The Irish Forum for Global Education (IFGE) has convened a lunchtime webinar titled” International Day for the Elimination of Child Labour”- a global event commemorated annually. Irish Civil Society, Irish Aid, politicians and academia were invited, with 21 participants attending.
The meeting was chaired by IFGE Steering Committee member Mr. John O’Brien and co-facilitated by Abdulahi Adem, IFGE Coordinator. Three experts, Dr Chris O’Connell of Comhlámh, David Joyce of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and Diego López González of The International Trade Union Confederation, were invited to present sessions.
John O’Brien welcomed the participants and thanked their time. He introduced himself and the Coordinator to the participants noting that we have an excellent lineup of speakers for the launch of the ” International Day for the Elimination of Child Labour in Ireland.
The purpose is to possibly look at the progress towards the elimination of child labour, the process that has come to a halt in our view even before the covid-19 pandemic; since 2016, the number of children in child labour has risen to 160 million worldwide. Child labour is a major barrier to the achievement of universal access to primary and secondary education. More than a third of all child labourers are out of school, while the majority who manage to combine work and school have poorer educational outcomes.
You may find the full report here:IFGE lunchtime seminar on UN Day for Elimination of Child Labour
Dr Chris’s presentation is here: Child Labour Presentation by Dr.Chris O’Connell
Diego Lopez presentation is here: DITUC Presentation on Alliance 8.7
Video presentation of David Joyce is here: DJ input to IFGE Webinar 12 June on Vimeo