The Network of Focal Points of the Regional Initiative Latin America and the Caribbean Free of Child Labor today inaugurated its 6th Annual Meeting, where it will assess the progress in the implementation of its Strategic Plan and will define priorities for the response to COVID-19, as well as for the recovery stage, all within the framework of 2021, the International Year for the Elimination of Child Labor. 

Due to mobilization restrictions due to the pandemic, this year the annual call is virtual, and takes place from Tuesday, October 27 to Friday, October 30. Although since its creation in 2014, the Regional Initiative has met virtually monthly, it is the first time that the Annual Meeting is held under this format, which has been possible thanks to the willingness and coordinated work of each member in a series of previous trainings for the effective use of digital tools that help to transfer to the virtual field all the consultation and decision-making processes that were carried out in the face-to-face format of this meeting.

The Network, made up of representatives of 30 countries in the region, 7 representatives of employers 'organizations and 7 representatives of workers' organizations, will be accompanied these four days by international cooperation agencies that are members of the Regional Initiative, as well as by technical specialists from the ILO. and UNICEF. 

The opening ceremony was chaired by the Minister of Labor, Employment and Social Security of Paraguay, Carla Bacigalupo, as representative of the Governments and High Level Authority of the Regional Initiative. On behalf of the Employers 'group, Fernando Yllanes, member of the IOE Board of Directors, participated, and the representation of the Workers' group was led by the Secretary for Social Policies of the CSA, Cícero Pereira da Silva. 

" Even when the present is confusing, the future must be promising and this depends on our children and adolescents not being led into child labor." Carla Bacigalupo, Minister of Labor, Employment and Social Security of Paraguay

 

 

 

 

 

"Within all this complexity due to the crisis, in addition to employment, we have the goal of advancing the Regional Initiative so that our children and adolescents in the region stop working in any way." Fernando Yllanes, member of the Board of Directors of the OIE

 

 

 

 

 

“To combat this crisis, we cannot have children and adolescents working. We value the holding of this 6th Annual Meeting, which is held in conditions unimaginable due to the crisis. " Cícero Pereira, Secretary of Social Policies of the CSA

 

 

 

 

 

Likewise, the ILO Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, Vinicius Pinheiro, participated in the meeting as head of the Technical Secretariat of the Regional Initiative, who pointed out that in 10 months we run the risk of reversing 10 years of progress in the elimination of child labor in the region. "The most important challenge that the Regional Initiative has today is to ensure that the pandemic does not impact the future and adulthood of girls, boys and adolescents." 

For her part, the Director of the Andalusian Agency for International Development Cooperation - AACID, María Luz Ortega, stated that the Andalusian Cooperation has a clear commitment to social policies that promote that children can develop freely. "We are going to join in the commemoration of the Year 2021 because the future must be without child labor."

During her speech, M ô nica Salmito, Project Analyst at the Brazilian Cooperation Agency - ABC, added that the fact that 2021 has been declared the International Year for the Elimination of Child Labor reinforces, even more, the commitment of the entire Network to eliminate child labor in the region. "From the ABC, we want to find innovative solutions and implement the necessary measures to continue moving forward."

The Head of the Department of Multilateral Cooperation and the European Union of the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation - AECID, Nuria Carrero, said that Latin America and the Caribbean is a world reference for its great advances in the prevention and elimination of work infantile during the last years; However, it warned about the risk that thousands of children and adolescents are inserted into child labor as a result of the pandemic.

For her part, Margaret Jungk, Deputy Director of the Office of Child Labor, Forced Labor and Human Trafficking and Head of the Investigation and Policy Unit of the Directorate of International Labor Affairs of the United States Department of Labor, recognized the key role of the Regional Initiative in addressing child labor. “The United States Department of Labor supports the Initiative primarily in the area of ​​research. We look forward to continuing to share valuable information to help governments make decisions. "

The Regional Initiative is preparing to begin its third phase of implementation, corresponding to the period 2022-2025, so this meeting will also address the updating of its governance mechanisms and the strengthening of ownership and social dialogue; All of this with a view to making the regional platform sustainable in a context that will require, now more than ever, innovative responses that take advantage of knowledge, experience and maximize the commitment of governments and employers 'and workers' organizations.

For more details on the 6th Annual Meeting, follow us on social media. Find us as Latin American Network Against Child Labor  on Facebook and @SinTrabinfantil on Twitter.