Guy Ryder, Director General of the ILO, presented the ILO Award for Innovation to the team of the Technical Secretariat of the Latin America and the Caribbean Regional Initiative Free of Child Labor (IR) in recognition of their original approach of sustained collaboration to governments, employers 'and workers' organizations, based on social dialogue and consensus, to promote decent work and the fight against child labor, within the framework of the 2030 Agenda and the achievement of Target 8.7 of the Goals of Sustainable development.

The Regional Initiative stood out among the 17 nominees globally for its innovative triple focus strategy, which includes the prevention, withdrawal and restitution of rights for working children through the design and implementation of tools such as the  Accelerating Policy Framework  and the  Child Labor Risk Identification Model . Likewise, their ability to create an innovative tripartite partnership model with effective synergies and the promotion of South-South cooperation actions was recognized.

Elena Montobbio, from the Technical Secretariat, pointed out that, for the IR, this award has two readings. The first is the recognition of the 30 member countries that, together with employers 'and workers' organizations, make up this instrument of intergovernmental cooperation that assumed in 2014 the challenge of accelerating the eradication of child labor in the most unequal region of the world. In the same way, special recognition to the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), the Andalusian Agency for International Development Cooperation (AACID), the Brazilian Cooperation Agency (ABC) and the Department of Labor of the United States, which make up the group of partners for the development of the IR,

The second reading refers to the commitment of the IR to reach Target 8.7, as Montobbio pointed out that there are still great challenges, such as the new forms of child labor that require more innovations created and tested from the field, which demand the participation of all the actors and social partners.

The RI, through its Technical Secretariat, has been making great efforts to coordinate and monitor the entire region to better understand the needs of the constituent countries and continue to add value to the interventions through technical assistance, in such a way that the countries can improve their responses to child labor, as well as strengthening the promotion of decent work in the region.

According to Guy Ryder, these types of initiatives are characterized by promoting transformation in the world of work, social justice and decent work, reflecting all the work and achievements made, especially this year that marks the ILO's centenary, and improving the lives of many people worldwide.