by Mr. Tomoaki Ishii
　　Programme Officer of ILO

 
　　The fight against child labour has been a priority for the International Labour Organization (ILO) since its establishment in 1919. Twelve international babour Conventions have been adopted by ILO member States shich have a direct bearing on child labour, including fundamental Conventions No. 138 on Minimum Age and Convention No. 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labore, adopted at the International Labour Conference in June 1999.
　　Action against this injustice became more vigourous in 1992 when the ILO strengthened its technical and financial assistance to member states through its technical and financial assistance to member states through its International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC). The programme assists countries in the development and implenentation of national policies and programmes to solve child labore problems.
　　Since its start, ILO-IPEC has placed the highest priority on the creation of a broad range of alliance against child labour. Old and new partners have been brought together to undertake concrete, joint measures that strengthen the worldwide movement against child labour. Regional seminars and the documenting of lessons learned have proved to be successful tools to share and disseminate information.
　　In Asia, ILO-IPEC has singed a series of Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in 1992 with India, Indonesia, and Thailand; in 1994 with Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, and the Philippines, in 1996 with Sri Lanka, in 1997 with Cambodia and in 1999 with Mongolia. In addition, preparations are underway with Laos and Viet Nam .
　　The region shares many common problems relating to child labour, including the lack of relevant and universal primary education, prevocational and vocational training, the general level of poverty, and ineffective law enforcement. As a result, children have been involved in bonded labour, trafficking, hazardous work in labour-intensive industries. However, recent developments in building up capacities at governments as well as at Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs) and academic institutions have been outstanding in these areas. In a relatively short period of time, IPEC has achieved considerable success in legitimizing, strengthening and extending work on child labour, although the recent economic crisis has caused some drawbacks in the region.
　　Bringing together partners and exchanging information is often a first step for further action. This also leads to mobilizing new groups who have a potentially important role in the world-wide movement. Such example includes a regional training seminar organized in Bangkok, April 1998 to sensitize female journalists on child labour in Asia. Participants shared their perspectives and discussed ways of using journalism more effectively.
　　Given the magnitude of the problem, it is only realistic that the struggle against child labour should include a broad alliance of partners. Fortunately, there has been increasing interest from various organizations in combating the issue across the region. Promising initiatives are being undertaken in a number of countries, emphasizing the emphasizing the importance of co-ordination among the various agencies. IPEC has been working towards forging constructive partnerships in joint action with key-agencies as follows:
　　-To assist key NGOs working on child labour in the region, IPEC sponsors the newsletter of "Child Workers in Asia". It addresses important and often unrecognized aspects of child labour. Being a regional, grassroots-oriented NGO, this enables those on the ground to share and exchange what they have learned.
　　-IPEC is also part of a UN inter-agency initiative against trafficking on children and women in the Mekong Sub-region, and was selected as the UN coordinating agency for activities in Thailand.
　　-In Nepal, India, Pakistan and the Philippines initiatives have started to bring together UN-agencies which have a mandate for the protection of children at large.
　　-At the level of technical and financial assistance, there have also been joint agreements with agencies such as UNICEF and Save the Children in the execution of project components, for example in time-bound projects in Bangladesh and Pakistan.
　　In 1997, ILO-IPEC, UNICEF, Save the Children (UK), Redd Barna, Child Rights-Asianet, and Child Workers in Asia (CWA) joined hands to formulate a regional perspective on child labour in Asia and Pacific region, to be presented as input to the international Child Conference in Oslo (Norway) in October 1997. This conference led to the establishment of a Regional Working Group on Child Labour in June 1998 which aimed at strengthening coordination among organizations involved in combatting child labour in the South, South East-asia and Pacific Region. Since then, activities have been successfully carried out to improve information strategies, and develop appropriate resource methodologies.