Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention
The Convention concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour, known in short as the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, was adopted by the International Labour Organization in 1999 as ILO Convention No 182. It is one of eight ILO fundamental conventions.
By ratifying this Convention No. 182, a country commits itself to taking immediate action to prohibit and eliminate the worst forms of child labour. The Convention is enjoying the fastest pace of ratifications in the ILO's history since 1919.
The ILO's International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour is responsible for assisting countries in this regard as well as monitoring compliance. One of the methods used by IPEC to assist countries in this regard are Time-bound Programmes.
The ILO also adopted the Worst Forms of Child Labour Recommendation No 190 in 1999. This recommendation contains, among others, recommendations on the types of hazards that should be considered for inclusion within a country-based definition of Worst Forms of Hazards faced by Children at Work.
Ratifications
As of 2018, the convention has been ratified by 186 out of 187 ILO member states. The ILO member state that has not ratified the convention:In 2019, and ratified, but the convention is not in effect for them until 2020.
The convention has also not been extended to several non-metropolitan territories of states that ratified the convention:
State | Non-metropolitan territory |
Australia | Norfolk Island |
Denmark | Faroe Islands, Greenland |
France | French Polynesia, New Caledonia, French Southern and Antarctic Territories |
Kingdom of the Netherlands | Sint Maarten and the Caribbean Netherlands |
New Zealand | Tokelau |
United States | American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, United States Virgin Islands |
United Kingdom | Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Gibraltar, Isle of Man, Jersey, Montserrat |
Predefined ''worst forms of child labour''
Convention 182 includes forms of child labour, which are predefined worst forms of child labour. They are also sometimes referred to as automatic worst forms of child labour.The predefined worst forms of child labour are:
- all forms of slavery or practices similar to slavery, such as
- *the sale of a child;
- *trafficking of children, meaning the recruitment of children to do work far away from home and from the care of their families, in circumstances within which they are exploited;
- *debt bondage or any other form of bonded labour or serfdom;
- *forced or compulsory labour, including forced or compulsory recruitment of children for use in armed conflict;
- Commercial sexual exploitation of children, including the use, procuring or offering of a child for:
- *prostitution, or
- *the production of pornography or for pornographic performances;
- use, procuring or offering of a child by others for illegal activities, also known as children used by adults in the commission of crime, including the trafficking or production of drugs
- work by its nature that is likely to harm the health, safety or morals of children
Worst form hazards: To be defined by each ratifying country
The worst forms of child labour that should be prohibited in ILO Recommendation No. 190 are:
- "Any work that exposes children to sexual abuse.
- Any work that is done underground, under water, at dangerous heights or in confined spaces.
- Any work that is done with dangerous machinery, equipment and tools.
- Any work that involves the manual handling or transport of heavy loads.
- Any work that is done in an unhealthy environment which may, for example, expose children to hazardous substances, agents or processes, or to temperatures, noise levels, or vibrations damaging to their health.
- Any work that is done under particularly difficult conditions such as work for long hours or during the night or work where the child is unreasonably confined to the premises of the employer."
Country programmes on WFCL
- Programmes of the International Labour Organization addressing the worst forms of child labour
- *Time-Bound Programmes for the Eradication of the Worst forms of Child Labour;
- *International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour;
- *Country programmes on Commercial sexual exploitation of children.