On the occasion of the World Day Against Child Labour (12 June), High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice President of the Commission Catherine Ashton, Vice-President Viviane Reding, the EU’s Justice Commissioner, Development Commissioner Andris Piebalgs, Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion László Andor and Commissioner for Home Affairs Cecilia Malmström made the following statement:

“Throughout the world, 15.5 million children are engaged in paid or unpaid domestic work outside their own homes, according to estimates from the International Labour Organisation (ILO). These children are being denied their childhoods. Worse still, more than half of these children are engaged in hazardous forms of work, sometimes in exploitative situations of child trafficking – with their lives being endangered on a daily basis.

We continue to campaign against all forms of child labour. We have called on all Member States to ratify ILO Convention 189 on Decent Work for Domestic Workers, which will enter into force on 5 September 2013 and which will extend labour protection to millions of workers, mostly women and children. We are advocating against child labour in our human rights dialogues and multilateral fora. Assistance is provided through projects providing equitable access to basic education and skills development.
 
This time last year, the Council endorsed the EU Strategic Framework on human rights and democratisation, which includes actions to eliminate child labour globally. The European Union will also take an active role in the third Global Conference on the Worst Forms of Child Labour, to be held in Brasilia from 8-10 October 2013. On the occasion of the World Day Against Child Labour, as on every other day of the year, the EU remains fully committed to reaching the target of eliminating the worst forms of child labour by 2016.”