Central America, Panama and Dominican Republic strengthen regional commitment against child labour

25 de July de 2022

Central America

Ministers of Labour of the countries signed a Declaration in which they agreed to continue with the efforts promoted by the Regional Initiative Latin America and the Caribbean Free of Child Labour.

Lima - More than 8 million children and adolescents in Latin America and the Caribbean live with their rights violated due to child labour. This is an intolerable reality to which we must remain alert and act urgently and strategically to meet the global commitment to end child labour within the next 28 months (Target 8.7 of the SDGs).

Aware of this urgency, the Ministers of Labour of Central America, Panama and the Dominican Republic have publicly committed to continue the regional efforts promoted by the Regional Initiative Latin America and the Caribbean Free of Child Labour, a tripartite and regional platform for action in which governments, workers' organisations and employers' organisations work in consensus to advance towards the achievement of SDG target 8.7, which calls for ending child labour in all its forms by 2025.

Specifically, the Declaration proposes to continue «...the joint regional efforts promoted by the Regional Initiative, Latin America and the Caribbean Free of Child Labour which, as the Durban Call to Action itself points out, "provides a model that other regions could adapt to their circumstances"». This commitment has been recorded in the Declaration of Ministers of Central America, Panama and the Dominican Republic (only in Spanish) issued on 22 July as a result of the meeting of the Council of Ministers of Central America and the Dominican Republic (only in Spanish) (CMT CARD), held in Antigua (Guatemala) on 18 and 19 July 2022.

The elimination of child labour, labour migration and the promotion of employment and health and safety were the issues that focused attention on the agenda of the meeting, and to which the mentioned countries have reaffirmed their commitment through a joint work plan. In this process, the ILO provides ongoing technical assistance for the implementation of the SDG 8 commitments.

Relevant facts

  • In Central America and Mexico, 40 per cent of children and adolescents in child labour are between 5 and 11 years old; 23.1 per cent between 12 and 14 years old; and 36.9 per cent between 15 and 18 years old (ILO,2022)
  • In 2020, 1,368,431 people migrated out of Guatemala; 1,599,058 out of Honduras and 985,077 out of Nicaragua (ILO, 2021).

*The Regional Initiative Latin America and Caribbean Free of Child Labour is a platform driven by 30 countries in the region (governments, employers' organisations and workers' organisations), with the support of the ILO, the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), the Andalusian Agency for International Development Cooperation (AACID) and the United States Department of Labor (USDOL). Learn more about the model it offers to end child labour.

Comments

Carmen Alicia Taitt Avatar

Carmen Alicia Taitt 1 year ago

Es buena noticia ya que observamos que ya los gobiernos ya se están comprometiendo a fortalecer la accion para lograr cumplir con la meta 8.7 y espero también la designación de recursos económicos , que ha sido nuestra propuesta del sector trabajador que es muy importante


John Avatar

John 10 months ago

1


John Avatar

John 10 months ago

1


John Avatar

John 10 months ago

1


John Avatar

John 10 months ago

1


John Avatar

John 10 months ago

1


John Avatar

John 10 months ago

1


John Avatar

John 10 months ago

1


John Avatar

John 10 months ago

1