THE 5th Global Conference on the Elimination of Child Labour will be taking place in Durban, South Africa, from 15-20 May, 2022 where over 4,000 delegates are to discuss good practices, identify gaps and the urgent measures needed to help children forced by their circumstances of birth and poverty to work in precarious conditions.
The event will be hosted at the Durban International Convention Centre
It is estimated that more than 160 million children are still in child labour around the world, a situation compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic, which is threatening to reverse years of progress.
The over 4,000 delegates to participate at the conference are representatives from governments, trade unions, the private sector, civil society, regional and international organisations, think tanks, academia, and youth and children from all over the world.
The conference website which has been launched and counting down to the commencement on 15th May, will be hosting plenaries, presentations, and side events, which will include forums, panel discussions, and brainstorming sessions around accelerating action on the elimination of child labour practices.
The 5th Global Conference is holding with only three years left to achieve the goal of the elimination of all child labour by 2025, and only eight years towards the goal of the elimination of forced labour by 2030, as established by Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Target 8.7.
Additionally, it comes at a time when the world is recovering and responding to the multiple effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has a devastating effect on health, economic progress, equality and social development.
“In this context, the 5th Global Conference represents an opportunity to assess progress made towards achieving the goals of Target 8.7, discuss good practices implemented by the different actors around the world and to identify gaps and urgent measures needed to accelerate the elimination of both child labour and forced labour,” organisers stated on the conference website, adding that “the elimination of child labour is a condition to positive labour market performance with a human-centred approach (education, skills development, life-long learning and school-to-decent work transition, depending on the age group).”
It is noted that there is high prevalence of child labour in agriculture, which is noted to be closely linked to poverty, informality and family survival strategies.
Other preconditions for the elimination of child labour include the formalisation of the informal economy, the creation of decent work; the need for additional resources and targeted policies to address the root causes of child labour and forced labour.
The conference will include 28 side events, one-hour sessions that will allow delegates to further share knowledge and experiences related to the main topics that will be addressed at the event.
