Written question asked by David Drew (Labour) on Monday, 22 May 2006, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 24 May 2006. It was answered by Gareth Thomas (Labour) on Tuesday, 6 June 2006 on behalf of the Department for International Development.

Child Labour

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what plans he has to support further the International Labour Organisation declaration to end child labour; and if he will prepare a specific millennium development goal to achieve this objective.

Answer: The UK is a leading supporter of the International Labour Organisation's (ILO) Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work. We have ratified all eight core conventions which it incorporates, included those on the elimination of child labour. DFID is a major funder of ILO's technical cooperation programmes including the ‘International Programme for the Elimination of Child Labour’. We welcome the encouraging evidence in the ILO's latest global report which indicates a significant fall in the number of child labourers worldwide, particularly those in the worst forms of child labour.We remain committed to the outcome statement of the United Nations World summit review of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG). It acknowledged the importance of decent work and particularly the elimination of the worst forms of child labour in achieving the MDGs. We do not believe this requires the creation of a new MDG.

Secondary information