SPECIAL CONTRIBUTION
Working towards the elimination of child labour How has the world of child labour changed since you first got involved in the field? What are some of the positive changes and some of the less positive ones? When I started in 1981, there was complete ignorance about this serious problem. People easily ignored it with a common perception that they are poor children, and they are working, nothing new in it. The notion of the rights of children was not institutionalized, not even conceptualized yet. The Convention on the Rights of the Child was adopted in 1989 and rolled out in 1990. Along with my colleagues, I raised the issue that they are not simply poor children and compelled to work, it is denial of their freedom in childhood, denial of their dignity and their development for the future— including education and health. The first reaction was denial, from powerful sections including business and governments. They did not want to touch this issue. It was not well researched or well documented; there were no laws except for old British laws. I found that the situation was the same in the rest of South Asia as I started to work in Nepal and Pakistan. Eventually I realized that the gross ignorance, neglect and denial was a global problem. And then we moved to a situation of opposition, we approached the judiciary, raised the issue in the media and also challenged business practices of those who were using child slaves and trafficked children. Then there was sharp opposition and violent reactions—two colleagues were killed, and I was attacked several times. Finally, ordinary people, citizens started to understand the problem, that this was more than poverty and something that cannot be simplified and ignored. There was a change in perception in all corners of society— also the judiciary, which reacted quite positively and proactively in India and other parts of the world as well. Then the trade unions also started getting involved. The perceptional change led to changed practices as well. In the past 15–17 years, child labour is down from 260 million to 168 million. But it remains a serious problem. There is still a lack of global political will, which is also reflected at the national level. National laws have been made, and there is the International Labour Organization convention that was unanimously adopted by the international community in 1999. Since then it has been ratified by 179 countries. Yet, concrete change at the country level is still wanting, and a serious amount of political will is needed. How do you see this political will developing? The path that you and your colleagues have taken forward in changing perceptions, do you see that continuing to be the mode of engagements with national governments and partners? Definitely. One of the biggest things that happened during the past 20–30 years was the emergence of a strong civil society. It has emerged from
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the conventional charity work and evolved into critical policy partners and found more space—for example, in UN discourses. I have been part of this, involved deeply in two of the largest movements—Global Campaign for Education and Global March against Child Labour. As far as more political will is concerned, a more vibrant and dynamic civil society, a more engaged and strong civil society can act as watchdogs and be critical policy partners for governments. The social mobilization is equally important, where the media has a crucial role. We also have to address the corporate sector directly, making them more responsible, making them more accountable for the children. That will also, in turn, help in creating much more political will. Corporations have played a role in building political momentum against global warming and ecological change, resulting in the growth of political will, and the same can be done for child labour in particular, but also child rights in general. You have touched on something that is very central to our discussions of how the world of work is changing—there seems to be a power shift between the various actors. You mentioned that there are good examples where the corporate side has taken on issues such as global warming and ecological changes. Are there similar examples in the field of child labour where corporate endorsement has come in and supported the cause of child rights? There has definitely been a significant paradigm shift, though we need more concrete efforts and outcomes from them. For example, we led a campaign in the mid- and late 1980s in the carpet industry in India, Nepal and Pakistan. That led to the first ever social certification monitoring and labelling mechanism in South Asia, known as GoodWeave (earlier known as Rugmark). This was the first very concrete engagement of the corporate world along with local producers, civil society organizations, nongovernmental organizations, some UN agencies and more importantly, consumer organizations. This combination has led to remarkable results in the South Asian carpet industry, with the number of child workers in the industry down from 1 million to 200,000. I was also personally engaged in a campaign against trafficking and slavery in the cocoa industry, in Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire. We are also trying to engage the corporate world in the garment industry. Corporate engagement is vital. Ideally, we want to be more positive and constructive, rather than ban or boycott any products or industries. Corporate consciousness and the whole notion of corporate responsibility have to trickle down from the boardroom level to the workshop level, through the supply chain. We are working on it. That’s very encouraging for us to hear. Now, you have touched on what the ordinary citizen or a common person can do in order to eradicate this issue. Would you like to develop a little bit further what the person on the streets