SA to host child labour conference

Monday, April 25, 2022

Government, in collaboration with the International Labour Organisation (ILO), will host the 5th Global Conference on the Elimination of Child Labour from 15 - 20 May 2022.

The conference is part of efforts to scale up action to end child labour.

This global event, which is scheduled to take place in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, will help to construct the path toward a world free from child labour. 

The conference is expected to be attended by Heads of State; 120 ministers; tripartite constituents of 187 member countries of the ILO; United Nations agencies; academic institutions; civil society organisations; non-governmental organisations; media, and civil society.

The Department of Employment and Labour said registration for media accreditation for the conference is now open and is set to close on Friday, 29 April 2022, at 12:00, Central African Time (CAT).

The conference will build on the four previous global conferences, held in Buenos Aires (2017), Brasilia (2013), The Hague (2010) and Oslo (1997), which raised awareness of the issue, mobilised resources, and established a strategic direction for the global movement against child labour.

“South Africa's hosting of the conference is consistent with SDG [Sustainable Development Goal] 8.7, which calls for the abolition of all forms of child labour by 2025 and the abolition of forced labour, modern slavery, and human trafficking by 2030,” the department said.

For more information on accreditation, media may contact Shadrack Mashalaba on 076 982 6821/ Shadrack.Mashalaba@labour.gov.za. – SAnews.gov.za