After two days of intense work and exchange of experiences between representatives of civil society organizations in Spain and the Americas, the Forum “Spain-Americas: The role of civil society in the sustained eradication of child labor and protection of adolescent workers ”, organized by the Andalusian Agency for International Development Cooperation (AACID) with the support of the International Labor Organization (ILO), gave way to the renewal of the commitment of this sector and international cooperation to accelerate the reduction of child labor in the region.

Among its participants, the presence of the Nobel Peace Prize winner, Kailash Satyarthi; the Director of the ILO Office in Spain, Joaquín Nieto; the President of the Andalusian NGO Coordinator, Héctor Rivero; the Secretary of Labor and Social Welfare of Mexico, Member of the High Level Authority of the Regional Initiative, Alfonso Navarrete Prida; and Susana Díaz Pacheco, President of the Junta de Andalucía; who congratulated the progress made by Latin America and the Caribbean in reducing the number of child labor by almost half in the last 17 years.

However, it was also emphasized that although the region is close to reaching Goal 8.7 of the 2030 Agenda, on ending child labor between now and 2025, and has managed to set a guideline for the countries that comprise it, it is necessary accelerate the rate of reduction; Therefore, Joaquín Nieto, from the ILO, urged additional efforts from civil society to achieve the goal and other Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

 "While there are 200 million adults in the world looking for work, there are 152 million children and adolescents who work." Joaquin Nieto

For his part, the Nobel Peace Prize winner insisted that, due to its great advances, the region is proof that Target 8.7 can be achieved in the world; For this reason, he made a call not to lose faith and encouraged the region to establish better actions that prioritize total education on the political agendas of the countries. He also mentioned that we all have a moral responsibility with the generations of the world and that education is the key engine of social advancement.

Navarrete Prida, Member of the High Level Authority of the Regional Initiative, specified the great effort of this intergovernmental platform to develop, in collaboration with ECLAC, the new Child Labor Risk Identification Model, a statistical tool that allows identifying in the countries the territories with the highest risk of child labor based on the data available from surveys, censuses, reports, etc.

 “There are regions where you might think that child labor does not exist because they are not poor by international standards, but it does exist. That is where we must influence to accelerate the results ”. Alfonso Navarrete Prida

On the other hand, Héctor Rivero stressed the importance of the involvement of all sectors, employers, workers, governments and civil society, in the fight against child labor; and, the President of the Junta de Andalucía stressed that the Andalusian Government is not indifferent to the reality of Latin America and the Caribbean, so collaboration, involvement and solidarity, especially for the prevention and eradication of child labor, will be maintained.

 "A book in the hands of a child is the guarantee of their future, a tool is the uncertainty of not knowing if that child will have a future." Susana Diaz Pacheco

During the forum, civil society participants understood and committed themselves even more to promote the creation of concrete policies that integrate a comprehensive reading of the link of Target 8.7 with other SDGs, in such a way that the commitment assumed by the international community that demands the 2030 Agenda.

To this end, the  forum's agenda  raised several spaces for reflection and for the generation of new public and civil society responses. The forum began with two keynote conferences; the first, on child and adolescent labor and its link with inequality; the second, on the role of civil society in the fight against child labor.

A panel was also developed on the challenges and opportunities to achieve Goal 8.7 of sustainable development in the regional context, a worldcafe on the starting points to advance in the eradication of child labor and the protection of adolescent workers, and four thematic tables with the topics 1) Child and adolescent labor in migratory contexts, 2) Forced labor and modern forms of slavery, 3) Hazardous work: agriculture and the service sector and 4) The school-work transition and the challenge of permitted adolescent work.

To know the details about what was discussed throughout the Spain - Americas Forum, we invite you to watch the streaming transmission of the most important parts in the following links:

• Inauguration:  https://www.facebook.com/redcontraeltrabajoinfantil/videos/1612136718837512/
• Keynote conferences:  https://www.facebook.com/redcontraeltrabajoinfantil/videos/1612204332164084/
• Panel “Challenges and opportunities to reach Goal 8.7”:  https://www.facebook.com/redcontraeltrabajoinfantil/videos/1612386992145818/
• Summary of the worldcafe:  https://www.facebook.com/redcontraeltrabajoinfantil/videos/1613101665407684/
• Conclusions of thematic tables:  https://www.facebook.com/redcontraeltrabajoinfantil/videos/1613246428726541/
• Final plenary session:  https://www.facebook.com/redcontraeltrabajoinfantil/videos/1613343928716791/
• Closing:  https://www.facebook.com/redcontraeltrabajoinfantil/videos/1613424398708744/

In addition, you can access the photo gallery of the forum by entering the social base of the Regional Initiative, the fanpage of the  Latin American Network Free of Child Labor .