Concept Note Day 2: Effective approaches to ending the worst forms of child labour in fragile contexts

Funded through the UK Department for International Development (DfID), the Effective Approaches to Ending the Worst Forms of Child Labour in Fragile Contexts (EAPEC) programme will focus upon accelerating the change required to ensure that the rights of children to be protected from the worst forms of child labour in fragile contexts, namely the Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo and Ethiopia, are upheld.

The programme refers to the ‘worst forms of child labour’ (WFCL) as defined by Article 3 of ILO Convention No.182, which occurs when children are sold, trafficked, in debt bondage, serfdom or forced labour, or are forcibly recruited into armed conflict, used in prostitution or pornography, or engaged in hazardous work.  By any measure many WFCL can be classified as modern slavery.

The EAPEC programme will be implemented by a Consortium of child-focused international NGOs, War Child and World Vision, the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), the world’s largest sustainability platform for private sector organisations via the Global Compact UK Network, specialist organisation FiftyEight addressing child labour in supply chains in conjunction with the private sector, the Thomson Reuters Foundation media organisation with legal and digital expertise, and research partner Columbia University through the Care and Protection of Children Network.

The EAPEC programme will develop, test and measure innovative approaches to understand what works in reducing WFCL. It will do this by tacking a range of issues including legal and policy environments, supply and demand chains, and social & state infrastructure; all of which often contribute to child labour.  Holistic interventions will therefore focus on four main components; (1) increasing children’s agency, (2) facilitating access to appropriate alternatives to WFCL, (3) strengthening legal and policy environments, and (4) improving supply chain due diligence and duty of care from the bottom up.

The upcoming business and human rights peer learning meeting of the European Global Compact Networks seeks to facilitate an exchange between the Global Compact Networks’ members and specialists with technical expertise on child labour. The workshop will be structured around the following guiding questions:

1. Who are the key actors working on child labour globally?
2. What are some of the barriers for the private sector to engage on child labour? What do the associated reputational risks look like?
3. Are there examples of successful interventions on child labour that are already working?

The meeting will include presentations by external speakers and interactive group work.