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Child=20 Labour News Service (CLNS), managed by the Global = March=20 Against Child Labour, is an attempt to streamline the=20 international flow of information on child labour. It = aims to=20 raise key issues related to child labour and highlight = the=20 long neglected problems, as well as look for practical = responses to solutions.

All articles and = photographs=20 are copyright of the original publishers, websites, = news=20 service providers and photographers. =

Archives<= /FONT>

2=20 December=20 = 2005

	Wal-Mart cancels = contracts after=20 child-labour=20 = report<= /STRONG>
	UN-backed=20 meeting calls for more donor aid to meet = Education for All=20 = shortfall
	Romania : 70,000 = children in worst=20 child labour=20 = =

Wal-Mart cancels contracts = after=20 child-labour = report

Officials with Wal-Mart = Canada=20 have cancelled a number of contracts with=20 manufacturers overseas following = revelations made=20 in a Radio-Canada report.

Investigative = journalist Luc=20 Chartrand of the Zone Libre = program posed=20 as an international buyer, and made his = way to=20 factories in Bangladesh which make = clothing for=20 Wal-Mart including house brands such as = Simply=20 Basic, BUM, 725, and George.

The reporter discovered = a number=20 of underaged employees earning far less = than their=20 adult counterparts, usually about half of = the=20 salary.

Following its own = investigation,=20 the company confirmed that the factories = were=20 violating its rule against employing any = child=20 under the age of 14, Wal-Mart spokesperson = Yannik=20 Desch=E8nes said.

Wal-Mart spends = millions of=20 dollars every year to ensure that its = suppliers=20 and sub-contractors obey the company's = code of=20 conduct, the company says.

Wal-Mart=20 reacts

Following the broadcast = of a=20 trancated version Wednesday of the report = which is=20 to air on Radio-Canada, Wal-Mart decided = to pull=20 from its shelves Simply Basic brand = clothes.

http://= www.cbc.ca/montreal/story/qc-walmart20051201.html=20

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UN-backed meeting = calls for=20 more donor aid to meet Education for All=20 = shortfall

Current=20 rates of progress in school enrolment need = to=20 quadruple in sub-Saharan Africa and double = in=20 South Asia to reach the 2015 goal of = providing all=20 children with quality basic education, and = donors=20 need to double the billions of dollars of = aid, the=20 United Nations-backed High Level Group on=20 Education for All (EFA) said today.

A communiqu=E9 issued = after three=20 days of intense debate in Beijing at the = fifth=20 meeting of the Group, the latest follow-up = to the=20 World Education Forum held in Dakar, = Senegal, in=20 2000, recognized the progress made since = then, but=20 signalled that 100 million children still = have no=20 access to school.

A further 771 million = adults=20 remain illiterate, the majority of them = female,=20 and most of them living in rural areas. = According=20 to the Education for All Global Monitoring = Report=20 2006, only 64 per cent of children and in = Africa=20 and 83 per cent of children in South and = West Asia=20 are enrolled in primary school.

Although the Report = shows steady=20 improvement, change is not happening fast = enough=20 to achieve the EFA goals set at the Dakar = Forum,=20 at which the UN Educational, Scientific = and=20 Cultural Organization (UNESCO)=20 was charged with coordinating the work of = the EFA=20 partners and sustaining global momentum. =

Participants in Beijing = =96=20 education and development ministers, heads = and=20 senior officials of multilateral and = bilateral=20 agencies and leaders of non-governmental=20 organizations (NGOs) =96 pointed to the = enduring gap=20 of at least $5 billion dollars a year in = the=20 amount required to finance EFA. Donors, = they said,=20 should double current levels of Official=20 Development Assistance (ODA) to education = and give=20 higher priority to basic education, they = said.=20

At present, only $6 = billion of=20 the $62.3 billion in ODA each year goes to = education in developing countries. Of this = only=20 $1.2 billion goes to basic education in = the Low=20 Income Countries.

Higher priority must be = given to=20 girls' education and literacy, which is = too often=20 neglected by governments and education=20 authorities, the communiqu=E9 said, and = countries=20 and EFA partners need to progressively = remove both=20 formal and informal school fee barriers to = enable=20 all children to attend and complete = primary=20 schooling by 2015.

Child labour is another = obstacle.=20 Participants welcomed the establishment = during the=20 meeting of the Global Task Force on Child = Labour=20 and Education and endorsed its proposed = role for=20 advocacy, coordination and research. = Incentives=20 should be provided to the poorest families = to=20 support their children's education.

The next Group Meeting = will be=20 held in Egypt in November 2006.

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=3D16751&Cr=3D= educat&Cr1=3D=20

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Romania : 70,000 children = in worst=20 child labour

70,000 = children=20 engaged in worst forms of child labour, = foreign=20 investors criticised for obstructing = unionisation=20

Brussels , (ICFTU = OnLine):=20 Although Romania has ratified the major = ILO=20 Conventions on workers' rights and has = laws on its=20 statute books to guarantee trade union = rights, in=20 practice there are problems with forming = trade=20 unions and the right to strike, according = to a=20 report released today by the International = Confederation of Free Trade Unions = (ICFTU). The=20 report has been produced to complement the = WTO's=20 Trade Policy review of Romania.

In particular, = there are 3.9=20 million economically active children in = Romania,=20 including over 300,000 child labourers in=20 agriculture and low skilled jobs, and = 60,000 to=20 70,000 engaged in the worst forms of child = labour.=20 Trade unions in Romania have called for = faster=20 adoption and implementation of a new law = on labour=20 inspection, in order to improve the = government's=20 capacities in this area. The government is = working=20 with the ILO and has established a = programme=20 against child labour.

Furthermore, although = the=20 government has ratified Conventions 87 and = 98 on=20 Freedom of Association and collective = bargaining,=20 significant problems remain. In = particular, unions=20 in Romania have criticised government = inaction in=20 the face of the anti-union views of = foreign=20 investors which do not accept the = existence of=20 trade unions in their companies.

The ICFTU concludes its = report by=20 saying that the government should deliver = on its=20 promises to set up labour courts (on the = basis of=20 good new labour legislation) and that it = should=20 bring its definition of essential services = in line=20 with ILO guidelines. In addition, it = should take=20 far more urgent and active measures to = address the=20 extremely high level of child labour in = Romania.=20

The ICFTU called on the = WTO to=20 draw the Romanian government's attention = to the=20 commitments it made to observe core labour = standards at the WTO Ministerial = Conferences in=20 1996 and 2001.

http://www.scoo= p.co.nz/stories/WO0511/S00564.htm=20

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Copyright =A9 2004 Global March = International=20 = Secretariat