HR/CRC/98/35
3 June 1998

The Committee on the Rights of the Child this afternoon met with a group of children who participated in a symbolic march organized to protest child labour around the world.

The march started in Manilla, the Philippines, on 17 January and ended yesterday in Geneva where the participating children expressed their support for a draft international convention being discussed by the Assembly of the International Labour Office which would ban extreme forms of child labour.

Four children, aged 12 to 15 years, who came from the Philippines, Nepal and India, and a young representative of the Canadian association 'Free the Children' exchanged views with members of the Committee. The Chairperson of the Committee, Mrs. Sandra Mason of Barbados, told the children that the Committee always stressed that the economic exploitation of children was a violation of both human rights and children's rights.

In order to define the aim of the children's march, one of the children said that 250 million children worked around the world. This work shattered their dreams and prevented them from the possibility of going to school and building a future for themselves. Children were innocent and could not defend themselves. A child solider who killed was not expressing his will but was following an order. During the march, the children stressed that child labour was a universal evil which existed in almost all countries.

Another child said that children working in India could not express how they felt because they were terrorized. Employers preferred to use children because they were not organized and could not contest being paid less than the minimum wage. A 12-year-old Indian child told the Committee of his work at a spice factory. He said he used to work twice as much as adults. He was paid only 15 roupies, the equivalent of 50 cents, or was told that the money would be sent to his family. One day, he joined the march and did not return to work. He hoped that upon his return to India, he would be able to go to school. The children said that in Pakistan, children had to work because they were poor.

In conclusion, the children said adults and politicians had to do all they could to put an end to this disaster which should not exist today. They expressed the hope that the day would come when children did not have to work anymore and when all children could go to school. They noted that the march did not receive much support from countries where children worked like Viet Nam. They also expressed their concern that Viet Nam did not allow children to join the march.

The members of the Committee saluted the efforts of the children and supported their message to eliminate child labour around the world.

The Committee will resume its meeting at noon on Thursday, 4 June, to discuss its cooperation with specialized agencies and non-governmental organizations.