96.19EM Emergency Resolution: Eliminating the Abusive Exploitation of Child Labourers
Whereas, Recent reports on child labour practices have indicated that up to 200 million child labour workers are abused around the world;
and,
Whereas, Article 32 of the United Nations Covenant on the Rights of the Child states that children should be protected from economic exploitation and urges countries to establish a minimum age on employment, to regulate the hours and conditions of employment and to provide penalties to ensure enforcement;
and,
Whereas, The Minister of External Affairs has recently stated that children’s rights are a priority for the current government;
and,
Whereas, The International Labour Organization has listed the elimination of child labour as one of the core rights codified in its list;
and,
Whereas, The Government of Canada has committed itself to the International Labour Organization's International Program on the Elimination of Child Labour;
and,
Whereas, The Speech from the Throne (February 26, 1996) states that the Government of Canada has a responsibility to the Canadian public to take action towards the elimination of exploitive child labour;
and,
Whereas, In addition to the need to support and protect children around the world, there is a need to ensure against unfair trade advantages resulting from the exploitation of child labourers;
therefore, be it,
RESOLVED, that the National Council of Women of Canada urge the Government of Canada to:
- Show leadership and publicly raise awareness of the issue of child bond labour in international forums;
- Publicly initiate and take a lead role in building international consensus with other countries towards elimination of exploitive child labour practices;
- Uphold its duties as a signatory to United Nations Covenant of the Rights of the Child;
- Uphold the commitments made to the Canadian public in the Speech from the Throne of February 26, 1996 with regard to the elimination of exploitive child labour;
- Advocate, as a precondition to membership in the World Trade Organization, that all participants adhere to the elimination of child bond labour practices;
- Take a lead role in initiating appropriate standards for fair labour standards in a rules-based trading system.