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At the III Global Conference on Child Labor that is taking place in Brazil from 8-10 October 2013 – governments, social partners, civil society and international organizations have come together in a bid to assess progress towards the implementation of The Roadmap for Achieving the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour by 2016adopted at the Second Global Conference on Child Labour held in The Hague, and to share innovative solutions to end exploitative work for children.

At the Conference, a new report entitled “United Nations System priorities to address Child Labour in Latin America and the Caribbean” was presented by the Inter-Agency Group on Child Labour (GITI). The Group, which was formed to help speed progress in applying the action plans of its member agencies towards the prevention and eradication of child labour, is led by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and includes theFood and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

The report emphasizes the need to adopt a multilateral approach in order to achieve the goals set out by the ILO’s Global Action Plan on the Elimination of Child Labour. It presents valuable new data and statistics to help shed more knowledge about child labour trends in Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as to assist in the monitoring and evaluation of progress made at both regional and country level. The report also addresses the multifaceted nature of rural child labour, as almost 60% of hazardous child labour is found in agriculture alone.

Presented in two chapters, the report firstly identifies the initiatives undertaken by GITI member agencies as required by The Hague Roadmap, and points out gaps as well as outstanding commitments. The second chapter, meanwhile, focuses on examining the challenges from an interagency perspective and provides a set of recommendations for the agencies to ensure more timely and effective action.

The overall goal of the III Global Conference on Child Labour, which is taking place in Brasilia, is to promote the exchange of lessons learned and good practices in order to develop more consistent policies and integrated strategies for addressing child labour across the world.

Download the full report here