Fundación Telefónica

Eradication of child labour Congress Global Scope

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4th International Congress against Child Labour

With the support of the International Labour Organization (ILO) and with the aim of contributing conclusions to the World Conference against Child Labour 2013

• Today, there are 14 million children working in Latin America: 10% of the children in the region –141 million –, of which 9.4 engage in hazardous tasks that compromise their physical and mental health.

• The purpose of this wide, open and participative space is to gather and share experiences and lessons learnt in different parts of Latin America regarding the prevention and elimination of child labour.

• The Congress is divided into four stages: the first one, taking place in June and hosted in Ecuador, will address issues concerning the Andean region; in Nicaragua, in October, the issues covered will concern Central America; in March 2013 the focus will turn on the situation in Mexico; and the final one, in June 2013, in Brazil, will tackle issues affecting the Southern Cone.

• The virtual meetings will take place one month prior to the on-site events, and will continue fifteen days after the conclusion of the latter, to foster the sharing of experiences and conclusions arising or obtained during the on-site event: the virtual stage will begin on 7 May at www.redcontraeltrabajoinfantil.com, and will conclude with the first onsite meeting, on 7 June in Ecuador.

Madrid, 19 April 2012.- Fundación Telefónica, with support from the International Labour Organization (ILO), i promoting this event as a broad, open and participative space aimed at gathering and sharing experiences and lessons learnt in Latin American countries regarding the eradication and prevention of child labour, as preliminary work to the forthcoming World Conference against Child Labour, which will take place in Brazil in 2013.

Through this congress, Fundación Telefónica aims to promote the social, institutional and political conditions that will foster the fight against child labour in Latin America, in order to increase its level of effectiveness, as the goals of the congress, shared by Fundación Telefónica, include eliminating the worst forms of child labour by 2016.

The virtual meetings will take place at www.redcontraeltrabajoinfantil.com one month prior to the on-site events, and will continue fifteen days after the conclusion of the latter, to foster the sharing of experiences and conclusions. The virtual stage will begin on 7 May, and will conclude with the first onsite meeting, on 7 June in Ecuador.

Aim: to eradicate the worst forms of child labour, prior to the World Conference on Child Labour, that will take place on 2013, in Brazil

Fundación Telefónica has conceived the 4th Congress as a participative, learning and consensus process involving the most representative Latin American agents and institutions on the matter. The Congress will be developed throughout 2012 and 2013, both through large onsite events –to be held in Ecuador, Nicaragua, Mexico and Brazil– and through a permanent and collaborative virtual space in the platform of the Latin American Network against Child Labour (www.redcontraeltrabajoinfantil.com), jointly promoted by Fundación Telefónica and the ILO.

Each one of the debates envisaged in the 4th Congress will not only benefit from the virtual and collaborative online virtual work, but will contribute with the conclusions, agreements, and commitments generated through the onsite events. The Congress is divided into four stages, one for each Latin American sub-region, and based on its specific characteristics: the June meeting, in Ecuador, will address issues concerning the Andean region; the Nicaragua meeting, in October, the issues covered will concern Central America; in March 2013 the focus will turn on the situation in Mexico; and the final one, in June 2013, in Brazil, will tackle issues affecting the Southern Cone.

Fundación Telefónica against child labour

14 million children, aged 5 to 17, currently work in Latin America, 10% of the children in the region –141 million–, of which 9.4 engage in hazardous tasks that compromise their physical and mental health.

Eradicating child labour has become an international commitment, shared by governments, social organizations, researchers, professors, companies, families and members of the community in general.
Faced with this reality, Fundación Telefónica, whose mission is to contribute to development by providing access to knowledge through its own social innovation projects based on the new technologies and collaborative networks, aimed especially at children and the youth, includes among its key social objectives the improvement of educational quality and knowledge through ICTs and the eradication of child labour in Latin America.

Fundación Telefónica understands that the previous objectives can only be achieved by raising the awareness and mobilizing society and institutions, significantly contributing to increasing the effectiveness of public policies protecting childhood, the families and a decent employment. Thus, being a global foundation, its action is developed in the countries where Telefónica operates: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica,Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela in Latin America, and in Germany, Slovakia, Spain, Ireland, United Kingdom and the Czech Republic in Europe.