The unanimous adoption of the ILO's Worst Forms
of Child Labour Convention (no.182) by the ILO Conference in June
1999 has signified an important momentum for the international movement
against child labour. Indonesia was the first country in Asia to
ratify the Convention in March 2000 and hence demonstrates a growing
recognition that children in extremely hazardous and damaging situations
urgently need action. Indonesia and all other ILO member states,
who adopted and ratified the Convention, agree that certain forms
of child labour cannot be tolerated, regardless of a country's level
of economic and social development. By ratifying the Convention,
Indonesia has made the commitment to "take immediate and effective
measures to secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst
forms of child labour as a matter of urgency".
The ILO Conventions 138 on the Minimum Age of Employment
(1973) and 182 (1999) are complementary to the UN Convention on
the Rights of the Child (CRC), adopted in 1989, and provide detailed
standards and guidance for making such rights a reality. Especially
Convention 182 is very focused with tangible and attainable targets
to work towards. ILO's International Programme on the Elimination
of Child Labour (IPEC) has launched a new approach to combat the
worst forms of child labour and to assist member States in implementing
ILO Convention 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labour: the time
bound programme (TBP). The TBP aims to prevent and eliminate in
each country all incidence of the worst forms of child labour within
a defined period of time. It combines sectoral, thematic and geographically
based approaches and links action against child labour to national
development policy. The worst forms of child labour include: slavery,
trafficking, bonded child labour, the participation of children
in armed conflict, their use in prostitution and pornography, in
drugs trafficking and other illicit activities and for hazardous
work. The objective of the TBP is to eradicate these forms of child
labour within a certain period (five to ten years). The time depends
on the nature of the child labour problem, availability of resources,
level of local expertise and other circumstances in each programme
country. The TBP represents a comprehensive approach that operates
at many levels, including international, national, provincial, community,
individual or family.
In Indonesia, two sectoral time-bound programmes
for children working on jermals and children in the footwear industry,
are being implemented. These programmes involve all partners and
stakeholders coordinated by ILO project staff. Although these programmes
are expected have a significant impact on target sectors. They are
again limited by geographical area. The national time-bound programme
will coordinate and integrate several of these sectoral initiatives
and ensure its sustainability by making them part of the national
and local social development efforts.