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PART I - TACKLING THE WORLD OF CHILD LABOUR EXPLOITATION

"The world should, indeed, have outgrown the many forms of abuse labouring children endure. But it hasn't, although not for lack of effort."

1. Defining "Child Labour" as a Contemporary International Issue

Given the ambiguities and emotions, as well as apparent complexities, which surround the debate over child labour in general, it is important to be as clear as possible in focussing on what is objectionable beyond any doubt, and should therefore be targetted as a priority by Canadian and international action. Plainly, we are not talking about all forms of economic activity by persons under 18 years of age or contributions to family income. Indeed, the submission of World Vision Canada concluded that, when coupled with universal educational access, some "light work practices" can "under tightly controlled conditions of safety and ethical conduct, empower . . . and facilitate the developmental health of children." [November 27, 1996, p. 8] Moreover, healthy preparation through education and skills development that equips children for entering the world of adult work is universally considered to be desirable public policy, especially when youth unemployment has been identified as a major social problem in many economically advanced countries, including Canada. In that context, Senator Landon Pearson referred to a disturbing increase in the number of single-parent families, and to the "crazy inversion" whereby "very large numbers of those in the older range of adolescents are unemployed or underemployed, partly owing to the children and young adolescents who are at work." She concluded from this: "If we do not meet the needs of all young people for education and opportunity, the world will be paying for it for centuries to come." [5:7-8]

Lingering controversies in countries like Canada, such as over setting minimum ages for any form of "work" to be performed by children, should not, however, detract from, as the ILO's most recent report puts it, "targetting the intolerable".5 The Subcommittee's inquiry has accordingly been directed at situations of exploitation6 involving demonstrably harmful forms of child labour in violation of fundamental international human rights norms. Criteria for determining when child work should be considered exploitative were developed by UNICEF a decade ago and are restated in its The State of the World's Children Report 1997, which is reviewed in more detail below. There have been international declarations on the rights of the child since as early as 1924. The principal and most universally ratified human rights instrument today is the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which entered into force in 1991; article 32 of which obliges governments to recognize and ensure the implementation of "the right of the child to be protected from economic exploitation and from performing any work that is likely to be hazardous or to interefere with the child's education, or to be harmful to the child's health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development."

Several definitions of exploitative child labour proposed to the Subcommittee reflect that universal standard. For example, Senator Pearson referred to "work which involves some degree of exploitation - i.e., physical, mental, economic and social - and, therefore, impairs the health and the development of children. It effectively deprives them of their childhood." [5:7] Girish Godbole, country director for India, of Save the Children-Canada, argued for international consensus on the problem as "that form of work a child is engaged in, which is detrimental to the growth and development of the child. Family labour which interferes with the child's education, recreation, physical or moral health would also be considered child labour." [6:4]

Witnesses provided striking examples of the diverse manifestations of child labour exploitation, reinforcing the wealth of evidence and analysis within the ILO and UNICEF reports. They also indicated that the total situation of the child, and therefore of the family as well, must be addressed; not only pressures arising from poverty and material deprivation, but also from demographic and migration trends, armed conflicts, gender, racial, ethnic or culturally-based discrimination, oppression of minorities (e.g., the "untouchables" caste in India), sexual abuse and violence (in the home or on the street). There are many and varying causes for children being denied their childhood and forced into abusive and often dangerous working situations.

As already acknowledged, this is sadly still true to an extent within "developed" nations too, even if the worst incidences of exploitation are mainly concentrated in some developing countries and "transitional" economies. Historically, the industrial revolution in the West was accompanied by high rates of child labour exploitation expanding from rural into urban areas. Children were more vulnerable to being taken advantage of, and their employment lowered labour costs. Controlling a growing child labour problem was one of the primary motivations behind the creation of the ILO, which adopted a minimum age convention at its first session in 1919. Despite an impressive body of international instruments and national legislation which has been put in place since then, child labour, like child poverty, remains a challenge in some of the world's wealthiest and most educationally advanced societies.7

Extending that challenge to the transnational level, critics of contemporary economic globalization trends leading to increased corporate concentration and cutthroat competition see these as undermining hard-won labour standards and worsening child labour problems as a global phenomenon.8 The presentation of Défense des enfants international observed:

A number of similarities between the latter parts of both centuries give pause for thought. . . . In both cases, we find the same distrust of government, the lack of which (in the nineteenth century) or the withdrawal of which (in the twentieth century) has its harshest consequences in those areas that affect the lives of children (education and health). Under such conditions people begin to doubt the very ability of governments to implement the Convention on the Rights of the Child. [Written brief, October 1996, p.7]
A further irony of the present historical conjuncture is evidence that child labour is "emerging in many [formerly socialist] East European and Asian countries which are in transition to a market economy."9 Overall, the explosive growth in international trade and communications means that, as Minister Pettigrew told the Subcommittee: "Globalization puts the issue of child labour in front of our eyes and on our conscience." [7:2]

Canada, notwithstanding its initiatives in support of children's rights, both domestically and internationally, since co-chairing the 1990 World Summit on Children10, certainly cannot afford to be complacent. While the kinds of child work that were commonplace several generations ago have gradually been eliminated through legislation and compulsory public schooling, problems persist of underage workers, and, especially in our cities, of street kids, teenage prostitution, and other forms of alienation, abuse or deprivation. The current Minister for International Cooperation, Hon. Don Boudria, acknowledged Canada's high (and rising) rate of child poverty in his speech on December 11, 1996, marking the publication of UNICEF's report, The State of the World's Children 1997. Poverty is not only an important factor explaining the incidence of child labour overseas; it is a central issue of human rights for children and families in all countries.11 The Government, therefore, as we noted earlier, needs to continue to work diligently on these issues at home if it is to sustain its credibility in fighting for children's rights and against the exploitation of child labour internationally.

2. Child Labour Exploitation: Reviewing the Evidence

During 1996, some important international studies by multilateral organizations have added significantly to our understanding of child labour issues and produced findings which ought to be taken into account in developing government policies. While documentation and research is no substitute for action, it is critical that future actions be informed by it.

Study by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development

Prior to its annual ministerial meeting in May 1996, the OECD released a major study on labour standards in the international economy, which included in its analysis of "core" standards: "Elimination of exploitative forms of child labour, such as bonded labour and forms of child labour that put the health and safety of children at risk."12 The study notes the deficiencies of existing ILO conventions and the search for a new instrument that would clearly target the worst abuses. It cautions that the exploitation of child work needs to be defined and addressed within a variety of developmental and cultural contexts, and that any solutions should focus on the practical consequences, and on providing acceptable alternatives, for the affected children and families. (See Box 1.) In terms of the global picture of children working, on average, four-fifths of all child work as classified by the ILO is unpaid assistance to the family. Most child labour in developing countries is also rural as well as unpaid; relatively smaller numbers of children toil in export-related activities. Moreover, some exploitation is difficult to document because it is not counted in official statistics (e.g, girls working as domestic servants) or involves illegal activity (e.g, the drug trade, pornography, prostitution).

The OECD study argues that there is a strong economic case for eliminating exploitative child labour, and that liberalization of international trade and investment flows can be made consistent with maintaining core labour standards. With respect to development cooperation assistance, the OECD emphasizes integrated strategies which address: family income, investment in and access to primary education, advancement of the position of women, support for community-based projects, human rights and public awareness campaigns. The OECD calls for more evaluation of the effectiveness of programs targetting child labour, and for devising indicators to assess the impact of development cooperation measures. In addition to working through international organizations and at the grassroots, OECD donor countries "can help developing countries improve their labour standards through constructive policy dialogue, technical assistance and financial support."13

International Labour Organization Reports

Since the 1920s, the ILO has been in the forefront of worldwide efforts to combat child labour. In the 1990s, in the face of a still growing problem, it has intensified its search for more effective international standards that would outlaw the most intolerable forms of child labour, and for pragmatic approaches targetting such situations in specific countries. The proposal for a new binding ILO instrument capable of achieving broad ratification by both developing and industrialized countries will be formally dealt with at the 1998 session of the International Labour Conference. The ILO's innovative International Programme for the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC), to which Canada became a contributor in 1996, in now active in more than 25 countries since becoming operational in 1992.

The International Labour Office produced a detailed document, Child Labour: What is to be Done?, for discussion at a tripartite meeting at the ministerial level held in Geneva in June 1996. Subsequently, an expanded and updated report, Child Labour: Targetting the Intolerable, was published in November 1996. While this study expresses some optimism about a burgeoning international movement to fight child labour abuses, it also observes that the magnitude of the problem is considerably greater than it had previously estimated. The current, more accurate figures show that in developing countries at least 120 million children between the ages of 5 and 14 are "fully at work", rising to more than double that number if work as a secondary activity is included. In sheer numbers, Asia likely accounts for more than 60% of all child workers worldwide. Africa, however, on a per capita basis, is thought to have the highest incidence, with about 40% of all children working.

The ILO report gives a number of examples of children labouring in hazardous occupations in agriculture, deep-sea fishing, mining, ceramics and glass factories, matches and fireworks industries. It documents the serious abuses of child domestic workers, the persistence of slavery and forced child labour (despite laws against bondage arrangements in nearly every country), and the extent of commercial sexual exploitation of children. Among the complex causal "supply and demand" factors affecting the degree of child work and exploitation, the report points to not only extreme poverty and economic distress such as indebtedness, but also to regional policy variations (some poor parts of India, notably Kerala state, have proved able to nearly eradicate child labour), unreformed traditional practices, systemic discrimination by gender or group, denial of educational opportunities, lax enforcement of relevant laws, and not least, unscrupulous employers. Child workers, if paid at all, cost less than adults, but mainly they are easier to dominate and exploit. The ILO argues persuasively that exploiting child labour cannot be excused or justified on economic grounds. However, in export sectors, it acknowledges that international competitive pressures may be a factor, making multilateral action imperative in order to prevent the problem from merely shifting from one location to another.

Given the enormity of the problem and the urgency for action, the ILO report proposes that choices be made and available resources concentrated on priority areas, which it identifies as the "most intolerable forms of child labour such as slavery, debt bondage, child prostitution and work in hazardous occupations, and the very young, especially girls."14 The ILO also stresses the need for more public exposure, detailed empirical surveys of the circumstances of children at greatest risk, and a broad societal engagement in country-level strategies. Strategies for preventing child labour exploitation should give attention to economic incentives (e.g. income replacement and microcredit for poor families) as well as to improving access to better education (including vocational training), strengthening institutional capacities, legislation and enforcement. As well, action plans should address the rehabilitation of child workers along with support programmes for them and their families.

The ILO report concludes with a nine-point agenda for action which advocates:(1) universal adoption of a new international convention forbidding "extreme forms of child labour"; (2) commitments by each country to "time-bound programmes" for eliminating child labour as part of their development plans; (3) giving immediate priority to suppressing intolerable forms of child labour; (4) special attention to prohibiting work by the very young and special protection for girls; (5) rehabilitation to prevent permanent removal from hazardous work; (6) carefully-designed preventive measures;(7) designation of a national authority responsible for child labour issues; (8) international cooperation to end extreme forms of exploitation including "making crime against a child anywhere a crime everywhere"; and (9) increased financial assistance to the fight against child labour accompanied by national and international action on anti-poverty and appropriate employment goals.15

UNICEF's Report on The State of the World's Children 199716

As the agency within the United Nations system uniquely devoted to the welfare of children, it is noteworthy that this landmark report released by UNICEF on December 11, 1996, the 50th anniversary of its founding, chose to focus squarely on child labour issues. The report sees action on child labour as an essential component of completing a global children's rights agenda, based on the implementation of the 1989 United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.17 The guiding principle in all cases must be "the best interests of the child". Recognizing that some child work falls into a grey area between activity which may be beneficial to child development and clearly "intolerable" forms, UNICEF reasserts its criteria identifying as "exploitative" child labour that involves: "full-time work at too early an age; too many hours spent working; work that exerts undue physical, social or psychological stress; work and life on the streets in bad conditions; inadequate pay; too much responsibility; work that hampers access to education; work that undermines children's dignity and self-esteem, such as slavery or bonded labour and sexual exploitation; work that is detrimental to full social and psychological development."18

The report exposes in detail numerous child labour realities, both historical and contemporary, reinforcing similar analyses in the ILO studies. In addition, the report challenges four "myths" which it sees as getting in the way of responsible and effective action. The first two myths are suggestions that the problem is limited to poor countries and that its solution is dependent on the prior elimination of poverty. UNICEF points out that serious cases of child labour exploitation can be found even in more affluent industrialized countries, and that a great deal can be done in the short term within and by low-income countries themselves to end the worst forms of exploitation, in conjunction with longer-term poverty reduction measures.

The other two myths are that child labour occurs mostly in export-oriented sectors and that international sanctions or consumer boycotts are therefore the key tools in combatting it. In fact, probably less than 5% of child workers are to be found in export industries, versus much larger numbers, such as young girls in domestic service, that have usually been beyond the reach of official statistics, labour inspectors or public scrutiny. While UNICEF accepts the merits of positive normative measures to regulate the international marketplace to protect children's rights, it is concerned that sanctions-based approaches (citing the American penchant for taking restrictive unilateral trade actions) can have counterproductive and perverse effects. Any proposed actions in the international domain should therefore be subjected to a rigorous "child-impact assessment" before being applied and to continuous monitoring thereafter.19

The UNICEF report presents a large menu of ideas for progressive action to end exploitative child labour, inter alia: a series of measures to improve basic education with emphasis on teaching useful skills, getting girls into schools, flexibility and affordability (the report also observes the need to reform past economic adjustment programs to ensure that such public services are protected and enhanced rather than eroded); measures aimed at reaching working children and providing learning alternatives; legislative measures that give substance to children's rights norms and that are enforceable in practice; measures to empower the poor, especially through microcredit to those in greatest need and notably to women and their families (citing the Bangladesh-based Grameen Bank and the Child Labour Abolition Support Scheme in India); measures to mobilize the participation of civil society, including action through national and international coalitions, by NGOs, employers and trade unions, the media, and notably by children themselves (citing the work of Canadian Craig Kielburger among others); measures to encourage private-sector corporate and consumer responsibility, including international codes of conduct and trade-linked standards (citing positively, though not uncritically, efforts within the garment industry in Bangladesh and the "Rugmark" initiative in India and Nepal).

UNICEF concludes by specifying six "next steps" as urgently needed to end child labour: (1) having governments focus immediately on eliminating hazardous and exploitative forms; (2) making provision of free and compulsory education a domestic budgetary and international donor priority; (3) strengthening legal protection both nationally and through international conventions; (4) requiring birth registration of all children; (5) improving data collection and monitoring, including by affected communities and child workers themselves; and (6) urging the adoption, both at home and abroad, of business codes of conduct and procurement policies which respect children's rights and best interests.

3. What Witnesses Told Us

While it is impossible to do justice in a short space to the testimony received from a range of nongovernmental witnesses, some general highlights drawn from it illustrate a number of points which both reinforce and add to the findings of recent international reports. We will deal in detail with many of the specific recommendations for Canadian policy in Part II.

Human rights and development NGOs offered a comprehensive perspective, seeing the fight against child labour exploitation as part of the fight for international rights and for more equitable, sustainable and democratic modes of human development. Internationally, they encouraged progress through continued work on multilateral standards, positive incentives to support integrated actions within developing countries, and approaches involving agreements on policy changes by nations of the North as well as the South, notably aid and trade reforms. Betty Plewes of the Canadian Council for International Cooperation (CCIC) outlined a series of proposals for making the promotion of children's rights a larger and more vigorous element of development cooperation. Domestically, NGOs urged social dialogue and the widest scope for public engagement and participation by civil society, especially by youth itself. Quebec-based groups Jeunesse du Monde, Défense des enfants international and Club 2/3, established in Quebec, emphasized greater compliance with children's rights norms and the right of youth to be involved in developing alternatives to child labour.

Gerry Barr of the Steelworkers Humanity Fund spoke for many when he observed that, the more one learns about the extent and complex, sometimes ambiguous, circumstances of child labour exploitation, the more one is conscious of the need to carefully target and design policy instruments which tackle the worst abuses and address the particularities of country situations. That entails paying attention to underlying causes and long-term consequences, and seeking out collaborative development partnerships while not giving up sharper forms of leverage as appropriate. John Harker, a former director of the the ILO's Canadian office advised that Canada should set forth national priorities in this regard and concentrate its technical cooperation efforts on specific countries where it is possible to make the most difference.

NGOs active in Burma, the Philippines and Vietnam shed light on the abuses of child work in these countries, including exploitation in the sex trade and by armed forces in civil conflicts - aspects also addressed by Linda Tripp of World Vision Canada, whose written submission called for "the establishment of a long-term, holistic national plan of action to combat exploitative child labour in concert with [Canada's] commitments as a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, and as a leader in international humanitarian affairs." While a number of country situations were raised throughout the testimony, India was the country about which the Subcommittee heard by far the most extensive diagnoses and prescriptions, notably from Errol Mendes of the University of Ottawa's Human Rights and Education Centre, Girish Godbole of Save the Children Canada, Yogesh Varhade of the Ambedkar Centre for Justice and Peace, as well as in the observations by Canadian importers of Asian goods, Subhash Khanna and Linda Alexanian. Kathleen Ruff of the Canadian Anti-Slavery Group proposed a set of stronger actions to combat bonded labour, the subject of a compelling recent report by Human Rights Watch Asia on the situation in India, and what can be done about it through complementary actions at many levels from the local to the global.20

In foreign policy terms, some of the more difficult issues arise from the interconnection of labour rights standards and international commerce. Labour and private-sector spokespersons had somewhat different perspectives (the former being critical of market-driven globalization trends and inadequate social protection in trade agreements), but both put forward constructive suggestions for industry-based and tripartite cooperation with governments to combat the worst forms of child labour. Stephen Benedict of the Canadian Labour Congress also suggested the possibility of putting together a national structure along the lines of Norway's national committee which monitors such things as the import of goods produced with child labour. More informed public exposure and dialogue could clearly benefit policy development around issues of "fair trade", ethical investment and consumption.

With respect to better business practices, Stephen Beatty of the Canadian Apparel Association expressed member firms' commitment to responsible fair labour standards and their willingness, aided by clear government direction and support, to participate in a voluntary system of monitoring and inspection. William Maroni of Levi Strauss argued the merits of its approach to multinational product sourcing and operating guidelines prohibiting child labour. Subhash Khanna and Linda Alexanian also argued that business people should become involved in a hands-on way in trying to ameliorate conditions through their own business relationships and support of efforts to provide practical alternatives for child workers and their families.

Finally, but perhaps most importantly, there was the testimony of our youth witnesses speaking out on behalf of less fortunate youth everywhere, appropriately on International Children's Day, November 20, 1996. They not only impressed us with their articulation of the situation of many exploited child workers, but challenged the world of adult policymakers with their activism and idealism. Kyle Connolly and Laura Hannant of Free the Children demonstrated that even very young children can grasp the responsibilities of governments and employers to act forcefully to eradicate the evils of child labour exploitation and to provide resources on a priority basis for educational opportunities and family income support. Emilie Bernier, a Jeunesse Canada Monde participant, and, in a later panel, Christopher Lowry from Street Kids International, spoke from their personal experiences as young adults of working directly with children in vulnerable situations and seeking ways to give them the means and skills for a better life. Students Caitlin Smith and Jemima Day Cowan of Kids for Human Rights and Justice were eloquent in describing the need to develop knowledgeable youth activism and support networks.

These young people understood that the realities of exploited children's lives must be increasingly brought home to Canadians. They spoke about taking advantage of new information technologies which are opening more avenues for grassroots interactions transcending national boundaries. Our youth witnesses understood, furthermore, that child labour exploitation defies simple, quick or easy fixes. Solutions must be sustainable in the long term; not single-issue "bandaids" but rather taking into account the total environment for child development and connected to the global movement for human rights, economic and social justice, and democratic participation. As Ms. Smith put it:

Discussions, applications, and re-examining of morals and values are necessary as part of raising awareness. The whole complex situation must be portrayed. If child labour is treated as a black and white issue, people will arrive at black and white responses, which may injure child labourers more than help them. [10:6]

4. Implications for Elaborating a Canadian Strategy to Combat Child Labour Exploitation

Perhaps the most important implication is that there should indeed be a comprehensive and coherent Canadian strategy which can knit together governmental actions, nongovernmental and private sector initiatives, and become a focal point for public mobilization. While recent pronouncements by ministers and diverse forms of activism by citizens are encouraging signs, these parts do not in themselves add up to a nationwide effort that is designed to sustain attention and maximize impact. The Subcommittee therefore believes that the Government should use its comprehensive response to this report to lead in clearly setting forth an overall strategy for Canadian action to tackle child labour exploitation as a fundamental issue of international human rights and sustainable human development. This should be a priority objective for Canada's foreign policy; at the same time, it is crucial to the credibility of that policy abroad that the government, in close cooperation with the provinces and Canadian social partners, work diligently to bolster Canada's own record in regard to the protection and promotion of children's rights.

Such a strategy should be in place prior to Canada's participation in the international conference on child labour being convened in Oslo this fall. It should set both immediate targets and achievable medium-term goals to the end of the decade, which will mark the tenth anniversary of the Plan of Action of the World Summit for Children co-chaired by Canada. The aim of an explicit policy framework, specific elements of which we address in later recommendations, should be to provide overarching direction for all federal government initiatives in terms of the following: articulating an official operational definition of child labour exploitation based on established international criteria (i.e. those of UNICEF and Article 32 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child); targetting the most unacceptable forms of such exploitation; identifying firm commitments to priority goals; establishing criteria for a concentration of efforts in a select core list of countries in which Canada, by virtue of its international memberships, skills, aid and/or trade relationships has the most capacity to effect results.

With regard to the latter, we note that Minister Gagliano identified Brazil, Kenya, the Philippines, Tanzania, Thailand and Turkey as countries to be analysed through a project that is being funded by Canada's recent $700,000 contribution to the ILO's International Program for the Elimination of Child Labour. [11:3] We would mention also for future consideration: among other countries in this hemisphere, Mexico, given the NAFTA connection; Mali, a member of the Francophonie and Canada's co-chair for the 1990 World summit referred to above; the South Asian Commonwealth countries (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka) where Canada has had substantial and longstanding development assistance relationships.

In addition to establishing explicit government benchmarks against which the results of Canadian action can be measured, another overarching aim of such a strategy should be to provide a basis for encouraging the widest possible involvement in the fight against child labour exploitation by nongovernmental actors and by the public at large. Some witnesses noted that it is becoming more difficult for many NGOs to contribute to public information, awareness and engagement, given decreasing resources available for international development education. The Committee devoted a day-long forum in April 1996 to examining how public understanding of and involvement in global development issues might be enhanced. The Subcommittee will also be recommending other ways of assisting civil-society engagement. This should also be a priority concern of the Centre for Foreign Policy Development, the concept for which emerged out of the 1994 foreign policy review and which has now been created within the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) with a mandate to facilitate and promote public participation. Some of us have reservations about this Centre, especially in light of cutbacks in government support for international development education by NGOs. However, we have taken note that under the Centre's aegis, leading up to the third annual national foreign policy forum held in Winnipeg on December 13, 1996, the Quebec regional forum on Canada's international relations, focussed on the international protection of children, including child labour issues. Among the recommendations to the Minister of Foreign Affairs was a call for greater dissemination of relevant reports and documents.21

In the Subcommittee's experience, even major reports such as those we have referred to are often difficult to obtain in both official languages, and those of an official nature sometimes tend to circulate mostly among a small circle of policy insiders. We recognize that resources are limited and must be used most effectively. However, the sharing of timely information is critical to the public dimensions of any Canadian undertaking to combat child labour exploitation. As indicated above, we will be considering further the issues of supporting public awareness and involvement in a subsequent section on the role of civil society, but wish to flag them at the outset as a matter requiring creative attention by the government.

4
Published for the United Nations Children's Fund by Oxford University Press, New York, 1996, chapter II "Children at risk: Ending hazardous and exploitative child labour", p. 17.

5
International Labour Office, Child Labour: Targetting the Intolerable, Geneva, 1996, Report VI (1). For a variety of reasons, most ILO member countries, including Canada, have not ratified its 1973 Minimum Age Convention No. 138 and supplementary Recommendation No. 146.

6
The concept of `exploitation' raises hard questions regarding issues of power, consent and unfair advantage in human relationships (see the review by Ian Hacking of Alan Wertheimer's book Exploitation, in the Globe and Mail, December 28, 1996); hence the need to be as specific and precise as possible in identifying the nature of the exploitation which requires political and legal redress.

7
UNICEF's 1997 Report cites figures of as many as 26% of 11-year-olds in the United Kingdom working in some capacity, and a 250% increase in known child labour violations in the United States between 1983 and 1990. The trend towards younger workers working longer shows no sign of slowing down during this decade. (See Thomas Geoghegan, "Child Labor in the 1990's", The New York Times, 1 December 1996, p.E9.)

8
See especially the testimony before the Subcommittee of Stephen Benedict of the Canadian Labour Congress, and the report of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), No Time to Play: Child Workers in the Global Economy, June 1996. The vigorous debate taking place in the United States over these impacts is usefully surveyed in "Child Labour and Sweatshops: Do U.S. consumers abet worker exploitation?", Congressional Quarterly Researcher, Vol. 6, No. 31, 16 August, 1996, p. 721-43.

9
ILO, Child Labour: Targetting the Intolerable, p. 7.

10
These intiatives are summarized in a Government of Canada document, Update on the Implementation of the Declaration and Plan of Action of the 1990 World Summit for Children (July 1996), submitted in the fall of 1996 as Canada's national report to the mid-decade review of the Summit's goals.

11
For a Canadian and Québec perspective see Hélène Tessier, "Lutte contre la pauvreté: question de droits de la personne et mesure de prévention contre une violence systématique à l'égard des enfants", Les Cahiers de Droit, vol. 37, no 2, June 1996, p.475-505; and for a global perspective, Teresa Albanez, "Human Rights and the Child", CEPAL Review, December 1995, p. 35-43.

12
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Trade, Employment and Labour Standards: A study of core workers' rights and international trade, COM/DEELSA/TD(96)8/FINAL, May 1996, p. 6.

13
Ibid., p. 65.

14
Child Labour: Targetting the Intolerable, p. 20.

15
Ibid., p. 113-117.

16
This report forms the basis of UNICEF Canada' written submission to the Subcommittee received early in 1997. UNICEF's Executive Director in New York, Carol Bellamy, also appeared before the full Committee shortly before the report was made public.

17
The report notes that 96% of the world's almost 2 billion children are covered by the Convention, which has now been ratified by all but six countries, (ironically including the United States despite its considerable role in the drafting of the Convention).

18
The State of the World's Children 1997, p. 24.

19
Ibid.

20
The Small Hands of Slavery: Bonded Child Labor in India, Human Rights Watch, New York, September 1996.

21
Canadian Centre for Foreign Policy Development, "Quebec Forum on Canada's International Relations on the Issue of the International Protection of Children", November 1996, p. 4.

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