This year as we observe the International Year of Elimination of Child Labour, the International Community stands at a midway point four years on from the last International Conference held in Argentina and four years more to achieve Sustainable Development Goal Target 8.7, Caritas India organised a webinar: Towards Action to End Child Labour” on 15^th June during the Week Of Action around the World Day Against Child Labour, 2021.

Fr.Jolly, Assistant Executive Director welcomed all the esteemed guests, speakers, participants and Child Leaders and set the context of the Webinar “ Towards Action to End Child Labour.” He urged, “As this year 2021 we observe the International Year of Elimination of Child Labour and gather here, we hope that we discuss the solutions together, exchange good practices and act now to fulfil our commitment towards SDG 8.7.”

Fr.Paul Moonjely, Executive Director, Caritas India during his welcome address said, “Children are our heroes, our real assets of the Nation. It is the responsibility of each one to create opportunity for the well being of all children and protecting their rights. Every Child is to learn and not to earn. The current report and Child Labour Statistics released is a wake-up call for all of us. We must Act Now! “

Ms.Rosy Taba, Member, NCPCR (National Commission for Protection of Child Rights )  appreciated all the Child Leaders and urged them to protect themselves following the COVID safety protocols. During how her Special Address, Ms.Taba shared how the menace of Child Labour creates collateral damage to the life of the child and is also a means for exposure to several forms of child abuse. She urged CSOs and as well as Child Leaders to stay vigilant, report incidences of child rights violations and to generate mass awareness amongst the people in the community against Child Labour. “Amidst COVID, it is important that all Stakeholders both govt. and non-govt deal with the crisis situation collectively and as this year’s theme for World Day against Child Labour echoes Act Now! End Child Labour, we all must move further from Conference Hall discussions and take action to end Child Labour and protect our Children. “

Ms.Isneha Minj , Child Leader from West Bengal shared both the positives and negatives of how Coronavirus has affected their lives.  Talking about the disadvantages, Ms.Isneha shared how children have lost continuity with education due to the digital divide and also cybercrime has increased against Children due to increased internet exposure. While sharing the positives, Ms.Isneha shared that as Children are at home, they have got time to take interest in their hidden talents, develop new hobbies spend time with family. She also shared that due to the onset of COVID, there has been increased thrust and revival of the herbal medicines which have been part of the Indian Culture.

Highlighting the issue of school closure amidst COVID and consequent loss of learning, mid-day meals due to no access to online education, Ms. Khushi Maurya, Child Leader from Uttar Pradesh urged the government to create provisions for children to continue their education, create a livelihood for adults, provision of food and nutrition for all children amidst COVID and create awareness about the rights of Children.

Mr.Ahem Rawat, Child Leader from Rajasthan shared how he along with other Child Club members are creating awareness about safety protocols amidst COVID in their villages. However, he appealed the government to open up schools soon as children are missing out on their education and many are turning towards Child Labour.

Ms. Nirmala Pandey, Child Protection Specialist – UNICEF delivered her talk on the topic “Towards SDG 8.7 amidst COVID and beyond”.  She emphasised on key three-pronged approach towards elimination of Child Labour, i.e., Prevention- generating awareness and not only awareness creation but also looking at social protection, system strengthening- making the child protection system strong and proactive and establishing data-based evidence. Ms. Nirmala highlighted the need for data-based evidence especially in reference to the migrant children who are often the ‘invisible workforce’ who are neither enrolled in schools and neither counted as Child Labourers.

Mr.Umesh Kumar, Child Leader from Bihar shared how Coronavirus has created havoc in the Community. He shared how not only health and well-being has been acutely affected, but the villages have witnessed high prevalence of Trafficking and Child Labour due to loss of livelihoods.  Umesh appealed the government to generate livelihood and employment opportunities for adults in the family urgently to stop the menace.

Ms.Sakhsi Gandharwa, Child Leader from Chhattisgarh stressed that people are fearful in the villages to get themselves vaccinated against COVID. Busting the myths, she said that everyone must get themselves vaccinated and fight Coronavirus.  Ms.Sakshi further requested the Government to provide COVID vaccination for Children as well and provide free medicines for everyone.

Mr. Varun Pathak, Child Welfare Committee (CWC) Chairperson, New Delhi spoke on the topic “Rescue and Rehabilitation of Children in need of care and protection amidst COVID”. Mr Varun stated, “Child labour is not only a social problem, but it is an economic problem. Whenever one deals with a case of child labour, we must address the case in a holistic manner focussing on the rescue and rehabilitation of the family as well as the Child.  It is important that CWC and other Stakeholders link the Child and their family to several govt. schemes and social protection schemes to create a sustainable safety net for the Child. There is also a need to increase the reporting of Cases of Child Labour. The NCRB (National Crime Records Bureau) data over the years show gross under-reporting of child labour which is a contradiction to the reality.” He further dwelled upon several sections of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act (JJ Act), 2015 and Child Labour Prohibition and Regulation Amendment Act (CLPRA, 2016) regarding the legal hours beyond which a child cannot work, provision for punishments and compensation under the above acts for involving children into labour.

Sharing the stark statistics of cases of child rights violation amidst COVID across Tamil Nadu and steep increase in the incidences of Child Marriage, Ms.Divya , Child Leader from Tamil Nadu urged the government to increase fund allocation for schemes for protection and education for children to create safe childhoods. Ms. Divya focussed on the role of child leaders as well as other stakeholders in creating awareness against the gross violation of child rights amidst covid and thus prevent cases of child labour and child marriages.

Mr.Benjamin from Caritas Germany shared his valuable suggestions on how we can combat the menace of Child Labour collectively. He emphasised firstly on the need for organising Rights to bring children out of slavery to achieve Target 8.7, secondly the need to create affordability and accessibility to quality education for all children and thirdly that every program needs to designed from the perspective that Parents are the key stakeholders for achieving safe childhood for all children. Lastly, Mr.Benjamin shared that convergence of stakeholders is the key to create sustainable solutions against Child Labour.

Ms.Ghansyam Jethwa, HOD, Caritas India proposed the way forward emphasising creating collective actions to work towards the elimination of Child labour. He congratulated all the Child Leaders and wished them the best to continue to work for their peers creating safe circles for each other.

The Webinar concluded with a formal vote of thanks proposed to our esteemed Partners, Resource Persons, Forum Directors, Child Leaders from West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu and members from other CSOs.

As Jacques Rousseau once famously wrote, “Childhood has its own way of seeing, thinking, and feeling, and nothing is more foolish than to try to substitute ours for theirs.” Let us use these troubled times as an opportunity to empower our children with a “voice”.  With this vision, through this platform and further, we hope that the concerns and recommendations put forth by the Child Leaders would be considered and collective actions would be taken towards achieving SDG8.7.