World Day Against Child Labour,
12th June, 2008 

StreetNet joins organisations and trade unions, civil society and governments in raising awareness of the ILO message that access to school and education is the right of all  youth, most especially working girls who in many countries form the highest percentage of those not attending school. 

"Education: the right response to child labour," (ILO, 2008) 

Video “Find the way back to school ...” Spotlight on Jonathan (Peru – Warma Tarinakuy  link to ICFTU website) Transcript: "It’s five o’clock in the morning. Jonathan gets up. Not to go to school, but to go to work. This young Peruvian of under 12 years of age has already been working for several years as a cart pusher at one of Lima’s main fruit markets. He has to work because only one of his uncles is in a position to provide him with financial support from time to time. Every morning, Jonathan has to work for four hours, not only to pay for his studies and school materials but also to help the members of his family who are in need...."

Self Employed Women's Association (SEWA)

Makola Market Day Care Centre, Ghana

StreetNet Resolutions on child labour and street children 

The provision of child-care and accessible education for street and market vendors and hawkers' children is a priority. Two examples of StreetNet affiliates whose members have built and developed child-care centres are Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA) whose members have developed a network of childcare centres as self-employed women workers and Ghana StreetNet Alliance affiliate the Makola Market who have developed the Makola Day Care Centre so that the market women do not have to take their children to work with them (see picture left).     

StreetNet affiliates call for national and local governments to recognise their duty that no child below prescribed limits (14 years) should be working when he or she should be attending school. 

To abolish child labour, greater efforts must be made to improve the lives of parents of working youth through poverty alleviation within the parametres of Decent Work as a global goal set by the ILO. 

Read StreetNet Resolutions on child labour and street children

A family in the Phillipines

"Without Bread or Honour" ("Sin pan y sin trabajo") is a collection of photos and short history of the school of wastepickers' children located in the la Carcova surroundings of Beunos Aires, Argentina.

It shows how the working poor have had to themselves build their own schools

Click here for the ILO  International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour: IPEC  

Has your country ratified? By ratifying ILO Convention No. 182 countries commit themselves to take immediate action to prohibit and eliminate the worst forms of child labour.