From October 22 to 25, the Network of Focal Points of the Regional Initiative Latin America and the Caribbean free of child labor - platform made up of 30 countries in the region, 7 representatives of employers 'organizations and 7 representatives of workers' organizations - and the ILO as Technical Secretariat, meet in Lima, Peru, for their V Face-to-Face Meeting.

This group is also accompanied by technical specialists and representatives of development partners such as the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), the Andalusian Agency for International Development Cooperation (AACID), the Brazilian Agency for Cooperation ( ABC) and the United States Department of Labor (USDOL).

The inauguration was chaired by Javier Palacios, Vice Minister of Employment Promotion and Labor Training of Peru; Rodrigo de Lima, Ambassador of Brazil in Peru; Ernesto de Zulueta, Ambassador of Spain in Peru; Juan Hunt, ILO Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean; Genti Mangroe, from Suriname, as Focal Point representing Governments; Cecilia Flores, as Focal Point representing Employers, and Paola Egusquiza, as Focal Point representing Workers. 

The Regional Director of the ILO stressed that the Regional Initiative is one of the great assets in the fight against child labor from tripartism, because it has managed to gather the will and action of 30 countries to work together on the issue. In addition, he highlighted the role of the Network of Focal Points in mobilizing 78 countries to achieve the declaration of 2021 as the International Year for the Elimination of Child Labor.

This year, the objective of the V Face-to-Face Meeting is to strengthen the performance of Phase II of the platform and ensure its sustainability. Along these lines, the Network has set out to find new and better ways to strengthen the South - South Cooperation strategy as a mechanism for ownership and sustainability; exchange experiences, good practices and lessons learned from the implementation of the Child Labor Risk Identification Model (MIRTI); and, finally, to agree on the work plan for the period 2020 - 2021, framed in the upcoming commemoration of the International Year for the Elimination of Child Labor.

Phase I of implementation of the Regional Initiative (2014 - 2017), focused on the institutionalization of the platform, has resulted in a high degree of alignment with national, regional and global agendas. Phase II (2018 - 2021), under which the V Face-to-Face Meeting is framed, now prioritizes the creation and improvement of national responses to child labor in member countries.

In this area, the Regional Initiative has been applying MIRTI in seven countries as a government tool to adjust and design local policies that help prevent and curb the persistence of child labor in the territories. For this reason, the exchange on the analysis of progress and lessons learned from the application of the MIRTI will be key to continue with the implementation of the tool in other countries during 2020, and to identify opportunities for improvement in it for its application throughout the country. region. 

It should be noted that strategic actions like this one require effective collaboration mechanisms to advance in the achievement of Goal 8.7 on ending child labor in 2025. To this end, the Regional Initiative - since its constitution - has been promoting and consolidating in the countries members of South - South cooperation and the V Face-to-Face Meeting of the Network of Focal Points represents the propitious opportunity to analyze and expand the strategy applied in this area.

During the meeting, it is also expected to strengthen the multi-actor characteristic of the actions of the Regional Initiative, for which it will have a session dedicated to dialogue with representatives of civil society members of the Global March against child labor.

To follow the live broadcasts of the conferences, visit the Twitter account @SinTrabinfantil . Find the list and schedules of the transmissions here .