Convention 182
Other ILO Conventions on Child Labor
About ILO Conventions

On June 17, 1999, during its 87th Session of the International Labor Conference in Geneva, Switzerland, the International Labor Organization (ILO) unanimously adopted Convention 182 on the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labor. The United States delegation to the ILO, consisting of employer, worker and government representatives, has been a leading proponent of Convention 182 from its inception. After working toward its adoption at the ILO, the U.S. clearly signaled its commitment to end the worst forms of child labor when it became one of the first countries to ratify the treaty.

Convention 182 commits ratifying nations to take immediate action to secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labor. It defines the worst forms of child labor as:

• all forms of slavery or practices similar to slavery, such as the sale and trafficking of children, debt bondage and serfdom and forced or compulsory labor, including forced or compulsory recruitment of children for use in armed conflict;
• the use, procuring or offering of a child for prostitution, for the production of pornography or for pornographic performances;
• the use, procuring or offering of a child for illicit activities, in particular for the production and trafficking of drugs as defined in the relevant international treaties;
• work which, by its nature or the circumstances in which it is carried out, is likely to harm the health, safety or morals of children.

Among other actions, Convention 182 requires ratifying nations to: remove children from abusive child labor and provide them with rehabilitation, social reintegration, access to free basic education and vocational training; consult with employer and worker organizations to create appropriate mechanisms to monitor implementation of the Convention; apply the Convention to children under the age of 18; take into account the special vulnerability of girls; and provide assistance and/or cooperate with efforts of other members to implement the Convention.

Former President Clinton reaffirmed the commitment of the U.S. to ending abusive child labor worldwide when he traveled to Geneva to attend the June 1999 International Labor Conference, where Convention 182 was being considered for adoption by the ILO. Former President Clinton delivered an address before the ILO in Geneva, becoming the first U.S. President to do so. In his address, he stated:

Today, the time has come to build on the growing world consensus to ban the most abusive forms of child labor—to join together and to say there are some things we cannot and will not tolerate.

We will not tolerate children being used in pornography and prostitution. We will not tolerate children in slavery or bondage. We will not tolerate children being forcibly recruited to serve in armed conflicts. We will not tolerate young children risking their health and breaking their bodies in hazardous and dangerous working conditions for hours unconscionably long—regardless of country, regardless of circumstance. These are not some archaic practices out of a Charles Dickens novel. These are things that happen in too many places today.

In expeditiously ratifying Convention 182, the U.S. provided an important boost to global efforts to end child labor. Of course, there remains much work to do, as Former President Clinton noted in his ILO address:

Passing this Convention alone, however, will not solve the problem. We must also work aggressively to enforce it. And we must address root causes, the tangled pathology of poverty and hopelessness that leads to abusive child labor. Where that still exists it is simply not enough to close the factories where the worst labor practices occur. We must also ensure that children then have access to schools and their parents have jobs. Otherwise, we may find children in even more abusive circumstances.

Under the leadership of Secretary of Labor Alexis M. Herman, the Department of Labor has been at the forefront of the U.S. Government's efforts to eradicate child labor both in the U.S. and abroad. Former Secretary Herman made the fight against child labor a cornerstone of her tenure as Secretary of Labor, and was instrumental in promoting the adoption of Convention 182 by the ILO, as well as in securing its timely ratification by the U.S. At the International Labor Conference in Geneva in June 1999, she stated:

Today, we are rededicating ourselves to our children. And we have a rare opportunity to take the struggle for the world's children to a new and higher level of commitment and action. We join together here in the absolute certainty that this is a challenge we can and must meet.

Some may say that much of what occurs at conferences like these won't long be remembered. But what happens in this room will. Because when our task is done—and done right—we can return to our homes, our families, our countries—and tell our children what we did here was larger than ourselves and lasting in its value. It will live on. It will endure. Not just in words or even a convention--but, most of all, in the faces, the hopes and the dreams of children. And there is no better legacy than that.

Other ILO Conventions on Child Labor

About ILO Conventions

The International Labour Organization (ILO) is the UN specialized agency which seeks the promotion of social justice and internationally recognized human and labour rights. It was founded in 1919 and is the only surviving major creation of the Treaty of Versailles, which brought the League of Nations into being. It became the first specialized agency of the UN in 1946. The ILO is a tripartite body made up of government, worker and employer representatives from 174 countries around the world.

The ILO formulates international labour standards in the form of Conventions and Recommendations, setting minimum standards of basic labor rights in the following areas: freedom of association, the right to organize, collective bargaining, abolition of forced labor, equality of opportunity and treatment, and other standards regulating conditions across the entire spectrum of work related issues. In 1919, its first year of existence, the ILO adopted Convention No. 5 on the Minimum Age for the Industrial Sector. Since then it has remained a leading international forum for addressing child labor issues.

For a detailed explanation of ILO Conventions and labor standards from the ILO web site, click here.