Kailash Satyarthi, renowned Hindu activist for the rights of children and adolescents and promoter of the fight against child labor, visited Peru, one of the 27 member countries of the Regional Initiative Latin America and the Caribbean free of child labor, to to formalize the adhesion of this country to the campaign "100 million x 100 million" and join the Peruvian youth who decided to raise their voice against the reality of child labor and the abuses that it entails.

“100 million x 100 million” is an international initiative that seeks to engage the world's youth in the fight against child labor, so that all children and adolescents enjoy freedom, protection and quality education. With this campaign, young people in Peru can also help meet Target 8.7 of the Sustainable Development Goals, referring to ending child labor by 2025, and accelerating the achievement of Goals 4 (Education) and 16 (Peace, Justice and Solid Institutions), among others.

Kailash was received at the ILO Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean, based in the city of Lima, where he held a meeting with Alfonso Grados, Minister of Labor and Employment Promotion, with the ILO Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs, and other authorities of this country.

Likewise, during the meeting, the Nobel Peace Prize winner addressed the delegation of young representatives of the campaign and reminded them that the purpose is to turn 100 million young people into agents of change for 100 million excluded people - referring to the need to act in favor of girls and boys in child labor.

He also asked them if they wanted the world to be a better place to live and indicated that to unite in the fight against child labor it is necessary for them to “have big dreams”. In this way, he reflected on the urgency of breaking the cycles of illiteracy, poverty and violence so that no boy or girl has to work and that every young person in the world has access to better opportunities that ensure their future and that of their families.

It should be noted that Peru is one of the founding countries of the Regional Initiative, which was part of the group that promoted the recent  "Spain - Americas Forum: The role of civil society in the sustained eradication of child labor and the protection of adolescent workers" , which the Nobel Prize attended days before his arrival in the country, and where he made a call not to lose hope; He also highlighted the importance of the mobilization of all sectors and social actors to put an end to child labor and the violation of the rights of children and adolescents.

In Peru, the campaign is promoted by a National Coordinating Committee made up of the Center for Social Studies and Publications - CESIP, a civil society organization that has the role of Coordinator of the Global March against Child Labor for South America, as well as by a Youth Committee specially formed for the Campaign.

During the reception meeting, María Lila Iwasaki, Vice Minister of Vulnerable Populations of the Ministry of Women and Vulnerable Populations of Peru, Carlos Rodríguez, Deputy Director of the ILO Office for Latin America and the Caribbean, Philippe Vanhuynegem, Director of the ILO Office for the Andean Countries and Elena Montobbio, director of the IPEC Program for Latin America and the Caribbean and member of the Technical Secretariat of the Regional Initiative, among others.