment becomes the basis for the elimination of child
labor. Policy implementation includes making education compulsory and improving
public health. Developing policies in the health sector is usually overlooked in terms of
policy implementation regarding child labor. However, while poverty is an underlying
cause of child labor, investing in the health sector contributes to reducing a family's
private expenditure. Establishing policies and laws, however, is not enough. It is
important to secure the enforcement of those laws and policies.
While social attitudes and values are important in tolerating or rejecting child
labor, it is the legal framework in place in a country and the determination to implement
it that sends out the signal that child labor has no place and that those who perpetuate it
are breaking the law and will face the consequences. Governments as well as multilateral
40
and bilateral agencies have taken the lead on policy implementation. The ILO has played
a major role in encouraging governments to establish and revise labor policies and laws
according to international labor standards and then take responsibility to monitor the
enforcement ofthose policies and laws. Other organizations, such as the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and UNICEF, encourage
governments to adopt relevant policies in their fields of expertise and then to enforce
those policies.
Education
Education, in terms ofboth policy and opportunities, is a crucial factor to
decrease child labor because "child labor is likely to rise where the share of educated
workers is very low" (Cigno et aI., 2002, p.1587). Receiving education should be a right
of all children. Education gives children necessary skills and knowledge for the future as
well as social and personal values. Economic and social life has become increasingly
based on written words and understanding upgraded working methods and quality control,
more sophisticated management procedures and documentation, and compliance with
legal frameworks are now requirements for adult workers to acquire good jobs (ILO,
2005). Education, at least in the minimal sense ofbasic numeracy and literacy, has
become increasingly perceived, even by the poor, as part ofthe necessary skillset to
survive in the world. Education is therefore not only a tool to release children from
immediate labor in which they might be engaged, but is also an investment for the future
to empower people by accumulating life skills and knowledge to cut the vicious cycle of
41
child labor. As the existence of an educated workforce is associated with a low incidence
of child labor (Cigno et aI., 2002), the equitable delivery of education can overcome the
constraints ofpoverty that contribute to child labor.
Promising educational opportunities and making education compulsory is not
sufficient. There are important costs to sending children to school, to the point where
"parental decisions whether a child should work or go to school depend on the costs and
benefits of education" (Cigno et aI., 2002, p.1587). Without enough public expenditure, it
is impossible to improve the quality of education, including infrastructure of schools and
preparation of teachers to increase access by children.
The ILO has not implemented programs related to primary or secondary
education. However, it has run several projects to offer vocational training in selected
schools in many countries. UNESCO and the UNICEF as well as many NGOs at the
grassroots level have implemented direct projects to improve both the access and the
quality of education. For instance, UNICEF has implemented programs to realize
children's right to a quality basic education, especially focusing on the most excluded and
vulnerable children: girls, the disabled, ethnic minorities, rural and urban poor as well as
migrants, homeless children and child workers throughout Asia. In Thailand, UNICEF
has supported NGOs financially to create a better learning environment for children
through training teachers and revising curriculums as necessary (UNICEF, n.d. b). The
Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA), a local Indian NGO, has rescued many working
children as well as offering non-formal education as a part of their rehabilitation
42
programs to bridge to fonnal education opportunities in India (B. Ribhu, personal
communication, August 31, 2007).
Economic Development
Poverty is widely recognized as a major factor in the vulnerability of children as
child laborers. In many places, work is seen as an integral part of children's lives to help
other family members who are struggling to make ends meet. For children living on the
streets or on their own, economic activity is a means for their own life-survival. Poverty
propels families to send children to work instead of letting them play and study. In some
cases, it even propels parents to abandon their own children. If poverty is a major factor
in child labor, economic development is crucial to its amelioration through increasing the
income of families and the revenue for governments.
Governments as well as international financial institutions such as the World
Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have undertaken numerous economic
strategies to improve standards ofliving through economic growth. However, even
though economic growth can bring incentives for many families to seek alternatives to
sending children to work, there is an ongoing debate regarding the negative effects of
economic growth on child labor (Grootaert & Kanbur, 1995; Swaminathan, 1998; Cigno
et aI., 2002; Edmonds & Pavcnik, 2005; Neumayer & De Soysa, 2005; Kambhampati &
Rajan, 2006). Not only anti-globalization supporters but also those who are engaged in
efforts to eliminate child labor criticize current economic development strategies taken by
some governments and international financial institutions. The ILO expresses its concern
43
regarding the negative effects ofthe current market-oriented economic development
strategies on child labor:
child labor is also a result ofmarket realities that see producers, company
owners and others who employ labor cutting comers to keep down costs to
remain competitive or indeed simply to increase profits. Children are seen as
cheap labor, not only because they can be paid less and exploited more easily but
also because they are less likely to claim the rights that all workers should have:
to appropriate remuneration, fair conditions of work, social security and time
off (ILO, 2005, p.4).
Kambhampati and Rajan conclude that economic growth actually increases rather than
decreases child labor (2006, p.441).
Economic growth is often considered to increase rather than decrease child labor
since globalization often brings big corporations into a country to look for cheap labor.
However, Neumayer and De Soysa question this point as foreign investors might be less
interested in exploiting child workers as "market size and market growth, political
stability, infrastructure and high labor skills are often as important" (2005, p.46). In
addition, more corporations have adopted voluntary codes of conduct on not employing
children. Under higher scrutiny of regulators and being exposed to the supervision of
trade unions, the media, consumer, human rights and other activist groups, corporations
find it difficult to circumvent anti-child labor laws (Neumayer & De Soysa, 2005).
Neumayer and De Soysa conclude that higher per capita income levels are
associated with lower incidences of child labor (2005, p.52). Countries more open to
trade or which have a higher stock ofForeign Direct Investment (FDI) have a lower
incidence of child labor since they may experience more economic growth. There is a
consensus view among many economists that an initial impact ofgrowth would be on
44
increasing demand for child workers, especially in the context of extreme poverty.
However, over time, sustained growth would be reflected both in a decrease in demand
for child workers and in a decrease in the supply of such workers (Kambhampati & Rajan,
2006).
In almost all countries in Asia, economic development as a consequence of
globalization has been taking place. I analyze how these three approaches undertaken by
many organizations have contributed to the decrease in child labor through case studies in
Thailand and India in the next two chapters.
45
CHAPTER IV
CHALLENGES OF CHILD LABOR IN THAILAND:
RESPONSES OF THE ILO
In Thailand, the number of child workers has been dramatically reduced in
recent years due to rapid economic and educational progress. The Thai government has
tried to eliminate child labor by setting up a mass media campaign on child labor,
registering child workers, cooperating with hospitals to report cases of tortured child
workers, establishing 36 sub-local offices oflabor protection and welfare, increasing the
number oflabor inspectors, and organizing training courses for labor inspectors (United
States Department of Labor, n.d.). The Ministry of the Interior has instructed officials to
take employers accused of violating child labor laws to the courts immediately without a
prior warning. Thailand also increased its public expenditure on health from 1 percent of
gross domestic products (GDP) in 1990 to approximately 2.3 percent in 2004 (United
Nations Development Programme [UNDP], 2007, p.248, Table 6), which has improved
both access and the quality of health services.
In 1992, after signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Thai
government, the ILO officially launched a national action program under the
International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC). Thailand had
become one of the first countries to join the IPEC. Since 1992, the IPEC has given its full
support to the efforts of the Thai government, encouraging to implement the Time-Bound
Programme (TBP). The IPEC has worked with the Department of Labor Protection and
46
Welfare to improve collection and dissemination of information on child labor, and also
worked closely with employers and workers' organizations to promote the elimination of
child labor. It has also contributed to important legislative and policy developments in
Thailand in the first decade of its operations, including the Prevention and Suppression of
Prostitution Act 1996, the Labor Protection Act 1998, which increased the minimum age
for work from 13 to 15 years, and the National Education Act 1999 (ILO, 2006a).
The commitment of the ILO and the Thai government maintained the downward
trend ofchild labor participation in the 1990s despite the economic crisis starting 1997.
Approximate 5 percent of child labor participation rate in 1989 fell to around 1 percent
by 2000 (ILO, 2006a). One ofthe current successful projects ofthe ILO in Thailand is
the "APEC awareness raising campaign: Eliminating the worst forms of child labor and
providing educational opportunities." In 2001, the ILO, in partnership with the
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), launched an inter-regional initiative to
address the problem ofthe worst forms of child labor and the lack of educational
opportunities in Thailand as well as in Indonesia, Mexico, Peru, the Philippines, and Viet
Nam. A major achievement ofthe project in Thailand was the integration of child labor
and education concerns into government structures, emphasizing the political
commitment of the government and its partners to ensure that child labor is mainstreamed
across all relevant policy frameworks, including education and poverty alleviation, and
the long-term sustainability ofthe project's outputs (ILO, 2006c). Thailand benefited
from this project with the establishment ofthe National Steering committee (NSC) and a
new child labor education task force (CLETF). The task force successfully initiated
47
policy dialogue with key government ministries and high-ranking officials including the
Deputy Minister of Education and advisors to the Prime Minister, who expressed strong
support for the project campaign (ILO, 2006c). In addition, the project had been initiated
to guide education policy reform on how and what kind of education and skills training
can best reach out-of-school children vulnerable to the worst forms of child labor, in
particular hill tribe and migrant children. This initiative contributed to the 2005 Thai
cabinet approval for migrant and stateless children to have access to compulsory
education (ILO, 2006c).
In this chapter, I introduce the child labor situation in Thailand and the responses
of the ILO to eliminate child labor from the country. I present and evaluate the ILO
project to prevent children from being engaged in the worst forms of child labor in the
Northern Province of Chiang Rai from May 2007. I conducted qualitative research,
including informal interviews with participants, to assess the project's effectiveness.
Child Labor in Thailand
In Thailand, child labor has been acknowledged as "a social problem arising
from the country's social and economic development" (Ptanawanit & Boribanbanpotkate,
2007, p.ll). Through the efforts of the ILO and the Thai government to eliminate child
labor, including the government-promoted education and health programs, along with its
growing economic development and low birth rate, Thailand had successfully reduced its
labor participation rates of children under 15 years of age to 1 percent in 2000 (ILO,
2005).
48
However, despite the reduction in incidences of child labor, Ptanawanit and
Boribanbanpotkate (2007) argue that the use of child labor is still not in line with the
Labor Protection Act. They point out that even though the number of child workers,
especially those under the age of 15, has been reduced, working conditions for child
workers has actually worsened. Children are found working more than eight hours a day,
working after 5 pm, have no fixed working hours, receive wages lower than legally
stipulated, work in environments that are hazardous to physical and mental health, and
are subjected to verbal and physical abuse in various forms (Ptanawanit &
Boribanbanpotkate, 2007, p.3).
Worsening working conditions for children is strongly associated with the
unique characteristics of the child labor situation in Thailand. The number ofThai child
workers has dramatically decreased while the number of non-Thai child workers has
increased. The introduction of compulsory education and child labor laws has meant that
child labor is strictly supervised and controlled by the Thai government. As a result, the
number ofThai children who are engaged in work has been reduced. However, Thailand
has been a sending, transit and destination country for trafficking in human beings due to
its rapid economic growth. Due to the recent increase of trafficking and migration of
children from neighboring countries, the number of children who are not protected and
supervised by Thai law, because of their undocumented illegal status, has increased. The
ILO has identified that many Laotian, Cambodian and Burmese children are working
throughout Thailand (Ptanawanit & Boribanbanpotkate, 2007). Those non-Thai children
49
are placed into vulnerable situations by being invisible and excluded from the protection
of the law.
The worst forms of child labor are prevalent in Thailand. Child domestic
workers, children working for karaoke bars and restaurants, child prostitutes, and child
begging and forced labor are the major worst forms of child labor found in Thailand. A
study by Rajabhat University revealed that in Chiang Rai province, among children who
were engaged in the worst forms of child labor, 78.4 percent were female and 27.8
percent were below 15 years of age (Ptanawanit & Boribanbanpotkate, 2007). Most
worked more than 8 hours a day and 95.7 percent received a salary ofless than 4,000
baht a month (less than 10 dollars a month), far lower than the basic minimum wage set
by the labor law. Most children reported that they were physically and verbally abused
and, furthermore, 14.5 percent had been coerced into begging.
Child prostitution, as one of the worst forms of child labor, has been a serious
problem in Thailand but the estimates of the number of child prostitutes varies widely.
The Thai National Commission on Women's Affairs reported that there were 22,500 to
40,000 child prostitutes who were younger than 18 years in 2005. However, the Ministry
ofPublic Health made an estimate of children in prostitution whose age was younger than
18 years at only 15,000 the same year (Ptanawanit and Boribanbanpotkate, 2007). In
addition to prostitution, it is widely known that many children working in karaoke bars
and restaurants face frequent sexual harassment and are in danger of falling into
prostitution.
50
The problem of forced labor is seen mostly among migrant child workers
immigrating from Mekong sub-regional countries, especially from Bunna (Myanmar).
These migrant child workers are nonnally found working in factories, fisheries,
construction, agriculture, service sector (especially domestic work and employment in
restaurants and karaoke bars), commercial sexual exploitation, and begging (Ptanawanit
and Boribanbanpotkate, 2007). Research on child labor in the fishing industry by Prince
of Songkla University reveals that many children working in fisheries are maltreated and
work in unhygienic conditions, and some were sold to another fishing boat which
prevented them from returning to land after their initial contract finished (Human
Trafficking Organization, 2006 ,-r22).
The AEON-ILO Project in Chiang Rai Province
In response to the current child labor situation in Thailand, the ILO has worked
on targeting the elimination of the worst fonns of child labor through various programs
and projects. Since May 1, 2007, the ILO Thailand, financially supported by the Japanese
company AEON, implemented a project called "Strengthening vocational training options
to prevent child labor in rural schools in Chiang Rai Province ofThailand" for a
1O-month period. This project was to offer financial support to already existing
vocational programs of two schools to prevent children from engaging in the worst forms
of labor found in the province such as sex and drug trafficking, child begging and
children in domestic labor in addition to other sectors of concern including child labor in
karaoke bars and restaurants and in the agricultural sector.
51
Educators in Chiang Rai have recognized that many children who complete
grade 9 will not continue on to higher education (International Programme on
Elimination of Child Labour [IPEC] Thailand, 2007), and so explored options to provide
vocational skills for these children to be equipped to enter the labor market or become
self employed. The AEON-ILO offered financial support to two rural schools identified
by the provincial labor office which had been offering vocational trainings to students of
grade 7 to 12 for several years to enhance their curriculum.
Background ofthe Project
Chiang Rai Province is located in the northern part ofThailand and shares
borders with eastern Burma and the northern part of the Lao PDR, at the intersection
known as the Gold Triangle. Those borders are porous, which facilitates the movement of
migrant labor and the smuggling of drugs and other illegal goods as well as human
trafficking. It is a main trade entry point of the North-South Economic Corridor that has
sprung up among the neighboring countries, including southern China. While raw
materials and labor are available from nearby cities, the quality of labor and the lack of
continued labor development are key weaknesses of the province (IPEC Thailand, 2007).
The majority of local Thais in the province are rural poor, have relatively little education
and limited vocational skills. The province also has a diversity of ethnic minorities. Most
of these ethnic minorities have very little education, often do not speak much Thai, and
do not possess Thai citizenship, or in many cases, even birth registration (IPEC Thailand,
---- -----------------------------
52
2007). These factors limit them to working in agriculture or service sector employment in
food shops, entertainment places and karaoke establishments.
A number of children from the rural and highland minority communities have
been pushed into child labor in Chiang Rai province. Those vulnerable to the worst forms
of child labor include children ofminority, migrant children and children in poverty.
Table 4.1 illustrates that fewer than 40 percent of those who complete the compulsory
education (Grade 9) continue into secondary or vocational education; those who continue
in high school tend to drop out at a significant rate before completion.
Table 4.1 Number of children enrolled in Chiang Rai province in 2005
Kindergarten Kinder. 1 Kinder.2 Kinder.3 Total185 10,155 11,131 21,365
Levell
Grade 1 Grade 2 Grade 3
13,773 13,034 14,694 42,041
Level 2
Grade 4 Grade 5 Grade 6
15,726 15,844 15,591 47,161
Level 3
Grade 7 Grade 8 Grade 9
14,771 14,784 15,019 44,574
Grade 10 Grade 11 Grade 12
Level 4 6,880 6,271 5,249 18,400
Secondary or Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 6,952Vocational level 2,800 1,990 2,162
Grand total: 180,493 students
Source: adapted from IPEC Thmland (2007, p.l)
This low level of education constrains the majority of young persons in the province from
aspiration for productive employment and decent livelihoods. Being unskilled and, for
many, unprotected by full citizenship, they often become victims of child labor
53
exploitation. They are poorly informed of the dangers or, even if they are aware of them,
they may still decide to take the risk because of lack ofbetter choices (IPEC Thailand,
2007).
Objectives ofthe Project
The objectives of the AEON-ILO project was to offer financial support,
approximately US $3,000 for each, to the two schools, Janjawah and Maejedi
Wittayakom, to continue and strengthen their vocational programs. Both schools were
already offering vocational training as career options for students leaving school.
Janjawah School had been promoting basic education and training in the field oftourism
for children by using local available resources, knowledge, and expertise. Maejedi
Wittayakom School had been promoting traditional handicrafts called Wiengkalong
ceramics. The schools' selection oftraining courses had been in line with the
communities' targeted product, service and available resources so that these were
considered to be the relevant career options for children at these schools. The market
needs assessment was conducted at the community level among the authorities concerned,
for example, District Office, Tourism Office, Education Office, Labor Office with schools,
communities, and others (IPEC Thailand, 2007).
Career promotion programs for children in these two schools started several
years ago. Both schools had developed the curriculum as well as its teaching staffover
the past few years with some technical support from the National Council for Child and
Youth Development and Chiang Rai Provincial Office (IPEC Thailand, 2007). They had
54
mobilized local human resources available in the communities to support schools in the
design of curriculum. However, the two schools had encountered some major problems
such as lack of qualified staff, a budget for hiring external trainers, purchasing equipment,
and developing new teaching materials.
Activities and Observations at Each School
a) Janjawah School
At the time when theAEON-ILO financial support started, the school already
had 3 years of experience offering vocational training opportunities to students. Its main
focus had been on tourism business training, including hotel management, tour guide,
souvenir craft, and traditional food cooking. The community in which Janjawah School is
located is poorer than other communities in the province and many students come from
poor families. School faculty created the vocational training programs, taking advantage
ofthe locale's geographical closeness to tourist sites. In addition to tourism business
training, the school has also offered other activities such as making bio-fertilizer and
breeding organic vegetables, since many people were engaged in agricultural labor in the
prOVlllce.
Support from theAEON-ILO for the Janjawah School for the academic year of
2007 was 100,000 baht (equivalent to US $3,000) out ofthe total budget of 130,850 baht.
Janjawah School has used the financial support to strengthen the tourist business
especially hotel management career by increasing the number of students to participate,
inviting more trainers from outside, sending students more often to hotels to receive
55
trainings, and buying necessary materials. The school has also started to offer Chinese
language classes for students from this academic year with the financial support from the
AEON-ILO, taking advantage of the closeness to the border with south China. An
estimated 190 students are enrolled in vocational training activities. They were selected to
participate based on their interests.
The unique characteristic of Janjawah School is that it runs its own guest houses
on the school grounds. Students are able to practice their skills when they receive guests
at those facilities. Other students who learn weaving, foot massage and cooking also
participate. The school and the students share the profits. The school uses these profits in
its budget to strengthen vocational activities while students help their families with their
income. In 2006, the school received approximately 1,000 guests from all over the world.
The satisfaction of the school faculty regarding current vocational training
programs was approximately 50 to 60 percent at the time I interviewed in August 2007.
The school appreciates the financial support from the AEON-ILO, although they
recognize the necessity ofmore funding to improve and offer additional programs for
students. For instance, the school is eager to increase language training hours, to hire a
native-English speaker as a teacher, to offer more computer classes, and to invite more
trainers from outside. Even though the school has received the financial support from the
AEON-ILO, the annual budget for vocational programs is not enough to fill the need for
training in the local community and, hence, prevent children from having to work.
56
b) Maejedi Wittayakom School
This school had 4-year experience in vocational training activities at the time it
received financial support from the AEON-ILO in 2007. Its main focus has been on
pottery and ceramic crafts, since the area in which the school is located is very famous
for Wiengkalong ceramics. In addition, the school has offered other vocational activities
relevant to local industries including bamboo crafts, mango tree carving crafts, wooden
accessories, traditional umbrella painting, and batik painting. These activities were
created by considering the local specialty where many people in the community were
already engaged in these industries.
The financial support for Maejedi Wittayakom School from the ILO-AEON was also
100,000 baht (US 3,000) which consisted of approximately 50 percent of the total budget
of the activities for the academic year of 2007. The school has spent this support to
strengthen its pottery, ceramics and painting classes through buying new materials,
including new machineries for ceramics, inviting more trainers from outside, sending
students more often to factories or ateliers, and organizing more field trips and seminars.
An estimated 130 students age 15 to 18 in grades 9 to 12 are enrolled in training activities.
They are selected to participate based on their interests.
The school has received good collaboration from the community. Many
community members volunteer to teach students and donate necessary materials such as
books. The school successfully brings in professionals and sends students to ateliers in
the community at relatively low cost. Both the school and the community consider those
activities as ones to help retain the cultural traditions of the community. Students learn
57
painting skills from books donated by the community or directly from trainers during
classes. Many students also voluntarily go to factories or ateliers to learn more after
school or on weekends.
The satisfaction of the school faculty regarding vocational training programs in
2007 was approximately 50 to 60 percent in August 2007. The faculty of the school
appreciates the financial support from the AEON-ILO, although they also bring up the
necessity to secure more monies to strengthen and improve programs for students. The
school is eager to offer training activities to all students, however currently only 130
students out of total 900 students of the school are able to participate. The school also
considers expanding its activities beyond painting, but due to the lack of an adequate
budget-despite the financial support from the AEON-ILO-it cannot buy machines for
students to use as they learn how to make pottery, ceramics and other crafts. The school
considers training activities as very important to enhance students' identities as being
community members.
Evaluation oftheAEON-ILO Project
The project was not concluded at the time when I visited the two schools in
August 2007. I do not know the final outcomes or the results of the final evaluation
conducted by the ILO for this project. Thus I include a mid-term evaluation ofthe project.
Since it was a short-term project, mid-term quantitative research to evaluate mid-term
output was not conducted by the ILO.
58
I found several limitations in my evaluation. The first was language limitation.
Even though I was offered English translation services at the two schools, communication
with teachers and students for the research was limited. The second was time limitation.
Since my visiting schedule was very limited, despite the numerous sites that the schools
offered me to visit, there was not enough time to conduct interviews, especially with
students.
Considering the project's objective to strengthen the existing training programs,
the AEON-ILO project successfully did so. Both Janjawah and Maejedi Wittayakom
Schools have increased the number of activities and students participating in the trainings
from the past academic year with the financial support oftheAEON-ILO. Janjawah
School has started offering the new program of Chinese language learning and the
Maejedi Wittayakom School has bought a new machine as well as necessary materials for
students' use.
The choice ofvocational training options was relevant. Both schools had
identified activities suited for the local job market where students may have vocational
opportunities in the future. In addition, the training activities had strengthened the
community's unity. Since all trainings are related to community specialties, the schools
received a great deal of collaboration and assistance from the community. They have
successfully mobilized local human resource available in the communities to support the
schools. Both schools and the community believe that those activities are going to
stimulate community development while helping students to gain some useful vocational
skills.
59
Students have enjoyed participating in vocational programs through gaining new
and useful skills for their future. Approximately 40 to 50 percent of Janjawah School
graduates have either chosen to keep studying in the tourism-related field at a higher level
or directly obtained jobs in tourism. In the case of the Maejedi Wittayakom School,
although there is no information ofhow many graduates are engaged in ceramic and
painting business learned in school, most students contended that they were eager to
continue gaining traditional ceramic and painting skills.
However, the selection process of students who participate in activities remains
in question. Both schools identified participants based on students' interests knowing that
the funded purpose for the activities was to prevent students from engaging in the worst
forms of child labor after leaving school. In addition, due to the lack of an adequate
budget, schools are unable to offer those trainings to all interested students this academic
year. I believe that in many cases, students with more familial economic difficulties
would fall into any type of labor, especially into the worst forms, without a choice. The
schools should have conducted at least some background research on students and their
families when they selected participants to make sure that those who needed the training
opportunities the most could receive them.
The final quantitative research evaluation for the project has not yet been
conducted. Therefore, the effectiveness of this AEON-ILO project to prevent students
from engaging in the worst forms of child labor is unknown. However, from my
qualitative research, the AEON-ILO project despite its limited budget has successfully
brought effective outcomes. This project has improved the already existing vocational
60
training activities by introducing new machineries or new activities, and moreover, made
it possible to involve more students in vocational training activities. Most of the
participating students regard their training as a future career option. They told me that
they were happy to receive additional education at school to have vocational skills so that
they would be able to help their family.
Challenges Facing the ILO in Thailand
In Thailand, the decrease in child labor is recognized. As of January 2008, the
ILO has only two on-going projects on child labor in Thailand including "Support for
national action to combat child labor and its worst forms" and "Elimination of child labor
in Thailand: AEON-ILO project." It currently focuses on offering vocational training and
has been planning to implement more vocational training opportunities in as many
schools as possible, especially in Chiang Rai province. Considering the child labor
situation in Thailand, offering vocational trainings as direct intervention is effective.
Direct action by the ILO has been reduced in Thailand, although it keeps supporting the
Thai government in forms of policy advice and technical cooperation to conduct research
and labor studies on national action to combat child labor and its worst forms.
The number of trafficked children in Thailand engaged in economic activities
has been growing very fast and immediate actions are required to stop this new
phenomenon of child labor. Since the issue oftrafficking involves other countries in the
Mekong region, the ILO's sub-regional office for Southeast Asia has been working on
this issue. It currently carries out four programs related to the trafficking: "Prevention of
61
trafficking in children and women at a community level in Cambodia and Viet Nam,"
"Reducing labor exploitation of children and women: Combating trafficking in the
greater Mekong sub-region, Phase II," "South east Asia drugs trafficking project," and
"Combating child trafficking for the worst forms of child labor Phase II." However, they
are not directly associated with child workers.
Since trafficked child workers tend to be excluded from national actions taken
by governments, it is difficult for the ILO to tackle this problem. The ILO should seek
cooperation from the Thai government to incorporate these excluded foreign national
child workers into its programs as well as work with the government to take immediate
action to rescue these child workers. The ILO has an advantage of working very closely
to the Thai government for a long time. The research and studies regarding these
unprotected children may encourage the Thai government to take action, as it approved
migrant and stateless children to have access to education in 2005. At the same time, the
ILO should consider taking more active direct intervention targeting trafficked child
workers either by implementing projects or supporting NOOs that are already working in
Thailand. These children face exploitation every day and taking immediate action is a
responsibility of the ILO in its efforts to work for the total elimination of child labor in
Thailand.
62
CHAPTER V
CHALLENGES OF CHILD LABOR IN INDIA:
RESPONSES OF THE ILO
Currently, India has the largest number of child workers in the world. India has
followed a proactive policy with respect to the problem of child labor, and has stood for
constitutional, statutory and developmental measures to combat child labor. As long ago
as February 1933, the Enactment of Children (Pledging of Labor) Act was enacted and
since then, there have been nine different Indian legislations relating to child labor
(Embassy ofIndia, Washington D.C., n.d.). The Factories Act 1948 prohibits the
employment of children below the age of 14, and an adolescent aged between 15 and 18
years can be employed in a factory only ifhe obtains a certificate of fitness from an
authorized medical doctor. The Child Labor (Prohibition & Regulation) Act 1986
prohibits employment of children below the age of 14 in 15 occupations that are
hazardous to the children's lives and health, and regulates the working conditions of
children in other forms of employment. The National Child Labor Policy (NCLP) was
adopted in 1987 following the Child Labor Act. The NCLP focuses on general
development programs to benefit children wherever possible and has project-based action
plans in areas of high concentration of child labor.
As a recent policy implementation regarding child labor, in October 2006, India
became the first country in the world to recognize child domestic labor as hazardous and
ban the employment of children in domestic services. The Government ofIndia
63
added domestic labor as well as some other forms of labor performed by children (such
as labor at food stalls on the streets, restaurants, hotels, motels, teashops, resorts, spas or
other recreational centers) to the list of hazardous occupations in the Child Labor Act.
The Government of India is currently in the process of enforcing this new ban throughout
country.
Projects emerging from the NCLP are implemented by the Ministry of Labor and
Employment, with a great deal oftechnical support from the ILO since 1988. This
successful collaboration during the past two decades is a good example of political will
and administrative commitment to eliminate child labor and it is one of the largest child
labor projects in the world, with a budget of US $154 million over five years. The
Government of India has also committed to improve the education and health sectors. In
2002, it initiated the Sarva ShikshaAbhiyan, a national flagship program to provide
useful and relevant elementary education for all children in the 6 to 14 age groups by
2010. The National Health Policy 2002, which was originally formulated in 1983; seeks
to improve the public health sector. However, despite such promises, the Indian
government's public expenditure on heath was less than one percent of GDP
(approximately 0.9 percent of GDP) in 2004 (UNDP, 2007, p.249, Table 6). Compulsory
education is still not strictly enforced across the nation even though it is guaranteed as a
right of Indian children in the Constitution.
After the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in 1992, the ILO
has worked very closely with the Government of India to eliminate child labor through
64
the IPEC. Its national program implements numerous projects across India, focusing
especially on children engaged in the worst forms of child labor.
The ILO has a history of working on targeting Indian children engaged in worst
forms of child labor. Now, after the addition of child domestic labor to the Child Labor
Act, the ILO is expected to be engaged more in the field of child domestic labor through
advising, supporting and monitoring initiatives taken by the Government of India. At the
same time, the ability and the role of the ILO as it works with the Government of India
will be tested.
This chapter introduces one of the worst forms of child labor-child domestic
labor-as a case study in the context of the current child labor situation in India. While
many see domestic work as a positive experience for children, it is widely reported that
children performing domestic tasks are extremely vulnerable to exploitation and abuse as
they are working behind closed doors in a private home (Blagbrough & Matsuno, 2006). I
analyze the significance ofthe ban on child domestic labor and the challenges facing the
government to implement it. As the largest initiative on child labor in India, ILO-IPEC
monitors the enforcement and implementation of the ban. I discuss the responses and
challenges of the ILO to support and cooperate with the Government of India to enforce
this ban effectively.
The ILO in India
. ILO-IPEC in India was launched in late 1992 and has since designed and
supported 175 action programs, including two large-scale projects, "Integrated Area
65
Specific Project" and "Andhra Pradesh State Based Project against Child Labor" (ILO
Subregional Office for South Asia [ILO SRO South Asia], 2005). It has been targeting
children engaged in hazardous work, especially the worst forms of child labor. Over the
last decade, the ILO-IPEC in collaboration with its partners has directly rehabilitated
approximately 145,000 children working in hazardous industries (ILO SRO South Asia,
2005).
ILO-IPEC has actively intervened in the National Child Labor Projects (NCLPs)
implemented by the Government ofIndia. It has worked to strengthen the NCLPs and
develop strategies for providing a comprehensive child labor elimination model in the
country. As a result of the strong commitment of the ILO-IPEC and the Government of
India, the NCLPs has grown exponentially: started in 12 district in 1988, it was expanded
to cover 76 districts in 1994-1995, then 100 districts between 1997 and 2002, and finally
250 districts in 2007 (ILO, 2005). ILO-IPEC has worked in particular on strengthening
the capacity ofnational agencies, particularly the VV Giri National Labor Institute, four
state Labor Institutes, the Central Board for Workers Education, and the National Institute
of Rural Development, to implement the NCLPs and other child labor elimination
programs effectively (ILO, 2005). It has also provided educational and other
rehabilitation services (with working partners) to children withdrawn from hazardous
work.
Although child labor is under the legislative jurisdiction of the federal
Government of India, state governments and grassroots organizations playa crucial role
in enforcement, awareness raising and the process of admitting a child to school for
66
rehabilitation. Initially, the ILO-IPEC in India was working to strengthen and expand the
movement at the district and grassroots levels (ILO SRO South Asia, 2005). It facilitated
greater coordination of government services at the district level to mobilize departments
within the district government as well as grassroots organizations. The integrated
approach also mobilized trade unions as well as employers and workers' organizations at
the district level.
As a direct action with children, approximately 70 percent of action programs
have focused on withdrawing children from the workplace in India. However, during
1992-1999, the ILO-IPEC also made successful interventions in education. The provision
of non-formal or transitional education through NGOs directly covered over 80,000
working children. Approximately 86 percent of those children withdrawn from the
workforce have been absorbed into mainstream public elementary education and
completed their primary education cycle (ILO SRO South Asia, 2005). ILO-IPEC has
also offered action programs containing vocational education or skill training components
as well as raising public awareness against child labor, building broad institutional
alliances among parents' groups, political leaders, community heads, government, and
NGOs.
From 2003-2006, ILO-IPEC implemented its largest child labor project in India
with a budget of US $40 million, the "INDUS Child Labor Project." Jointly funded by
the United States Department of Labor and the Government of India, the INDUS project
targeted 80,000 children employed in ten identified hazardous sectors2• This project was
Z Identified hazardous sectors include: handrolled bidis/cigarettes, brassware, handmade bricks, fireworks,
67
implemented in five districts each in the states of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil
Nadu, and Uttar Pradesh, and in selected areas of Delhi. The objective was to strengthen
the structures, systems and capacities of the government and civil society agencies to
develop a comprehensive child labor elimination model through using the following
approaches (INDUS Child Labour Project, 2006):
• Children working in selected hazardous occupations in the target districts are
identified, in collaboration with communities and other partners;
• Children withdrawn from hazardous work are provided transitional and
pre-vocational education, and social support to prevent relapse;
• Adolescents withdrawn from hazardous work are provided vocational
training and alternatives for income generation;
• Increased economic security of families who withdraw their children from
hazardous work by encouraging savings and development of alternative
livelihoods;
• Children are provided access to quality education to prevent them from
entering or re-entering hazardous work;
• Monitoring and tracking of children released from hazardous work to ensure
that their situation has improved;
• Strengthen capacity of national, state, district, and local institutions so they
can function as ongoing support for eliminating hazardous child labor;
• Develop interest in other areas in adopting measures to prevent, remove and
provide alternatives for children in hazardous sectors.
Many children have been withdrawn and rehabilitated from their work. Those now at
school are receiving vocational training, and the ILO-IPEC has organized numerous
workshops and training programs for stakeholders (INDUS Child Labour Project, 2006).
Currently, the ILO-IPEC has 4 ongoing projects regarding child labor in India: i)
Integrated area-specific Approach; ii) Combating child labor in India, Andra Pradesh,
phase II; iii) India National Coordination; and iv) Combating child labor and economic
footwear (leather, rubber, plastic), handblown glass bangles, handmade locks, hand-dipped matches,
hand-broken quarried stones, and hand-spun, hand-loomed silk thread, yarn, and fabric (INDUS Child
Labour Project, 2006, p.l)
68
exploitation among adolescents in the sericulture industry in Kamataka (ILO ROAP,
2007). In addition, while not officially launched yet, a new proposal for another five year
plan (2008-13) ofthe INDUS project to expand the NCLPs' coverage to all 601 districts
across India was approved in February 2007 (ILO ROAP, 2007). The INDUS project as
well as other state specific projects will continue reflecting the strong will ofthe
Government of India to eliminate child labor in hazardous industries.
Child Labor in India
The 2001 Census of India shows that there are approximately 12.6 million child
workers age 5 to 14, comprising 3.6 percent of the total labor force ofIndia. Among these
child workers, 5.7 million are classified as "main" workers and 6.9 million as "marginal"
workers. "Main workers" are those workers who had worked for the major part ofthe
reference period (i.e., six months or more) and "marginal workers" are those workers
who had not worked for the major part ofthe reference period (i.e., six months or less)
(INDUS Child Labor Project, 2007). The gender division of child workers is
approximately 6.8 million (54 percent) boys and 5.8 million (46 percent) girls; an
estimated 2 million children work in hazardous industries (IPEC, n.d.).
Several factors must be considered when looking at data on child workers in the
Census. First, it does not include unpaid child workers laboring alongside their parents,
since the government does not recognize and count those child workers as part of the
working population. Domestic workers are also excluded from the working population.
Identifying children in unpaid and domestic labor is difficult because ofthe invisible
69
nature of this kind oflabor. However, it is widely recognized that many children are
engaged in unpaid, family-type and domestic work in India. For instance, it is common in
some regions that children help their parents working together at tea plantations or that
children work as domestic servants in the homes of the wealthy, or even of middle class
families.
Second, the accuracy of the numbers of child workers announced in the Census
remains in question. In India, paid child workers are found toiling in restaurants, tea stalls,
wayside shops, and as apprentices. Many newspaper vendors, ragpickers, shoeshine boys,
peons at construction sites, and street children (including beggars and prostitutes), are
also paid child workers. In many cases, children engaged in such labor are not officially
registered as workers or the employers simply do not recognize them as workers (Weiner,
1991). Thus, it is considered that numerous child workers are invisible and excluded from
figures in the Census, despite receiving wages.
Third, the existence of different estimates of child workers substantiates the
inaccuracy of the figures in the Census. While the Census announces 12.6 million child
workers, unofficial estimates calculated by organizations working in India put the figure
at between 60 to 115 million. If we would count the excluded unpaid children and child
domestic workers, and children in invisible and unrecognizable labor, the number of child
workers can be estimated at far more than the official 12.6 million.
Children are found working in a variety of industries across India as shown in
Appendix C. There are broadly four kinds of child labor in India (Burra, 1995). First are
those children who work in factories, workshops and mines and are usually to be found in
70
both the unorganized and organized sectors. Second are those children who are bonded to
their employers, whether in agriculture or industry. Many ofthese children work in brick
kilns in remote locations. The third group includes street children who are classified in
the service sector, and the last are children who work as part of family labor in all
contexts including agriculture, industry, and home-based work.
There is a clear-cut differentiation between the labor of male and female children.
While boys' labor is closely related to apprenticeship training and skill formation, girls
are engaged in low-paid or no-wage unskilled labor, which does not necessarily lead to
skill formation (Burra, 1995). This gender differentiation in labor can be traced to the
larger culture of India where female children are considered less valuable than male
children. A son is expected to live with his parents his entire life, while a daughter will be
given away in marriage, complete with a dowry. Indeed, the burden ofhousehold duties
falls largely upon the girl child. When they labor, girls are involved in large numbers in
the unorganized sector industries such as the match, coir, carpet, lock, beedi, gem
polishing, zari (gold thread embroidery) making and ground nut shelling industries,
which are considered 'female' jobs and are generally performed as piecework at home
(Burra, 1995), around their domestic chores. Girls are concentrated in the lower end of
earnings distribution and earn significantly less than boys. Girls also tend to enter work at
a younger age than boys: about 70 percent of girls began working when they were 10
years old or younger, while boys' proportion ofbeginning at that age was 57 percent
(Swaminathan, 1998).
71
Bonded child labor is a characteristic of child labor in India even though it is
prohibited in the Labor Law. Bonded child labor refers to the phenomenon of children
working in conditions of servitude in order to payoff a debt (Human Rights Watch, 1996).
Bonded labor is an age-old worker-employer relationship in India rooted in its
hierarchical culture. Many children are engaged in this labor: Human Rights Watch
estimates at least 15 million children are working as bonded laborers across India, the
vast majority being found in agriculture, beedi, carpet-weaving, glass, silver, synthetic,
silk, leather, and wool industries (Burra, 1995; Human Rights Watch, 1996).
Approximately 52 to 87 percent of all bonded child laborers are engaged in agriculture.
At least 327,000 children in beedi making, 300,000 in carpet weaving and 200,000 in silk
production were identified as working throughout India by Human Rights Watch (Human
Rights Watch, 1996, p.19).
Child Domestic Labor in India
Child domestic labor is one of the most common forms of child labor and a
widespread phenomenon. The ILO defines child domestic labor as "situations where
children are engaged to perform domestic tasks in the home of a third party or employer
that are exploitative" (IPEC, 2004, p.5). Child domestic work includes all children in
domestic service who are under the legal minimum working age as well as those above
the legal minimum age but under the age of 18 who are in a hazardous or other
exploitative situation. A child's engagement as a domestic worker in someone else's
house often is considered safe and nonstigmatizing, even a part ofhislher development
~~~----_._--------- ----------- .._- .
72
process and may not be considered "labor." Comments made by both employers and
members of the general public in Cambodia and Indonesia indicate that a large proportion
of people do not regard the emploYment of children as domestic workers to be hazardous
or exploitative (Blagbrough & Matsuno, 2006, p.2). However, child domestic labor by its
nature is susceptible to being one of the worst forms of child labor as defined in
Convention No. 182 (Worst Forms of Child Labor Convention 1999).
Child domestic labor is often called a hidden form of exploitation since not only
are many children in domestic labor very young, but the tasks they perform are usually
undertaken behind the doors of a private home and are closed to outside scrutiny. This
includes not only regular labor sector mechanisms like workplace inspections, surveys of
labor conditions and the like, but informal scrutiny from visitors, family and friends,
other workers and even just passers-by (IPEC, 2004). The tasks the child domestic
workers perform are difficult to monitor or regulate and put children in a situation of
extreme risk. In extreme cases, domestic labor is associated with sex trafficking, slavery
or practices similar to slavery (IPEC, 2004). Children may find themselves traded or
trafficked into someone else's home, toiling seven days a week, every week ofthe year,
in conditions that endanger their physical and psychological health and safety. They may
be confined to the house at all times, suffer beatings, be denied access to family, friends,
health services and decent food. They may have to handle toxic substances and face
severe heat or cold. For their sufferings they may not even receive paYment, but be
expected to endure abuse in return for poor accommodation and inferior food or some
new clothes from time to time (IPEC, 2004). Employers of children in domestic service
73
have total control over their lives, resulting in the ILO's designation of child domestic
labor as a "worst fonn of child domestic labor" (ILO, 2004).
India is not alone with the problem of child domestic labor. In many cases, it is
also associated with the bonded labor. Child domestic labor is culturally accepted and
widely prevalent in India with a perception of domestic service as an apprenticeship and
hence it is not recognized as a fonn of child labor (IPEC, 2004). The 2002 ILO Country
Report accounted that in the northern states of India, "keeping children as domestic
servants has become not only a necessity but a fashion" (IPEC, 2004, p.28). Families
often see household work as training for a girl child in domestic skills. As it is regarded
as having a positive benefit, some consider it a valid alternative to education. In addition,
India's booming economy accelerates the pace of putting children into domestic service.
Placement and recruitment agencies in Delhi and Mumbai are growing rapidly and it has
become an extremely lucrative business in India (Gentlemen, 2007). Ms. Surina Rajan of
the ILO-Delhi said that
because of the booming economy and the spread ofthe nuclear family, there
has seen a rise in demand for domestic help, at a time when it's becoming more
expensive to employ people (Gentleman, 2007,-r 31).
It is almost impossible to know how many children are engaged in domestic
service both because of its characteristics as well as the reality that most reports on adult
domestic work do not give the ages ofthe adults concerned. The reason behind the
unknown number of child domestic workers is that the arrangements for the job are
frequently made infonnally between the child's parents and the employer. Employees are
not registered and do not feature in employment statistics (IPEC, 2004). While the exact
74
number of child domestic workers in India is unknown, in 2006 the Ministry of Labor
estimated that approximately 185,000 children were involved in domestic labor in India
(Global March against Child Labour, 2006).
The factors that place children into domestic labor are similar to those that push
children into any type of labor: poverty, lack of education, no available job, conflict,
illness or natural disaster, and low status of women and girls. Economic inequality, debt
bondage, demand for cheap labor and recruitment networks, services and individuals are
other reasons behind child domestic labor (IPEC, 2004). Reducing costs on the family,
rather than increasing income, is another reason why children are put into domestic
service with no exchange ofmoney at all, meaning that the child is simply "given away"
(IPEC, 2004, p.18).
Ban on Child Domestic Labor in India
Child domestic workers are exposed to and face more exploitative situations
than other workers because of its hidden and invisible nature of a child being separately
employed and working in the seclusion of a private house. Their jobs belong to the
informal labor market unregistered and does not show up clearly in employment statistics.
Intervening in what happens in the home is both difficult and a challenge for
governments, law enforcement, labor inspectors and others who work to protect the rights
of those who serve and there is often institutional reluctance to address issues that seem
to impinge upon the rights of the family. As a result, domestic work is often excluded
from laws and policies designed to tackle child labor or other forms of child exploitation
75
(IPEC, 2004). In addition, because of the lack ofrecognition of domestic work as a form
of economic activity, regular labor mechanisms are not systematically applied to
situations and labor inspections, registration and tracing schemes, and other "checks and
balances" on the work place are not put in place. Not only in India but also around the
world, many organizations as well as governments have recognized the necessity to take
urgent actions in order to improve the working condition for those children engaged in
domestic labor.
The Government of India took a step forward by enacting a ban of domestic
labor and some other forms of labor performed by children under the age of 14, which
became effective on October 10, 2006. Domestic labor and labor at dhabas (roadside
eateries), restaurants, hotels, motels, teashops, resorts, spas or other recreational centers
were added to the Child Labor Act, originally prohibited the employment of children only
in 13 occupations. The ban is aimed at helping thousands of children who are often
subjected to physical violence, psychological trauma and sexual abuse when they work in
homes and hotels. According to the new Child Labor Act, anyone found violating the ban
would be penalized under the Child Labor Act and face up to two years in prison or fines
up to 20,000 rupees. The Government of India estimated that the number of children who
would be affected by this ban is approximately 256,000 (UNICEF, n.d. c).
How the Notification Came to Be
The initiative to add child domestic labor and some other forms oflabor to the
Child Labor Act was taken by the notable local NGO, the Bachpan Bachao Andolan
76
(BBA) (A. Rahman, personal communication, August 6, 2007). In the summer of 1996,
the activists of the BBA rescued the boy named Ashraf who worked as a domestic worker,
suffered from physical punishments at the residence of a senior government officer.
Immediately after the rescue ofAshraf, the activists of BBA took his case to the India's
National Human Rights Commission. Through the internal lobbying of the National
Human Rights Commission and external pressure, the use of a child servant was declared
a major penalty for government servants.
Approximately at the same time of the announcement of the new regulation for
government servants, there was a steady growth of the public awareness on the
importance of education for all and education came to be recognized as a fundamental
right in the Indian Constitution in 2002. A. Rahman (personal communication, August 6,
2007) told that this public and governmental recognition of education as a fundamental
right took a crucial part ofthe background for creating public support for the idea of a
ban on domestic child labor. The efforts ofthe UN agencies, including activities on the
World Day Against Child Labor in 2004 by the ILO, also contributed to raising concern
about domestic child labor. Raised public awareness towards child domestic labor and the
ultimate recommendation from a medically-oriented committee that determined that
domestic child labor constituted a form of hazardous child labor pushed finally the
government to add domestic labor and working in hospitality industry as hazardous
occupations for children under 14 years of age in October 2006.
77
Significance of Legislation and Its Challenges
The ban is a positive and significant sign that the government has acknowledged
the new fonns of slavery and forced labor. Almost all people, from media to child's rights
activists, welcomed and considered the ban as a milestone and a very progressive step in
the battle to stop the abuses of child workers or child labor itself. Since the law
announces the child domestic labor as an illegal labor activity, it is expected to stimulate
more programs and activities by organizations working in the field of child domestic
labor. B. Ribhu, the national secretary and lawyer ofthe BBA, said that it would become
easier for NGOs to take actions, collaborate with police, rescue children from domestic
work and report those who employ children to authority to be fined or punished due to
the law (personal communication, August 31, 2007).
However, at the same time, almost all people question the effectiveness of the
ban due to weak law enforcement by the government. It states that it has taken proactive
steps to tackle the problem of child labor through strict enforcement oflegislative
provisions along with simultaneous rehabilitative measures. State governments, which are
the appropriate implementing authorities, have conducted regular inspections and raids to
detect cases ofviolations (Government ofIndia, n.d.). However, many people point out
that the government has not taken the matter of child labor as seriously as it warrants
even after the Child Labor Act was enacted in 1986. The representative of the BBA and
notable child rights activist, Kailash Satyarthi criticizes the government that since the
enactment of the Child Labor Act in 1986, not a single offender has been punished as per
the provision ofthe law (n.d. ,-[33).
78
Satyarthi considers that there has been a systematic failure in the government to
enforce policies and laws. Dependency on the conventional, inadequate and unskilled or
untrained labor inspectoral system and a lack of sense of urgency towards solving
problem are reasons behind this failure. He also points out that there is the absence of an
independent, credible and proactive monitoring and evaluation mechanism in India
(Satyarthi, 2006).
It is the primary responsibility of the government to "create the trust and
optimism in society that elimination of child labor is achievable" (Satyarthi, 2006 ~119).
The government should dispel the current feeling of despair, disillusion and hopelessness
at the ineffective implementation of the Child Labor Act. Government should and is
expected to take a comprehensive approach. Bringing those responsible for employing
children to justice as well as promising the universal education as alternative options for
families that depend on income from children, and rehabilitation plan, including
non-formal education for children who lose their jobs are important. Inadequate
functioning system of the enforcement of law, including inaccurate statistics, lack of
funding and apathy of officials who enforce the laws are already detected. The tasks and
responsibilities of the government to correct them are enormous.
What Has Happened in the Past Year?
The Ministry of Labor released that 2,229 violations of the recent notification
banning employment of children under 14 as domestic help and in hospitality sector were
detected, and 38,818 inspections were carried out by some state governments from whom
79
reports were received and 211 prosecutions were filed (Rao, n.d.). However, the BBA
announced that only 6,669 children were identified across the country as child workers
under the new Child Labor Act and in all, 872 prosecutions were launched against the
offending employers, however, not a single conviction had taken place during the last one
year ("Child labour rampant", 2007). Save the Children India (2007) ironically indicated
that the only act implemented by the national and state governments after one year from
the amendment was that the central government has asked state governments to develop
action plans to rescue and rehabilitate children who are working as child workers. So far,
only three state governments, such as Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamilnadu, have
published these plans. Even today, after one year of the ratification, 74 percent of child
domestic workers are under the age of 16, and in Delhi alone, close to a million children
are still employed at homes or in food stalls and another 40,000 work in the southern city
of Hyderabad and 50,000 more work in Calcutta (Save the Children India, 2007, ,-r12).
Challenges Confronting the ILO in India
In India, the ILO has put its priorities on children working in forced labor and
bondage, in hazardous work, child workers below 12 years, and girl child labor (ILO
SRO South Asia, 2004). It has provided interventions to mobilize and generate awareness,
build the capacity of different social actors, provide non-formal education, advocate
institutional reforms, and develop income-generating alternatives (ILO SRO SouthAsia,
2004). It has also worked intimately with employers and workers' organizations, factory
and labor inspectors, research and training institutions, and government ministries and
80
departments at the national and local levels. Since the creation of IPEC, it has worked
closely with the Government of India, and recently offered strong support to implement
the NCLPs to realize the commitment of the Government of India to eliminate child labor.
So far, the INDUS project (in support ofthe NCLPs) has only covered approximately half
of the 601 districts in India. The new project proposal covers and targets children
engaged in hazardous labor in all districts in India, and the ILO-IPEC needs to find a way
to accomplish this.
Until now, on the contrary to its active interventions against worst forms of child
labor, the ILO has not implemented any programs targeting child domestic labor in India.
This absence is despite that child domestic labor has been internationally recognized and
specified in Convention No.182 (Worst Form of Child Labor 1999). It is instead because
the ILO takes the principle to work and implement program, which must be in line with
the target sectors determined by the government based on its request (S. Rajan, personal
communication, August 31, 2007). The Government of India had not recognized child
domestic labor as hazardous or one of the worst forms of child labor until October 2006,
so that child domestic labor had been excluded from any programs and projects of the
ILO. From now on, the ILO would be able to suggest the effective implementation of
programs and offer its technical expertise to eliminate child domestic labor as a working
partner of the government. The new notification would bring positive interventions from
the ILO.
Since the amendment of two new notifications to the Child Labor Act, the
Government of India-with technical support from the ILO and UNICEF-has
81
established an extensive media campaign for public awareness of the notification. It has
also created sensitization workshops on the issues among government officials, civil
society groups and trade unions to ensure effective implementation and strengthen law
enforcement (UNICEF, n.d. c). It has also expanded rehabilitative measures and
cooperated with NGOs in cities for rehabilitation of withdrawn children. By the end of
August 2007, the government and the ILO were preparing to launch the new child labor
survey to grasp more accurate numbers of child workers, including those who are
engaged in domestic tasks. After the notifications, the ILO itse1fhas already started to its
programs through strengthening supports to state governments to organize workshops and
awareness raising campaigns as the beginning of the enforcement of the law, then plan
further projects focusing on child domestic labor (S. Rajan, personal communication,
August 31, 2007).
Child labor activist and former member of the Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA),
A. Rahman, feels the sense of urgency to take action to press the government to enforce
the ban before the government gets used to not enforcing this ban (personal
communication, July 23,2007). Taking advantage of its close relationship to the
government, the ILO should support the Government of India at allleve1s in
strengthening and monitoring schemes, monitor the enforcement of the Child Labor Act,
offer advocacy and communication initiatives, awareness and social mobilization and
support NGOs working for rescue and rehabilitate child domestic workers. The ILO is
expected to bring a change in the field of child domestic labor through using its past
experiences working in the field of worst forms ofchild labor.
82
CHAPTER VI
BEST PRACTICES FOR THE ELIMINATION OF CHILD LABOR
Poverty and the lack of education are major factors that contribute to child labor
and they are strongly interlinked with each other. In many countries, poverty forces a
family to place their children into labor or abandoned children to have to make a living
on their own. Children often have to work for sheer economic survival. If a child has to
work, obviously the demand for education disappears. Child labor is a central obstacle to
realizing the right of all children to an education. Lack of education perpetuates both
poverty and child labor in the long term. The vicious cycle of poverty, lack of education
and child labor continues throughout generations ifthese three problems are not tackled
simultaneously.
Both Thailand and India have embraced each of these three approaches in their
efforts to eliminate child labor. My analysis of the transition ofthe child labor situation in
Thailand and India leads me to conclude that the combined approaches have left positive
results to reduce the number of child workers. Both countries have shown steady
economic growth over the past decade while adopting numerous necessary policies and
laws to regulate labor standards. They have done so by setting the legal minimum age for
the employment of children as well as increasing the access and quality of education and
health. However, even though both countries have taken similar practices towards
eliminating child labor, Thailand seems more successful than India in terms of decreasing
child labor. What accounts for this difference?
83
Both in Thailand and India, the ILO launched the IPEC at the same time in 1992.
However, after 16 years, Thailand has far less child labor than India. We cannot simply
compare those two countries since India's landmass is six times larger than Thailand,
with eighteen times more population who have very diverse backgrounds. The two
countries have different local cultures and are at different stages of development.
However, when we compare Thailand and India in their practices, we can identify the
best solutions to addressing child labor by understanding what kinds of approaches have
brought better results in Thailand. Conversely, it may also help inform us as to what India
needs to improve to decrease child labor. In this chapter, I explore the factors that have
brought different results in Thailand and India. I indicate the points that India needs to
improve in order to catch up to Thailand in the area of reducing child labor. I conclude
with recommendations of best practices to the ILO for elimination of child labor.
Comparison of Thailand and India
Policy Implementation
Both Thailand and India have adopted numerous policies and laws targeting
child labor to regulate labor standards and conditions by setting a minimum age to enter
employment. Both countries have made education compulsory up to a certain age for all
children. This is now guaranteed in their respective constitutions. Both governments have
been very serious in their efforts to eliminate child labor through adopting essential
regulations, policies and laws.
84
Thus, in the area of policy implementation, there seems to be no prominent
distinction between Thailand and India. However, I have found differences regarding the
commitment of the two governments to educational and health policies as well as to their
enforcement. I discuss the differences in educational policies later; at this point, I address
the difference in the commitment of the respective governments in health policies.
eigno et al. point out that the share of public health expenditure in GDP
significantly reduces child labor since the increase in public expenditure for health or
sanitation would be able to "induce parents to switch from a high-fertility, low-survival,
low-education to a low-fertility, high-survival, and high-education strategy" (2002,
p.1582). When we review the public expenditure on health ofThailand and India, we see
a significant difference. Table 6.1 illustrates that while Thailand's public expenditure on
health was approximately 2.3 percent of gross domestic products (GDP) in 2005, India's
was only 0.9 percent of GDP for the same year. The Thai government has spent
approximately three times more on health than the Indian government resulting in people
in Thailand having more access to better health services than people in India. This
difference is clearly reflected to the infant mortality and total fertility rate of the two
countries. By extension, children in Thailand are less in jeopardy ofbeing placed in labor
than children in India due to family illness.
85
Table 6.1 Public expenditure on health in Thailand and India (2005)
Health Per capita Infant mortality rate Total fertility
expenditure (US $) (per 1,000 live birth) rate (births per(% ofGDP) woman)
Thailand 2.3 293 18 1.8
India 0.9 91 56 3.1
Source: UNDP Human Development Report, 2007 (Table 5,6, 7, and 10)
Establishing policies and laws is not enough. They must be adequately enforced
throughout the country as well. Thailand has strictly enforced its laws and policies
regulating child labor for over a decade and as a result, has successfully decreased the
incidence of child labor. However, India has faced difficulties in enforcement and many
activists point out the weak enforcement of laws and policies by both central and state
government in India. This is another reason why India falls behind Thailand in terms of
decreasing child labor.
It is important to secure the enforcement oflaws and policies. Especially for
India, enforcement of laws and policies is a key factor. Organizations including the ILO
have encouraged the Government of India to revise and implement key policies; they
need to encourage the government more strongly to enforce them effectively. It is also
important for the ILO to convince the Government of India to ratify both Convention
No.138 (Minimum Age 1973) and No. 182 (Worst Forms of Child Labor 1999).
Ratification of ILO conventions makes it easier for the ILO to monitor the performance
of a government.
86
Education
Both Thailand and India guarantee compulsory education for all children in their
constitutions. Thailand, in its 1997 Constitution and 1999 Education Act, has established
and guaranteed compulsory education up to grade 9 for all children. India also promises
free and compulsory education of children up to age 14 in its constitution. In both
Thailand and India, many organizations, especially NGOs, have worked in the field of
education to improve the access and quality of education through offering formal and
non-formal education for children.
Regardless of the compulsory education policy in both countries, India has less
primary school net enrollment and lower youth literacy rates than Thailand. As Table 6.2
illustrates, Thailand enjoys a primary school net enrollment rate of 98 percent while India
has 84 percent. Among youth age 15-24, Thailand has achieved a 98 percent literacy rate
while India has achieved only 76.4 percent. According to my analysis, this is due in large
part to the lower public expenditure on education in India. Table 6.2 also shows that
Thailand spent 4.2 percent of its total GDP (which was 25 percent of total government
expenditure for the year 2005) on education while India spent 3.8 percent ofGDP, which
was only 10.7 percent of total government expenditures. Indeed, we can see that Thailand
has emphasized education more than India.
87
Table 6.2 Public expenditure on education and literacy rates (2005)
Education As a % of Net primary Adult literacy Youth
expenditure total enrollment rate literacy rategovernment (% aged 15 and (% aged(% ofGDP)
expenditure rate (%) older) 15-24)
Thailand 4.2 25 98 92.6 98
India 3.8 10.7 84 61 76.4
Source: UNDP Human Development Report, 2007 (Table 11 and 12)
India has successfully increased the net enrollment of children to 84 percent in the past
20 years, and many organizations are offering non-formal education as a bridge to formal
education. However, in order to increase the enrollment rate further, India needs to
strengthen enforcement of compulsory education as well as increase public expenditure
on education so as to improve the quality of education. This encourages many parents to
send children to school.
Economic Development
Table 6.3 illustrates that per capita income in India is less than a third ofthat in
Thailand, making India considerably more impoverished than Thailand. While in
Thailand, 25.2 percent of the population lives on less than 2 dollars a day, in India, more
than triple-80A percent-lives on less than 2 dollars a day. Neumayer and De Soysa
(2005, p.52) conclude, "higher per capita income levels are associated with lower
incidence of child labor;" this certainly appears to be the case in these two countries with
Thailand having a child labor participation rate of less than 1 percent while India's
official estimate is about 5 percent.
88
Table 6.3 Economic performance and poverty in Thailand and India (2005)
GDP GDP per capita
Population below international
(US $ billions) (PPPUS $)3 poverty line (%)
US $1 a day US $2 a day
Thailand 176.6 7,061 - 25.2
India 805.7 2,221 34.3 80.4
Source: UNDP Human Development Report, 2007 (Table 3 and 14)
To analyze the correlation between economic growth and the decrease in child
labor, it is important to confirm whether economic growth has contributed to the decrease
in child labor in Thailand or not. Appendix D shows the economic performance of
Thailand and India in the past 20 years. We see that steady economic growth had
contributed to the decrease in child labor in Thailand at least until 1997 when it
experienced severe economic crisis. As mentioned in the previous chapter, Thailand had
achieved the decline in its child labor participation rate (from 5 percent to less than 1
percent) between 1989 and 2000. Until 1997, Thailand's average annual economic
growth was 8.7 percent; I anticipate this growth contributed markedly to the fall in its
child labor participation rate. Even though Thailand had experienced negative economic
growth in 1997 and 1998, the ground had already been laid for fewer children
participating labor. No organization announced an increase in the child labor participation
rate, and the ILO has affirmed Thailand's maintenance of a downward trend since the
economic recovery in 1999 (ILO, 2006a).
3 Gross domestic product in purchasing power parity terms in US dollars. Purchasing power parity: a rate
of exchange that accounts for price differences across countries, allowing international comparisons of real
output and incomes (UNDP, 2007, p.369).
89
Thailand also harbors a higher stock of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) than
India. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) announced
that in 2006, Thailand held approximately 33 percent of GDP (US $68,058 million) as
FDI inward stocks while India held only 5.7 percent of GDP (US $50,680 million) as FDI
inward stock. Neumayer and De Soysa (2005) point out that countries which have a
higher stock of FDI tend to have a lower incidence of child labor; indeed, Thailand with
more FDI stocks than India, has less incidence of child labor.
Economic development helps lower the demand for child workers since
globalization may raise the wage rates of primary-level educated workers relative to those
of uneducated ones (Kambhampati & Rajan, 2006). I argue that we should be careful
with this assumption because it can only reduce the incidence of child labor ifthere are
enough educated workers available. If there are not enough educated workers, child labor
may increase as other economic development strategies are pursued.
Economic development has been successful in decreasing child labor in Thailand
because it was aligned with the strict enforcement of education for all. Following
Thailand's example, India should stimulate more economic growth by opening its
economy to increase foreign investment as Thailand has done. However, India should
remember that as "child labor is likely to rise where the share of educated workers is very
low" (Cigno et aI., 2002, p.1587), without strict enforcement of compulsory education for
all children, economic growth might place more children in jeopardy to have to work.
Education is not only a tool to release children :from work, but also affects whether
economic development decreases or increases child labor.
90
Thailand is a step further from India in eliminating child labor. Even though both
Thailand and India have established similar laws and policies to regulate labor standards
related to child labor, I have found differences in the commitment of the two
governments in their education and health policies and their economic development
strategies. Both Thailand and India have experienced rapid economic growth but while
Thailand has strictly enforced those health and education policies and guaranteed the
compulsory education for all, India has faced struggles in enforcing them. As a result,
Thailand has been more successful in reducing child labor than has India.
Child labor in India is the result of the country's inability to enforce critical laws
and policies. Human Rights Watch criticizes the Government of India given that,
The Indian government has failed to protect its most vulnerable children. When
others have stepped in to try to fill the vacuum and advocate on behalfof those
children, India's leaders and much of its media have attributed nearly all
"outside" attempts at action to an ulterior commercial motive (Human Rights
Watch, 1996, p.5).
Laws and policies, including compulsory education, are all in place; India needs to
enforce them strictly.
As we see in Table 6.4, India has same child labor participation rate in 2000 to
that ofThailand in 1989. However, India's GDP per capita is lower than that ofThailand
in 1989. If higher per capita income levels are associated with lower incidence of child
labor as Cigno et al. (2002) conclude, India has achieved the same participation rate as
Thailand 20 years ago while it has a lower GDP per capita. This signifies that if India
achieves a higher GDP per capita, the incidence of child labor would further decrease.
91
Table 6.4 GDP per capita and child labor participation rate of Thailand and India
Year GDP per capita (US $) Child labor participation rate(%)
1989 2,627 5
Thailand
2000 5,080 less than 1
India 2000 1,527 5
Source: World Bank, World Development IndIcator
We can assume that the current incidence of child labor in India is probably not
as serious as that ofThailand in 1988 when we compare it based on similar GDP per
capita. My hypothesis is that the child labor participation rate ofThailand in 1988 was
higher than five percent since neither the ILO nor other organizations have presented any
data ofhaving less child labor incidence than 5 percent before 1989. When we apply this
hypothesis to the rate of child labor participation based on similar GDP per capita,
currently India has an even lower rate than that ofThailand in 1988. Regardless, the rate
of 5 percent in India in 2000 is official data that the Government of India presents. As
mentioned in Chapter V, it is difficult to obtain actual, reliable data on the child labor
situation in India. The participation rate of the same year may rise even to 12.1 percent,
as one researcher concludes (Mehta, 2007). Even though accurate data for current India's
child labor participation rate is lacking, I conclude that the situation of child labor in
India is not as desperate as some people presume.
This chapter reveals that there are strong correlations between policy
implementation, education, economic growth, and the incidence of child labor. Without
adequate education, neither greater economic growth nor lessening child labor can occur.
92
Setting laws and policies cannot make much of a difference unless they are also strictly
enforced. In monitoring the activities of multinational corporations, it is very important
for a government to enforce its labor law regulations in their activities as well. India is
booming and the moment is ripe for the Government of India to strictly enforce
compulsory education as well as other policies regarding child labor.
Conclusions on Best Practices
Policy implementation, education and economic development are all crucial
factors in order to eliminating child labor. None can be ignored in tackling the problem of
child labor and we must take comprehensive approaches that integrate all three arenas.
Many organizations have recognized the importance ofthese factors and, in line with
their philosophies and specialties, they have taken different approaches towards
elimination of child labor. Many have successfully played a surveillance role over
governments and mobilized them to take necessary actions towards eliminating child
labor.
However, it is sometimes difficult to apply these three approaches
simultaneously. Economic development in particular takes a long time to improve living
standards as its benefits are not divided equally among classes. I argue that aggregate
economic growth is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for the decrease in child
labor since economic growth and globalization may demand an increase in a cheap labor
force and therefore place more children into work. Human Rights Watch has critiqued
India's 1991 economic policy as it promotes privatization of industries and lower import
93
duties which in tum is exacerbating the child labor situation (Human Rights Watch, 1996).
Educational opportunity is an important means to decrease child labor. If
compulsory education is guaranteed for all children, children face minimum risk of
falling into labor. The process of withdrawing child workers would also be easier and
accelerated. These children receiving education would become educated workers in the
future and may make positive contribution to spur economic growth further. Compulsory
education is essential because it promises free or low cost education for all children.
Many parents cannot send children to school because of the cost, thereby making
compulsory education is a minimal responsibility of the government.
Non-fonnal or transitional education plays a very important role here.
Non-fonnal education is a bridge to fonnal education as well as an encouragement to
children who have not previously been educated or whose education was interrupted.
Non-fonnal education as well as vocational training is a very useful strategy, especially
for older children as they acquire knowledge and skills for the future. It is often awkward
for older children to learn with younger children, and older children in a family may
continue working to support their family for daily survival. Vocational training offers
opportunities for children to acquire professional skills to minimize the risk to be
engaged in hazardous occupations.
Improving the health sector also has a great effect on reducing child labor
through alleviating the poverty of individual households. Increasing public expenditure
on health as well as active intervention from organizations to improve access and quality
of health services can lower extra expenses of the family. With sufficient support for
94
public health, "parents can procure the same number of surviving children at lower cost,
and it is thus as if they had become richer" (Cigno el aI., 2002, p.1582). In addition,
investment in the health sector can increase family planning education which also
contributes to a decrease in child labor because parents generally determine the
household's supply of child labor by determining how many children they have (Cigno et
aI., 2002). Many parents believe that having many children can alleviate household
poverty. However, this false perception frequently sends children to work at very early
age. In some cases, having too many children forces parents to abandon their own
children because they are unable to sustain them. As a result, children have to live on the
streets on their own and the risk for them to be engaged in hazardous work is increased
due to their vulnerability. Improving the public health sector contributes to reducing child
labor through alleviating household poverty and family planning education.
The example ofThailand shows us that labor law reforms and appropriate
policies related to child labor, including health policy, accompanied by a strong
commitment by the government to enforce educational opportunity and economic
development, are all important and necessary factors and effective approaches toward
elimination of child labor.
Role and Challenge of the ILO
The ILO, as the world's only organization focused exclusively on labor, has
worked and supported governments in the areas of labor law and policy reforms as well
as mainstreaming child labor concern in development frameworks. For example, in Sri
95
Lanka, child labor concerns have been mainstreamed into the Sri Lankan National Youth
Employment Policy and in Cambodia, child labor concerns have been included as a
cross-cutting issue to be addressed in the newly developed Education Strategic Plan for
2006-2010 of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport (ILO, 2007, ANNEX II).
Throughout Asia, the ILO has provided leadership at the national level, particularly
through IPEC's increasing presence on the ground. As discussed in Chapter IV and V, the
programs of ILO have contributed to the decrease in child labor in both Thailand and
India.
The major task of the ILO is to analyze problematic situations and to offer
technical cooperation to governments when they plan and implement programs, including
offering inputs in policy revisions highlighting the links between child labor and the
principal objectives of policy processes. Through its deep analytical research, the ILO
identifies problems that may be rooted in the society and offers ideas for effective
programs to eliminate child labor. In Bangladesh, the ILO identified the particular
hazardousness of the urban informal sectors for working children and encouraged the
Bangladeshi government to have a priority to work in these sectors. Similarly, in the
Philippines, the ILO recognized the necessity of establishing programs for child soldiers
and offered its technical cooperation to the Philippine government (ILO, 2007, p.39).
However, as mentioned in previous chapters, the ILO has always worked in response to
explicit government requests. I argue that this is the time for the ILO to change this
request-based working style.
96
In order for the ILO-IPEC to support the Time-Bound Programs (TBPs) as well
as monitor the commitments of governments to the elimination of child labor, ratification
of ILO Conventions is a key. Ratification of ILO Conventions requires participating
governments to conduct a child labor survey and report back to the International Labor
Conference about their child labor situation. The TBP is the Member States' practical
response to obligations following ILO Conventions especially Convention No. 182
(Worst Forms of Child Labor 1999). Table 6.4 illustrates countries in Asia which have
ratified ILO Conventions with the ratification year.
Table 6.5 Ratifications of Conventions No. 138 and 182 in Asia
Country Convention No. 138 Convention No. 182
Bangladesh
-
2001
Cambodia 1999
-
India
- -
Indonesia 1999 2000
LaoPDR 2005 2005
Mongolia 2002 2001
Burma (Myanmar)
- -
Nepal 1997 2002
Pakistan - 2001
Philippines 1998 2000
Sri Lanka 2000 2001
Thailand 2001 2001
VietNam 2003 2000
Source: adapted ILO (2005, p.8)
The fact that neither Convention has been ratified by India, which has both the
biggest child population and the largest number of child workers in the world, raises the
97
global percentage of children not covered by the fundamental Conventions. Around the
world, the ratification rate of ILO Convention No. 182 has reflected the overwhelming
commitment of governments to act decisively against the worst forms of child labor. The
ratification rate of Convention No.138 has shown governments' intent to do this within
the context of tackling child labor in all its forms, moving towards keeping children
below the minimum working age out oflabor and in school (ILO, 2005). Once the
government ratifies ILO Conventions, UN organizations as well as the ILO have a role
and responsibility to monitor their enforcement in the forms of national laws and policies.
For the ILO to take an active responsibility to eliminate child labor, it needs to encourage
non-ratifying States Parties to join ILO Conventions.
ILO has enormous experience fighting against child labor around the world.
Application of this experience in Thailand and in India has enabled both countries to
successfully decrease child labor. However, more efforts are needed. As the ILO is a
labor specified agency, it is important to build good coordination with other organizations
to make comprehensive approaches towards elimination of child labor through adopting
three major approaches simultaneously. For example, in Bangladesh, the ILO, UNICEF
and NGOs, together implemented a project to remove child workers from the garment
industry and to place them in education programs. UNICEF took the lead in education,
the ILO in verification and monitoring and Italian social partners started offering a skill
training and micro-credit facility (ILO, 2006a). The establishment ofthe inter-agency
research project Understanding Children's Work (UCW) with UNICEF and the World
Bank, including the research and policy engagement from an economic perspective, has
98
offered broader scope for stronger engagement on the issue of child labor as part of its
policy dialogues with governments. World Health Organization (WHO) has supported the
ILO in establishing an inter-agency group on eliminating hazardous child work and its
centers in occupational health had identified child labor as one of 15 priority area by
2003 (ILO, 2005). These collaborations are indispensable to incorporate child labor into
any kind of government policies. The ILO should voluntarily seek more collaboration
with other organizations so that it can take comprehensive approaches towards
elimination of child labor.
Since the NGOs are active on the ground and in international debates concerning
child labor, the ILO should financially support and work more with NGOs. The ILO
tackles the problem of child labor at the larger country level while the NGOs tackle it at
the grassroots level. While the ILO negotiates with governments to adopt appropriate
policies and enforce them, the NGOs are tackling child labor by rescuing children from
work and offering rehabilitation programs, health services, non-formal and vocational
trainings. In India, the ILO-IPEC's strategy started to re-orient the NGOs already
working on children and encouraged them to work on the specific issue of child labor.
This initial strategy has built a good working relationship between the ILO and the NGOs
since the large base ofNGOs from all over India provided a strong foundation around
which ILO-IPEC could evolve. This influential partnership has eventually spoken with
greater unity on the issue, which in tum has had a broad impact on the media and the
general public (ILO SRO South Asia, 2004).
99
Not all countries in Asia receive global attention regarding child labor. However,
awareness raising activities ofNGOs, including promoting consumer boycotts of
products produced by children under the legal age, have had positive effects on drawing
more global awareness. Recent attention has focused on garment manufacturers in
Bangladesh as well as other export sectors in the continent (ILO, 2005). To accelerate the
pace of eliminating child labor, the ILO should support more NGOs working at the
grassroots level so that they can fully use their advantages to eliminate child labor.
Child labor is a very complex social problem and takes time to completely
eradicate. Governments are always the key entity to affecting child labor and a strong
commitment from a government is indispensable to achieve such long-term goals. The
ILO recognizes the strength, too, of grassroots-level activities and promotes them to
accelerate elimination of child labor worldwide.
The strength ofthe ILO is in its close working relationship with governments.
The ILO is able to propose and directly encourage governments to take action against
child labor. Its ability to support governments and make them commit more to the
problem of child labor gets put to the test every day.
APPENDIX A
CHILD WORKER POPULATION
100
I-'
o
I-'
Notes: (1) * SlMPOC data for Bangladesh represents the population ofworking children ages 5-14.
(2) ** UCW data for India represents the population of working children age 6-9.
Source: Statistical Information & Monitoring Programme on Child Labour (SlMPOC). (updated 2005)
UNICEF the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 2 (UNICEF MICS2). (n.d.).
Understanding Children's Work An Inter-Agency Research cooperation Project on Child (UCW). (n.d.)
Country Year of age 5-9 age 10-14 Age 15-17 Age 5-17 ReferenceSurvey Male Female Total Male Female Total Male Female Total Male Female Total
2002-2003 * Male: 3372 Female: 1319 Total: 4692 2099 632 2731 5471 1952 7423 SlMPOC
Bangladesh
2002-2003 191 103 297 3139 1194 4326 - - - - - - UCW/SlMPOC
Bhutan 2003 - - - 6 9 15 - - - - - - UCW
2001 231 215 446 546 524 1070 393 369 762 1170 1108 2278 SlMPOC
Cambodia
2001 221 208 429 548 528 1076 - - - - - - UCW/SlMPOC
2001 1002 848 1850 5802 5014 10817 - - - - - - Census of India 2001
India
1999 660** 520** 1177** 5437 3724 9167 - - - - - - UCW
Indonesia 1999 - - 93 - - 1097 - - - - - - UNICEF MICS2
LaoPDR 2000
- - 113 - - 263 - - - - - - UNICEF MICS2
Mongolia 2002-2003 9 6 15 14 8 21 19 13 32 42 27 69 SlMPOC
1995-1996 352 492 844 756 893 1645 - - - - - - SlMPOC
Nepal
1998-1999 223 277 500 692 791 1484 - - - - - - UCW
Pakistan 1996 334 239 573 2098 642 2740 - - - - - - SlMPOC
2001 144 102 246 1234 700 1934 1170 667 1837 2548 1469 4018 Philippines National
Philippines Statistics Office
2001 140 98 242 1251 710 1960 - - - - - - UCW/SlMPOC
1999 56 35 89 239 145 384 282 168 451 577 349 926 SlMPOC
Sri Lanka
1999 52 32 85 239 146 384 - - - - - - UCW/SlMPOC
VietNam 2000 - - 416 - - 1859 - - - - - - UNICEF MICS2
-~
APPENDIXB
ECONOMIC ACTIVITY RATES
102
Country Year of age 5-9 age 10-14 Age 15-17 Age 5-17 ReferenceSurvey Male Female Total Male Female Total Male Female Total Male Female Total
2002-2003 * Male: 0.185 Female: 0.079 Total: 0.134 0.474 0.218 0.373 0.241 0.099 0.175 SIMPOC
Bangladesh
2002-2003 0.021 0.012 0.017 0.362 0.154 0.263 - - - - - - UCW/SIMPOC
Bhutan 2003 - - - 0.161 0.227 0.196 - - - - - - UCW
2001 - - - - - - - - - 0.5311 0.5279 0.5295 SIMPOC
Cambodia
2001 0.248 0.247 0.247 0.655 0.649 0.652 - - - - - - UCW/SIMPOC
India 1999 0.013** 0.011 ** 0.012** 0.089 0.066 0.078 - - - - - - UCW
Indonesia 1999 - - 0.004 - - 0.051 - - - - - - UNICEF MICS2
LaoPDR 2000 - - 0.182 - - 0.489 - - - - - - UNICEF MICS2
2002-2003 0.082 0.061 0.072 0.091 0.054 0.073 0.221 0.149 0.185 - - 0.101 SIMPOC
Mongolia
2000 - - 0.281 - - 0.454 - - - - - - UNICEF MICS2
2003-2004 - - 0.138 - - 0.501 - - - - - - Nepal Living Standards
Nepal Survey 2003/04
1995-1996 0.203 0.295 0.248 0.515 0.659 0.584 - - - - - - SIMPOC
Pakistan 1996 0.03 0.023 0.027 0.225 0.072 0.149 - - - - - - SIMPOC
2001 0.028 0.021 0.025 0.237 0.144 0.192 - - - - - - UCW/SIMPOC
Philippines
2000 - - 0.098 - - 0.24 - - 0.378 - - 0.238 UNICEF MICS2
Sri Lanka 1999 0.071 0.05 0.061 0.26 0.165 0.213 - - - - - - UCW/SIMPOC
VietNam 2000 - - 0.101 - - 0.427 - - - - - - UNICEF MICS2
Notes: (1) * SIMPOC data for Bangladesh represents the rate of working children ages 5-14.
(2) ** UCW data for India represents the rate of working children age 6-9.
Source: Statistical Information & Monitoring Programme on Child Labour (SIMPOC). (updated 2005)
UNICEF the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 2 (UNICEF MICS2). (n.d.).
Understanding Children's Work An Inter-Agency Research cooperation Project on Child (UCW). (n.d.) .....
o
C..:l
APPENDIXC
CHILD WORKER POPULATION BY INDUSTRY
104
Industry Bangladesh Cambodia India* Mongolia Nepal Pakistan Philippines Sri Lanka VietNam
age 5-17 ""e5-17 a~e 5-14 Iage 5-14 age 15-17 age 5-17 ""e5-14 ""e5-14 a~e 5-14 age 15-17 a~e 5-17 age 5-17 ..e5-17
Agriculture, Forestry,
Hunting, and Fishing 4157 1657 729 34 29 63 1576 2413 1393 956 2349 589 2856
total
male 2987 891 417 21 17 38 844 1500 977 741 1718 365 1441
female 1165 766 312 13 11 24 732 644 417 215 631 224 1415
Mining and Quarrying 15 II 38 0.4 0.2 0.6 - 9 9 18 12 -total
male 5 8 22 0.3 0.1 0.4 - 9 9 18 9 -
female 4 3 16 0.06 0.1 0.2 - - 6
Manufacturing 1084 144 1727 0.2 0.5 0.7 13 354 90 97 186 137 328
total
male 689 59 890 0.1 0.2 0.3 8 249 49 49 98 68 82
female 392 84 836 0.05 0.3 0.4 5 105 41 47 89 70 246
Coustruction 230 23 207 0.05 0.2 0.2 26 60 10 49 58 18 354lotal
male 186 14 155 0.05 0.2 0.2 13 57 10 49 58 18 233
female 45 8 513 - - - 13 3 - - 0.2 121
Wholesale and Retail Trade 1054 364 360 2 2 3 7 288 449 300 747 100 886
lotal
male 903 155 309 I 0.8 2 5 281 206 134 340 69 347
female 152 209 51 0.5 0.9 I 2 7 244 163 407 30 530
Electricity, Gas and Water
-
0.6 4 - - 0.2 0.6 3 4 0.6 -lotal
male 0.6 3 - - - 0.2 0.6 3 4 0.6 -
female - 0.4 - - - - -
Transport, Communication
and Storage 349 17 64 - 0.2 0.2 - 123 29 72 102 9 124
total
male 334 13 58 0.2 0.2 - 122 27 71 98 8 124
female 14 4 5 2 3 I 4 0.6 -
Hotel and Restanranl 186 62 0.1 0.2 0.4 - - 36 59 95 -
total -
male 159 - 58 0.06 0.09 0.2 - 15 19 33 -
female 27 - 4 0.03 0.1 0.2 - 22 40 62 -
Finance, Real Estate
- 7 45 - - - 0.9 40 68 108 0.8lotal
male - 4 30 - - - - 0.7 17 26 43 0.6 -
female - 3 16 - - - - 0.2 23 42 65 0.2
Community, Social and
Peronal Activities 319 53 0.05 0.3 0.3 - 257 36 40 73 - -
lotal
male 175 24 - 0.05 0.2 0.2 - 172 23 25 47 -
female 140 30 - - 0.07 0.07 - 85 10 15 25 - -
Others including private
household work 30 - 360 0.2 0.09 0.3 40 - 73 168 241 59 1917
lotal
male 16 - 181 0.1 0.07 0.25 23 - 27 17 44 39 1035
female 14 - 179 0.1 0.02 0.05 17 - 46 150 196 20 882
Reference SIMPOC SIMPOC Census of India SIMPOC SIMPOC SIMPOC
Philippines National SIMPOC SIMPOC2001 Statistics Office
Notes: • Number of child workers in each industry was retrieved from the data, which only studied 168 million workers (out of40 I million) of all-age in order to provide data comparable with that of
1991 Census.
Source: Statistical Information & Monitoring Programme on Child Labour (SIMPOC). (updated 2005)
Census ofIndia 2001. (n.d.)
Philippines National Statistics Office. (n.d.) """o
01
APPENDIXD
ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE OF THAILAND AND INDIA
106
1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995
India GOP growth 5.2 4.8 4.0 9.6 6.0 5.5 1.1 5.5 4.8 6.7 7.6
Thailand (annual %) 4.6 5.5 9.5 13.3 12.2 11.2 8.6 8.1 8.3 9.0 9.2
India GOP per capita growth 3.1 2.5 1.8 7.4 3.8 3.4 -0.9 3.5 2.8 4.7 5.7
Thailand (annual %) 3.1 4.0 8.0 11.8 10.8 9.8 7.3 6.8 7.0 7.8 8.0
India
GOP per capita
618 647 677 752 810 870 892 945 994 1,063 1,147
Thailand 1,673 1,779 1,975 2,284 2,627 2,996 3,325 3,634 3,979 4,378 4,825
1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
India GOP growth 7.6 4.1 6.2 7.4 4.0 5.2 3.7 8.4 8.3 9.2
Thailand (annual %) 5.9 -1.4 -10.5 4.4 4.8 2.2 5.3 7.1 6.3 4.5
India GOP per capita growth 5.7 2.3 4.4 5.6 2.3 3.5 2.1 6.8 6.8 7.7
Thailand (annual %) 4.7 -2.5 -11.5 3.4 3.8 1.3 4.5 6.4 5.5 3.8
India
GOP per capita
1,235 1,284 1,355 1,451 1,517 1,608 1,671 1,822 2,001 2,222
Thailand 5,149 5,105 4,569 4,792 5,080 5,270 5,603 6,086 6,605 7,061
Source: World Development Indicator
,....
o
-l
108
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