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Summary: The Regional gathering of working children
brings together 40 representatives of working
children from South and Central Asia,
comprising of Bangladesh, India, Nepal,
Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Tajikistan. The
working children represent various work
sectors coming from diverse backgrounds,
living situations, age, gender, disability and
educational background.
Children represent over 40% of the total population of the globe, with an
estimated 350 million working children worldwide, with 60% of these
children working in the Asia and Pacific region (ILO 2002). In South Asia,
evidence shows a large number of child population is working, in some
countries the statistics suggest that almost half of the child population are
engaged in some kind of work. The bitter reality is relatively widespread in
South Asia, where survival is an every day struggle for children.
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, under Article 32
has specified that the States Parties shall recognise the right of the child to
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. Furthermore, Article 12 to 15 explain the rights of
children to be fully and meaningfully involved in decisions that affect them,
either as individual or through organisations that represent them. The
Article 2 further promotes non-discrimination as one of the core principles
matched with strengthening accountability of duty bearer to realise child
rights in Article 4 – both being core to releasing child rights of working
children through their participation. This is further highlighted in ILO
Convention No. 182 on worst forms of child labour and ILO Convention 138
on minimum age of employment.
Save the Children believes on true representation and participation of
children and that voices, issues and concerns should be genuinely
represented in all international forums of working children including the
forth coming meeting in Italy. Hence, Save the Children has been
facilitating the in-country processes in Nepal, Bangladesh and other
countries in order to ensure that working children from diverse work
sectors can raise their issues in their own national forum.
Within this backdrop, the child led National Forum of Working Children
formed in November 2004 is hosting the South Asia Regional
Convergence of Representatives of Working Children in Kathmandu from
25-27 August 2005. The Regional gathering of working children brings
together 40 representatives of working children from South and Central
Asia, comprising of Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and
Tajikistan (participants from Magnolia have been invited as observers). The
working children represent various work sectors coming from diverse
backgrounds, living situations, age, gender, disability and educational
background. The Convergence has been made possible with the
enthusiasm and participation of National Forum of Working Children which
has taken the lead in organizing and initiating the process with technical
support of Save the Children Alliance Nepal, Save the Children Norway,
Save the Children Sweden - Regional Programme for South and Central
Asia, CWIN, CONCERN, GEFONT and UPCA.
It is recognised that work is not a uniform activity, while some forms of
work violates children's rights; other forms of work do not. Therefore,
working children's interest lies neither in the blanket bans of all child work,
nor an approach, which unequivocally promotes child labour. It is
important to ensure that governments, corporate sectors and multinational
companies, families and other "duty bearers" fulfil their obligations to
address children's rights. Meanwhile, it is important that working boys and
girls participate significantly in decisions, which affect them. Such
engagement of working children has to be seen from a non-discrimination
lens and obligates us to see working children as children deserving the
same entitlement of rights as other children.
The practical experiences have repeatedly confirmed that working children
know their own situations best and also can inform national level plans
and policy reforms. It is now time to create environment and opportunities
so that working children have platform to carry out advocacy and speak on
behalf of themselves.
Hence, the Convergence will highlight the challenges and concerns of
working children in South Asia and draw attention of governments, UN, and
other national and international institutions and forums that are related to
the children at large and working children specifically. In addition, the
children will prepare and agree a position paper of working children of
South Asia incorporating the views and concerns of children involved in
different work sectors in a continually globalizing world. It will further
establish a South Asian Working Children’s Forum with representatives
from participating countries and identify a common strategy to link the
regional movement with the global movement. It will highlight the need to
include the participation and perspective of working children on the policies
and programme approaches of the NGO/INGO and UN structures working
on of child labour.
For further information contact:
Bikesh Shrestha
National Coordinator
National Forum of Working Children-Nepal
c/o CONCERN Nepal
Kalimati, Kathmandu, Nepal
Shyamol A Choudhury
Regional Advisor Child Rights Programming
Save the Children Sweden
Regional Programme for South & Central Asia
Lalithpur, GPO Box: 5850, Kathmandu, Nepal
Off: + 977 1 5531928/9,
Fax: + 977 1 5527266
Email: shyamol@savethechildren.org.np
Sanu Lal Maharjan
Thematic Leader-Economic Exploitation of Working Children
Save the Children Norway Nepal
Office: + 977 1 5538204
Email: s.maharjan@savechildren-norway.org.np