Dear Members and Supporters,
As we bid goodbye to 2019 and enter into the new year of 2020, we are not only celebrating our achievements but are also keeping the grave challenge of ending child labour by 2025 in sight.Warm season’s greetings from Global March Against Child Labour!
2019 was a year of great progress in many ways and all this was possible because of your support and faith in us.
As members of Global March your unwavering solidarity to our joint cause and as supporters your kind contributions in the form of donations and in spreading the word against child labour; has rendered us in place of great pride and humility.
We would like to take this opportunity to send you our warmest season’s greetings and a big thank you again; for all that we could do this year because of you.
Please find below a quick snapshot of some of the key highlights of 2019.
We wish you and your loved ones happy holidays and a very happy new year.
We hope that you will continue extending your support to our shared goal of ending child labour and bringing all children to schools!
Events
Global March Amplifies Civil Society Voice at Alliance 8.7 Meetings and Events
Global March in the year 2019 participated in a number of virtual and physical meetings of the Alliance 8.7– the global alliance to end child labour, human trafficking and modern slavery; as part of the Global Coordinating Group as well as the Action Groups, representing and amplifying the voices of civil society. Global March gave key inputs to ensure gender is mainstreamed and CSO contribution is included in final plans and strategies. Global March members in Nepal, Uganda, Chile, Peru also participated in their Pathfinder Country Strategic Planning Meetings. Global March Secretariat as well as members from Pakistan and Nepal also participated at the Alliance 8.7 Asia Regional Conference in Kathmandu in November 2019 that combined high level panels and workshops for an in-depth discussion on a regional approach to achieving Target 8.7.
Global March Signs the IRBC Agreements for the Metal Sector
In May 2019, Global March signed the International Responsible Business Conduct Agreement for the Metals Sector, a multi-stakeholder collaboration to promote international responsible business conduct and address severe violations to human rights and the environment connected to the metals supply chains. Read more.
Global March Latin American Members Join Hands to Accelerate Progress Against Child Labour
In June 2019, Global March Against Child Labour Regional Forum on Achieving SDG 8.7 was organised for Global March South and Central America members in Costa Rica to understand the situation of child labour and adolescents in work in the region and to decide on a joint way forward. See info graphic on the study conducted and read Op-ed by Global March Chairperson, Tim Ryan.
Global March Participates and Inputs into UN High Level Political Forum
Global March representing the Major Group of CSOs participated at various events concerning Voluntary National Reviews, Alliance 8.7 etc., during the High Level Political Forum 2019 – the platform for reviewing of SDGs in July 2019. Global March also collated key inputs to contribute to the outcome document of the HLPF to strengthen the reach of child rights issues at the HLPF Summit 2019. A blog was also released analysing the effectiveness of the HLPF.
Global March Recognised as Key Partner on Child Labour by SAARC Body on Children
In October 2019, Global March along with its members from Nepal and Bangladesh participated at the 8th Governing Board Meeting of the South Asia Initiative to End Violence Against Children (SAIEVAC) that discussed its work on thematic focus areas and way forward. During the meeting, the Director- General of SAIEVAC, Dr. Rinchin Chopel not only recognised Global March’s contribution to ending child labour in South Asia and but also as a key partner going forward to collaborate and work together in the region on this issue.
Francophone Africa Parliamentarians Commit to End Child Labour
In October 2019, Global March in collaboration with WAO-Afrique, Togo mobilised 6 Parliamentarians and 5 CSOs from Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cote D’Ivoire, Niger and Togo who engaged in discussions and committed to work together to end child labour. Read more
East Africa Experience Sharing and Capacity Building Workshop
In November 2019, Global March in collaboration with ANPPCAN Tanzania mobilised 6 East African members in Tanzania from Kenya, Malawi, Uganda, Tanzania as well as Ghana to share experiences on their advocacy strategies, area based approaches to end child labour at grassroot level, concepts on corporate responsibility and discussed challenges. Read more
International Days
World Day Against Child Labour 2019
To mark the World Day Against Child Labour on 12 June, Global March participated in multiple events across countries to highlight the plight of child labourers; talking of issues of child labour in domestic and global supply chains, the importance of education, sustainable business practices etc. Global March chairperson also released an op-ed on this occasion. See photo stories of commemoration around the world.
International Day of the Girl Child
On the Day of the Girls on 11 October, Global March released an infographic highlighting the importance of education for girls. See here
Universal Children’s Day
Commemorating the Universal Children’s Day on 20 November and 30 years of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), Global March released a blog on the current state of actualising the CRC and looking ahead towards its real implementation from a former child labourer’s view. Read a letter from a former child labourer.
Public Statements
Research
Global March Looks Deep into Sugarcane Supply Chains for Addressing Child Labour
In 2019, Global March carried out visits to few sugarcane growing states of India, to understand the role of men and women and child labour involved in sugarcane growing as well as to understand the process of its production. Global March also visited sugarcane growing regions in Uganda to understand the dynamics and prevalence of child labour in sugarcane industry in the country. A research will be published in the coming year on the findings from India and Uganda. Read this blog to know more about situation in India.
News from Global March Members
Global March members across Asia, Africa, Latin America worked hard towards advocating against child labour with multi-stakeholders including governments, Parliamentarians, CSOs and trade unions, private sector, students and the communities. Read more to see our work with our members across the world.
Other News
Child Labour Due Diligence Bill passed in The Netherlands
This historic bill that was introduced by Mr. Roelof Van Laar, member of Parliamentarians Without Borders for Children’s Rights mandates companies to assess risk of child labour in supply chain was passed in Dutch Senate in May 2019. Read more
2021 Declared International Year for the Elimination of Child Labour
The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) unanimously adopted a resolution declaring 2021 as the International Year for the Elimination of Child Labour and has asked the International Labour Organization (ILO) to take the lead in its implementation. Read more
Upcoming Events
On 27-28 January 2020, The Dutch Government is convening a conference together with Global March and the ILO.: ‘International Meeting: Taking next steps to end child labour in global supply chains’ in the Netherlands. The meeting will invite companies, governments, NGOs and other stakeholders to discuss challenges share good practices, find innovative solutions as well as study insights for addressing child labour in supply chains domestically and globally. For more information visit https://takingnextsteps.nl/
