[ti:Taking Action Against Child Labor] [ar:Steve Ember] [al:Development Report] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]This is the VOA Special English [00:03.14]Development Report. [00:05.07]Delegates from around the world [00:07.25]have agreed on a new plan [00:09.55]to end the worst kinds [00:11.79]of child labor [00:13.28]by two thousand sixteen. [00:15.83]More than four hundred fifty delegates [00:18.88]from eighty countries [00:20.62]approved the plan [00:22.42]at the Global Child Labor Conference. [00:26.10]It was held in The Hague, [00:28.27]the Netherlands, last week. [00:30.76]A week earlier, [00:32.44]the International Labor Organization [00:35.30]released its third Global Report [00:38.72]on Child Labor. [00:40.65]The report said there are [00:42.95]still two hundred fifteen million [00:45.75]child laborers in the world. [00:48.67]One hundred and fifteen million [00:51.72] of them are working [00:53.09]in some of the worst kinds [00:55.14]of child labor. [00:56.95]These are often dangerous [00:58.81]to their health and safety. [01:02.41]The ILO notes that child labor [01:06.14]is decreasing worldwide, [01:09.06]but at a much slower rate [01:11.43]than four years ago. [01:13.48]The organization also warned [01:16.47]that the global economic crisis [01:19.08]could slow progress even more. [01:22.25]It called for an increase [01:24.74]in global efforts in order [01:27.23]to reach the goals for ending [01:29.72] the worst forms of child labor. [01:32.89]Representatives at the conference [01:35.75]last week talked about [01:37.68]what actions need to be taken. [01:40.60]Patrick Quinn is with the ILO's [01:44.15]International Program [01:46.14]on the Elimination of Child Labor. [01:49.13]He says there is clear evidence [01:52.61]of the kinds of policies [01:54.79]and programming interventions [01:57.46]that can be most effective [01:59.51]in combating the problem. [02:01.75]PATRICK QUINN: "We know for example [02:03.18]that if governments tackle [02:05.42]the barriers that stop poor families [02:07.16]accessing education, [02:08.22]if they tackle the fees [02:09.53] which many poor families [02:11.08]often have to pay for education, [02:12.58]they can encourage [02:14.38]children to attend school. [02:16.00]So governments putting [02:17.51]in place the right education policies. [02:18.69]In many parts of the world [02:22.05]we've seen that if governments [02:23.36]introduce social protection programs, [02:25.44]measures for example which give [02:27.37]family benefits to families [02:29.55]with children, particularly poorer families, [02:31.73]this can have an important impact [02:33.53]in enabling people to keep their children [02:36.77]in school and out of the work force." [02:39.63]Mister Quinn says efforts [02:42.18]to combat the problem must [02:44.35]also be increased at the community level. [02:47.53]He said the ILO is working [02:50.95]with local civic organizations [02:53.25]to change opinions about child labor. [02:57.42]The ILO report notes [03:00.15]that several areas of the world [03:02.77]are making important progress. [03:05.44]They include Latin America, [03:08.49]the Caribbean and south Asia. [03:12.03]The least progress [03:14.03]has been made in Africa. [03:16.14]Mister Quinn says world leaders [03:19.62]will discuss the issue [03:21.74]later this year at a meeting [03:24.35]on the United Nations [03:27.15]Millennium Development Goals. [03:28.72]He says there is a close link [03:31.95]between these goals [03:33.82]and combating child labor. [03:36.50]And that's the VOA Special English [03:40.73]Development Report, [03:42.84]written by June Simms. [03:44.58]Transcripts, MP3s and podcasts [03:49.12]of our programs are at 51voa.com. [03:54.29]I'm Steve Ember.