Manifesto against child labour
Support our goal: an end to child labour in 2029
By 2025, there would be no more child labour…
Full of good intentions, hope and confidence, 25 years ago, Convention No. 182, on the Worst Forms of Child Labour, was adopted by all member states of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), including the Netherlands. In May 2019, the Senate voted favouring the Child Labour (Duty of Care) Act. Two years ago, at the fifth ILO Conference on Child Labour, all participants affirmed to prevent and stop child labour as soon as possible.
...Unfortunately, child labour still exists.
Globally, 160 million children are involved in child labour and even almost half of these children are in the worst forms of child labour with harmful and dangerous working conditions. The sad conclusion is that we will not meet the UN Sustainable Development Goal (‘SDG’) 8.7 target - global elimination of child labour by 2025.
We must remain committed to these children! Together, we can stop child labour and ensure that they can truly be children and be allowed to go to school. Therefore, Terre des Hommes Netherlands proposes the following ambition:
By 2029, all supply chains of products and raw materials will be free of child labour!
To achieve this, the following needs to happen in the next five years:
- The Dutch government will implement the Child Labour (Duty of Care) Act and encourage companies to eliminate child labour. This can be done in various ways:
- By concluding sector agreements with companies and NGOs stipulating the elimination of child labour; by supporting programmes in which individual companies and NGOs work together to end child labour in specific sectors.
- By working with trade associations and NGOs to develop tools to support SMEs to take steps.
- By ensuring the swift ratification and implementation of the European Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) into Dutch legislation, which requires large companies to prevent and remedy human rights risks, including child labour, in their supply chain and products.
- The Ministry of Foreign Trade will spearhead child labour by giving this issue more attention during trade missions.
- The Netherlands is taking a pioneering role in eliminating child labour, making agreements in this regard a standard component of international trade agreements, such as those concluded in the EU context.
- The Dutch government calls on the EU to have mica designated as a critical mineral.
- Dutch companies record where child labour occurs in their supply chains. On this basis, they draw up improvement plans to eliminate child labour over the next five years. In doing so, they can draw on the knowledge and experience of NGOs. A progress report on the restriction of child labour is published annually, focusing on frontrunner companies.
- The government, companies and NGOs work together on ways to provide information to consumers who ask whether products have been made with child labour.
We call on Dutch politicians, businesses and the public to sign this manifesto. Because every child deserves a future to develop and fulfil their dreams - to be a real child.
Join us and sign this manifesto! Together we can stop child labour.
The Hague, 12 June 2024 - International Child Labour Day