DOL Releases Child Labor Report
The U.S. Department of Labor yesterday released its sixth annual report on the worst forms of child labor in 141 countries and territories that receive U.S. trade benefits.
DOL's Bureau of International Labor Affairs prepared The Department of Labor's 2006 Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor under the child labor reporting requirement of the Trade and Development Act of 2000. The act requires trade-beneficiary countries and territories to implement their international commitments to eliminate the worst forms of child labor.
As defined by the International Labor Organization Convention 182, the worst forms of child labor include any form of slavery, such as forced or indentured child labor; the trafficking of children and the forced recruitment of children for use in armed conflict; child prostitution and pornography; the use of children for illicit activities such as drug trafficking; and work that is likely to harm the health, safety, or morals of children.
This report presents information--collected from a wide variety of sources, including U.S. embassies and consulates, foreign governments, nongovernmental organizations, and international agencies--on the nature and extent of the worst forms of child labor in each of these 141 countries and territories and the efforts being made by their governments to eliminate these problems. In addition, bureau staff conducted field visits to some countries covered in the report.
The report is available at www.dol.gov/ILAB/media/reports/iclp/main.htm. In October, limited printed copies will be available from the Office of Child Labor, Forced Labor and Human Trafficking, Bureau of International Labor Affairs, U.S. Department of Labor, Room S-5307, 200 Constitution Ave., NW, Washington, D.C. 20210; phone: (202) 693-4843; fax: (202) 693-4830; e-mail: [email protected].