End child labor pact signed

 

 

MoU signed between ILO and SAIEVAC to promote child rights

 

 

A “momentous partnership” agreement to promote children’s rights and

child protection in South Asia has been signed by the Regional Secretariat of the South Asia

Initiative to End Violence against Children (SAIEVAC) and the International Labour Organization

(ILO).

The new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) aims to reinforce the two organizations’ work on

child rights and child protection by improving cooperation between them. It will focus on

exchanging information and good practices, providing technical advice, organizing consultations,

meetings and workshops.

The MOU will also support the implementation of SAIEVAC’s five-year workplan and will use the

mechanisms and processes of the South Asia Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).

The agreement was signed by Dr. Rinchen Chophel, Director General of the SAIEVAC Regional

Secretariat and Ms. Tine Staermose, Director of ILO Decent Work Support Team (DWT) for

South Asia, at the ILO Country Office in Kathmandu, on Tuesday 28 August 2012.

Welcoming the partnership, Dr. Chophel, said, “This cooperation framework will strengthen

SAIEVAC’s efforts to improve child rights in general and end violence against children in

particular, by helping us to influence policies, plans and programmes”.

Ms. Staermose said, “This momentous partnership with SAIEVAC is an excellent opportunity to

address the scourge of child labour at the regional level using SAARC’s processes and

mechanisms. Given the huge numbers of children and working children in South Asia, this is a

battle that we must win. Addressing child labour is a fundamental element of the Decent Work

Country Programmes that South Asian countries are currently implementing. The ILO is delighted

to be able to support this work”.

“The ILO’s experience in other regions has shown the important role regional bodies can play in

supporting child rights, yet in Asia the potential for this remains undeveloped,” said Ms.

Constance Thomas, Director of the ILO’s International Programme on the Elimination of Child

Labour (IPEC), which has supported the ILO – SAIEVAC partnership for many years.

“Partnerships like this give us hope that countries will win the battle against child labour.”