제  목 : ILO Targets Child Labor
  일  자 : 1998년 02월
  제공처 : safety + Health(GLOBAL Update)

                < ILO Targets Child Labor >
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       The governments of Costa Rica, ElSalvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua and
   Panama recently signed agreements with the Internatronal Labor Orga-
   nization to strengthen national programs to eliminate child labor. The
   governments agreed to collaborate with trade unions, employer organi-
   zations and other groups that target the issue. These groups, in turn, will
   be able to call upon the resources of the ILO's technical cooperation pro-
   gram, the International Program for the Elimination of Child Labor.

  Eduardo Araujo, ILO's project coordinator for Latin America, re-
   marked that these agreements reflect the broadening public com-
   mitment of an entire region to rid itself of child labor Araujo says
   that chiIdren throughout Central America work in such dangerous
   industries as mining, agriculture and manufacturing. The program
   hopes to eliminate child labor in the region withrn 10 years, and ulti-
   mately provide educational and economic alternatives to high-risk
   occupations.

  Alhough Asia and Africa lead the world in the number of child
   laborers, Latin America seems to be catching up. The ILO estimates that
   as many as 25 percent of Latin America's chrldren are currently at
   work. Common positions include jobs in micro-enterprises, informal-
   sector workshops, street markets and petty services. Hundreds of thou-
   sands of girls - 10 percent of the child labor force according to an ILO
   report -toil long days as domestic workers in conditions where beat-
   ings, insults and sexual harassment are typical.

 The programs are now active in numerous Latin American countries,
   including Colombia, Peru, Brzil, Guatemala and Costa Rica. They
   target a wide varieyy of industries in which children are at risk, such
   as coal mining, firework-manufacturing and prostitution.

 According to the ILO, 73 million children, or more than 13 per-
   cent of children ages 10-14, are employed worldwide. The organi-
   zation estimates that nine out of 10 child labors work in agriculture
   and live in rural areas.