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<html> <head> <meta name="Generator" content="Corel WordPerfect 8"> <title>MS. STEWART - ADDRESS AT THE AMSTERDAM CHILD LABOUR CONFERENCE - AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS</title> </head> <body text="#000000" link="#0000ff" vlink="#551a8b" alink="#ff0000" bgcolor="#c0c0c0"> 97/11 CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY NOTES FOR AN ADDRESS BY THE HONOURABLE CHRISTINE STEWART SECRETARY OF STATE (LATIN AMERICA AND AFRICA) AT THE AMSTERDAM CHILD LABOUR CONFERENCE AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands February 26, 1997 This document is also available on the Department's Internet site: http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca I would like to thank the organizers of this conference, the Dutch government and the International Labour Organization [ILO]. Child labour has increasingly become the focus of international attention, and there is a growing determination to end practices that exploit children. I commend our hosts for the commitment they have shown to advancing the fight against this global challenge. I commend them also for the consultative approach they are taking. By bringing together governments, workers and employers organizations, NGOs [non-governmental organizations], and representatives of international organizations and of working children -- all of whom have significant contributions to make -- they are providing new impetus for progress. Child labour is a complex issue, both to define and to address effectively. That is why it is so important to bring together as wide as possible a range of views and experience through events like this conference. We must recognize that not all forms of child labour are exploitative or abusive. But those forms that deprive children of their right to fully realize their mental and physical potential, and expose them to hazardous and dangerous work, contravene a basic human right. Moreover, they rob countries of their most valuable resource for future economic development -- a healthy, educated adult workforce. For that reason, Canada supports an approach that recognizes child labour as a human rights issue as well as a development issue. An issue, in other words, that requires a multi-disciplinary response from a broad alliance of national and international authorities, civil society, and non-governmental organizations. Domestic Situation Our hosts have asked us each to speak to our domestic situation. In Canada, the Government has made the rights of children a priority in both its domestic and its foreign policy agenda. As stated in the Throne Speech for the last session of Parliament: In keeping with its commitment to advancing human rights and dignity, the Government will make the rights of children a Canadian priority and seek an international consensus to eliminate exploitative child labour. Domestically, our aim is to live up to our commitments under the UN convention on the Rights of the Child. We must ensure that we are looking after our own children's welfare. In Canada, labour matters fall under both federal and provincial jurisdiction. Federal and provincial legislation generally prohibit employment of underage children during school hours and in specific situations that could be injurious to their safety, health, education or welfare. Increasingly, however, some children are falling through the cracks and working outside the formal sector. Unfortunately, there are no accurate data on the number of children in Canada who work, and information is difficult to obtain. We are working with our provincial counterparts, trade unions, children's NGOs and others to develop a more complete picture. Sadly, our large urban centres, like other major western cities, have their share of under-age workers and street kids being exploited in the commercial sex trade. The Canadian government has taken a number of steps to tackle this problem. A new Parliamentary Subcommittee on Sustainable Human Development has chosen child labour as the first subject for its work. Its report was released last week and contains many interesting recommendations on using official development assistance, engaging the private sector, supporting the participation of civil society and involving youth. The Government will be issuing a thorough response in the coming months. In our most recent budget, issued two weeks ago, the Government announced a national child benefit system under which the federal government would introduce an enriched Canada Child Tax Benefit. In turn, the provinces and territories would redirect some of their spending into better services and benefits for low income families with children, especially the working poor. Canada also recognises that domestic measures can help to protect the children of other nations, as well as our own. The Canadian government introduced last year legislation that allows for the prosecution of Canadian citizens and permanent residents who engage in commercial sexual activities with children while abroad. This legislation will provide a new and powerful weapon to fight so-called "sex tourism." The Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Honourable Lloyd Axworthy, has also appointed Senator Landon Pearson as Advisor for Children's Rights to recommend how Canada can most effectively move forward on its international commitments to children. Regional Situation Within our region, Canada, with its North American Free Trade Agreement [NAFTA] partners, the United States and Mexico, is focussing on the question of child labour and working conditions of young people as part of its program of co-operative activities. The North American Agreement on Labour Co-operation [NAALC], one of two parallel agreements to the NAFTA, commits us under one of its eleven principles to protecting the rights of children and young people. The first of our co-operative activities, a tripartite conference on child and youth labour in North America, ended yesterday in San Diego, California. The conference explored innovative ways to end inappropriate participation of children in the workforce. It also discussed how NAFTA countries can reduce risks to the health, safety and educational opportunities of children and youths who are legally in the workforce. To give just one example of the sort of innovative projects discussed at this conference: The Quebec Employers Council and the Quebec Teachers' Central Labour Body, two organizations which do not always see eye to eye on labour matters, have developed a voluntary code of conduct for employers. The code will improve the working conditions of young people under 16 years of age, while ensuring that their school work doesn't suffer, and limits work hours to no more than 15 a week during the school year. It has been well received by most stakeholders. We are also working directly with regional partners on child labour issues. During my January visit to Cuba, our two governments agreed that Cuba would host a workshop on women's and children's rights in Havana in April 1997. Canada and Cuba have much in common in this area, but can also learn from one another's' experiences. Planning is currently underway for this workshop. Multilateral Situation In the multilateral arena, there has been a welcome new focus on and impetus given to efforts to tackle child labour. UNICEF's recently published Report on the State of the World's Children, focussing this year on child labour, provides additional impetus to the efforts of the international community. A key element in these international efforts is, of course, the work of the UN Commission on Human Rights on guidelines for two optional protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child: one on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography; and the other focussing on children in situations of armed conflict. Canada actively supports work on the optional protocols. We are also following up on the Agenda for Action of the Stockholm World Congress Against the Sexual Exploitation of Children, which Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs attended last August. As I said at that time, it is hard to believe that on the eve of the 21st century, we are still trying to deal with what is essentially a form of slavery: the sex trade involving children. As I noted, our efforts on this front have included a parliamentary bill that will make Canadians who engage in sex tourism abroad liable to prosecution in Canada. In this regard, I am pleased to inform you that the Canadian Government has now ratified the Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption. By establishing guarantees that international adoptions are carried out in the children's best interests, the Convention, and the system of co-operation between member States it sets up, will help prevent the abduction or sale of, or trafficking in, children. Developing international agreements and domestic legislation form one arm of the campaign to end abusive child labour. But there is a second, equally important arm: to attack the root causes of abusive child labour by reducing poverty and meeting basic human needs. When family income is raised and poverty alleviated, children no longer need to work to provide income for the family. This approach is central to Canada's efforts in development co-operation. The Canadian government has promised to commit 25 per cent of Canada's international development assistance to basic human needs, including three areas aimed at the problem of child labour. The first is providing affordable access to primary education, particularly for girls. Basic primary education programs act as preventive measures. Keeping children in school reduces the likelihood they will be exploited in the labour market. The second is improving the status, role and economic security of women as equal partners in development. These measures directly promote the well-being of children. Third is support for good governance. This is essential if governments are to advance social development goals in partnership with civil society, and enforce existing laws and regulations governing the employment of children. We also support a number of projects that directly help those children most vulnerable to abuse under systems of child labour. For example Canada supports the UNICEF Girl-child Education Initiative in several African countries, which can be seen as a child labour prevention program. Canadian officials are currently investigating the issue of applying child impact assessment standards to our foreign aid and trade-assistance programs. More than any other multilateral body, the ILO has been the focal point of international efforts to combat child labour. We should pay tribute to its long-standing efforts, which have made it today a leading authority on the issue, in terms of both data collected and practical experience. The recently published report "Child Labour: Targeting the Intolerable" is an excellent example of the ILO's work in providing information on law and practice, as well as practical approaches on how to remove children from debt bondage, prostitution and hazardous occupation and activities. The ILO's International Program for the Elimination of Child Labour [IPEC], is distinguished by its flexible and multidimensional approach, its emphasis on specific country needs, and its engagement with government and non-governmental organizations at the country level. Together these provide an effective, well-managed instrument to deal with the complexities of child labour, capable of producing concrete results. One proof of its success is its rapid expansion, from programs in six countries in 1992, to some 450 action programs to date in 20 countries, funded by 11 donor countries. Last year, Canada contributed $700 000 to the IPEC. Our funds support: country reviews to assess progress made in combating child labour; analysis of factors and conditions that foster or impede action against child labour; and analysis of the effects of concrete measures in six countries (the Philippines, Thailand, Kenya, Tanzania, Brazil and Turkey). Similar studies with funding from other sources are also under way in Indonesia and India. The lessons drawn from these country reviews will facilitate further program development and form the basis for a general "best practices" guide for use by national and international organizations combatting child labour. The analyses will contribute to the technical discussions that you will be holding tomorrow, as well as to those in Oslo in October. They will provide essential data for the formulation of an effective new convention on child labour. We have already learned valuable lessons from the IPEC program. Work over the past few years has shown that child labour problems can be solved only by the countries where these problems occur, through a comprehensive, progressive approach that mobilizes numerous players in government and in the population. Only by achieving a broad social consensus will it be possible to put an end to the exploitation of working children. Canada will participate actively in developing the new convention and the ILO conferences planned for 1998 and 1999. We will be preparing positions for these events in close co-operation with our provincial colleagues, employers' associations and labour organizations. Our aim is to make the employment of children in hazardous industries, bonded labour and child prostitution utterly unacceptable and, like slavery, a thing of the past. This conference will be an important step towards that goal, by giving us a better understanding of the complex problem of child labour. I look forward to receiving reports of your technical discussions. I would like to express again my gratitude to our hosts for their initiative, and also to wish our Norwegian colleagues and the ILO every success in their efforts leading up to the October conference is Oslo. I would like to conclude with the words of the elders of one of Canada's First Nations: There is a common belief among the Cree Nation that a child is a gift or loan from the Great Spirit and that you were given the responsibility to raise and care for that child. Since a child is a gift from the Great Spirit, the child is 'sacred' and must be treated with respect and dignity. Thank you. </body> </html>

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