Child labour

An estimated 246 million children between 5 and 14 years of age are engaged in child labour worldwide (UNICEF, 2004). Of those, 171 million work in hazardous situations or conditions, such as in mines or agriculture. In addition, many children do not have access to education, are not provided adequate health care or nutrition, are abducted, abused, and/or beaten, and are essentially reduced to slave labour. Information is limited, but includes the following ... 

Over 19% of children (127.3 million) in the Asian and Pacific regions are engaged in child labour. 

Fifteen per cent of young children in the Middle East and northern Africa are engaged in child labour. 

Some children are exposed to toxic chemicals or to hazardous environments in unique circumstances. There is a need to understand chemical exposures and other health stressors in special settings in the world (child labourers, street children, refugees). Globally, millions of children live under these conditions. Currently, data on children s exposures are inadequate to effectively assess multimedia and multiroute exposures in order to conduct child-protective risk assessments. The limited exposure data that are available have focused on children in developed countries, and information on the levels of chemical exposures in children in developing countries is generally lacking. 

UNICEF (2004) Child labour. New York, United Nations Children s Fund (http //www.unicef.org/protection/index childlabour.html). 

EJF interviewwifhUdjek human rights defender (2005) EJF interview with Michael Hall, Central Asia Analyst, International Crisis Group (2005) Further Growth in Udiek Child Labour, Institute of War and Peace Reporting (18 June 2004)... 

Action Aid Killing Helds the truth about child labour in India, http //www.actionaid.oig.tik/ i376/ldlling fields.htinl... 

The United Nations procurement agencies reserve the right to determine specific conditions, as for example the exclusion of companies using child labour, or engaged in the manufacture of land mines or parts thereof. 

Another input came from the fact that supply chains are now being looked at more closely, fohowing news stories about exploitation of child labour in developing countries, for instance. The practice of global outsourcing means that companies can... 

Compared with environmental labels, social labels are relatively new and much fewer in number. Most of the currently used social labels were developed in the 1990s (Dickson, 2001), but origins of social labelling can be traced back to the White Label created in the US in 1899. The White Label was meant to assure consumers that women s and children s stitched cotton underwear was manufactured under decent working conditions and with no child labour. It was discontinued in 1918, when labels sponsored by trade unions guaranteeing manufacturer compliance with labour standards came into widespread use (Hilowitz, 1997). While some social labels also impose some requirements concerning the environmental protection, their focus is usually on workers rights, security and protection of work, the development of local community and fairer trade conditions (Koszewska, 201 lb). 

Good working conditions no child labour, respecting fair trade rules... 

Hilowitz, J., 1997. Social labelling to combat child labour some considerations. International Labour Review 136 (2), 215. 

All regulations regarding working hours, employee s payment, welfare schemes, provident funds and retirement benefits, health check-ups and benefits, prevention of child labour, and special rules for women employees are to be complied as per applicable laws in the country. 

Several of the other principles are also related to human rights, including the abolition of child labour, the elimination of forced and compulsory labour and the adoption of sound employment practices. 

Team Learning. A new IT-tool is implemented to help us to identify, categorise, assess and monitor our suppliers, and to address risks related to possible serious issues along our supply chain such as child labour, human trafficking, forced and compulsory labour, corruption and anti-tmst violations ... 

On the other hand, the risk inherent in the flow of money pertains chiefly to untimely payment, hedging or letters of credit. ICT systems are exposed to cyber attacks, weak firewalls, failures and equipment theft. Opportunistic behaviours and transaction costs pertain to risk in relationships with suppliers. The GSR area is associated mainly with threats to the reputation of the enterprise related to unacceptable practices (e.g. child labour) that the company or its business partners may have adopted. 

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