Child Labour Mrs. James To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what work his Department is undertaking on (a) reducing and (b) preventing child labour in (i) Asia, (ii) Africa and (iii) Latin America. Mr. Thomas The UK is committed to the elimination of child labour wherever it occurs. DFID is funding projects worth more than £20 million around the world, which aim to address the plight of those children already in work as well as to prevent further child labour. Many of these projects also tackle the trafficking of children for work. In addition, many of DFID’s broader poverty reduction programmes are also helping to get children out of work and into education and are protecting children from having to take on harmful jobs to survive. In Asia, DFID is supporting the work of the International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) International Programme for the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC). For example, in India, DFID is currently providing over £2.5 million for their programme in the state of Andhra Pradesh. DFID is also providing nearly £9 million to the ILO’s programme in the Greater Mekong Region to end trafficking of women and children for exploitative labour. In Africa, DFID is supporting many countries to provide free universal primary education. Many of the most vulnerable cannot afford school fees or seek work to pay for schooling. In Tanzania, DFID is providing £110 million this year for the implementation of the Government’s national strategy for growth and poverty reduction. Child labour is a key challenge that this strategy seeks to address and free primary education is part of the response. In Latin America, support is focused on street children. In Brazil, Peru, and Central America, DFID has funded projects aimed at reducing the numbers of children living and working on the streets by providing them with realistic alternatives. Mrs. James To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what discussions he has had with (a) the UN and (b) UK-based humanitarian charities about child labour in developing countries. Mr. Thomas The UK is in regular contact with both the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and UNICEF, the lead UN agencies working to eliminate child labour. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State’s recent discussions with these organisations have not focused specifically on child labour. DFID is a major funder of both organisations, with a current commitment of over £15 million to the ILO’s programmes to combat child labour and the trafficking of children. DFID also provided £19 million in core funding to UNICEF programmes in 2005, including support to their Child Protection programme. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Development regularly holds meetings with UK-based non-governmental organisations (NGOs) which often have issues relating to child labour on their agenda. However there has been no specific discussion of child labour in recent meetings. DFID funds a number of UK-based NGOs, including Save the Children Fund (SCF) and World Vision, to implement projects addressing child labour issues, including trafficking and street children. Mrs. James To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what representations his Department is making on reducing the need for child labour. Mr. Thomas DFID’s overarching mission is to address extreme poverty which is the underlying cause of most child labour. DFID supports many activities which will enable children and families to survive without depending on income from child labour. In the White Paper published last week, the Government restate their commitment to the elimination of child labour and the development of social protection measures to ensure that poor families and vulnerable children do not need to depend on child labour. A number of DFID programmes already support social protection. For example, DFID is supporting the development of the Ghana Social Protection Strategy. One of the flagship projects of this strategy is the provision of cash payments to families living in chronic poverty, some of whom currently depend on their children’s income. In Zimbabwe, DFID is providing £30 million to the Protracted Relief Programme which is supporting food security for £1.5 million households in extreme poverty and will mean that many children, including those orphaned by AIDS, will not have to undertake harmful work to survive. Mrs. James To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what estimate his Department has made of the extent of child labour in (a) Mexico, (b) Belize, (c) Argentina, (d) Bolivia, (e) Brazil, (f) Chile, (g) Columbia, (h) Cuba, (i) Ecuador, (j) El Salvdor, (k) Guatemala, (l) Guyana, (m) Haiti, (n) Honduras, (o) Nicaragua, (p) Panama, (q) Paraguay, (r) Peru, (s) Surinam, (t) Uruguay and (u) Venezuela; and if he will make a statement. Mr. Thomas DFID uses data from the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and UNICEF to estimate the extent of child labour. Between 2000 and 2004, the number of children at work in Latin America and the Caribbean fell by two thirds. Just over 5 per cent. of children in the region are now working. According to the ILO, the levels of child labour in Latin America and the Caribbean are now similar to those of some developed and transition economy countries. The datasets on child labour available from the ILO and UNICEF differ and are not available for all countries. The Statistical Information and Monitoring Programme from the ILO collate estimates on the number of working children based on national survey data. UNICEF estimates the percentage of children (aged five to 14) who are in child labour. The data available for the countries requested are as follows: --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |Data | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Mexico |According to UNICEF, 16 per cent. of children aged 5 to 14 are involved in child labour. No data are available from the ILO | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Belize |According to the ILO, 9,000 children between 5 and 17 years are working. No data are available from UNICEF | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Argentina |No data available from either the ILO or UNICEF | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Bolivia |According to the ILO there are 313,000 children between the ages of 7 and 17 in work. UNICEF estimates that 21 per cent. of children between the ages of 5 and 14 are working | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Brazil |According to the ILO, there are 2.2 million child workers in Brazil. UNICEF estimates that 7 per cent. of children aged between 5 and 14 are involved in child labour | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Chile |According to the ILO there are 196,104 working children between the ages of 5 and 17 in Chile. This figure represents approximately 5 per cent. of children. No data from UNICEF available | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Colombia |According to the ILO, there are 1.5 million working children between the ages of 5 and 17 in Colombia. UNICEF estimates that 5 per cent. of children aged between 5 and 14 are involved in child labour| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Cuba |No data from available from the ILO or UNICEF | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Ecuador |UNICEF estimates that 6 per cent. of children aged between 5 and 14 are involved in child labour. No recent ILO data available | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |El Salvador|According to the ILO, there are 222,000 working children between the ages of 5 and 17. No data from UNICEF available | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Guatemala |According to the ILO, there are 938,000 working children between the ages of 5 and 17. UNICEF estimates that 24 per cent. of children aged between 5 and 14 are involved in child labour | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Guyana |UNICEF estimates that 19 per cent. of children aged between 5 and 14 are involved in child labour. No data available from the ILO | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Haiti |No data from either the ILO or UNICEF available | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Honduras |According to the ILO, there are 356,000 working children between the ages of 5 and 17. No data from UNICEF available | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Nicaragua |According to the ILO, there are 253,000 working children between the ages of 5 and 17. UNICEF estimates that 10 per cent. of children aged between 5 and 14 are involved in child labour | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Panama |According to the ILO, there are 48,000 working children between the ages of 5 and 17. No data from UNICEF available | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Paraguay |UNICEF estimates that 8 per cent. of children aged between 5 and 14 are involved in child labour. No data available from the ILO | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Peru |No data from UNICEF or the ILO available | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Surinam |No data from UNICEF or the ILO available | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Uruguay |No data from UNICEF or the ILO available | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Venezuela |UNICEF estimates that 7 per cent. of children aged between 5 and 14 are involved in child labour | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------