This Wednesday, July 1, the meeting “Partners in action. Roundtable on South - South Cooperation to accelerate the reduction of child labor in Latin America and the Caribbean ” , convened by the Regional Initiative for Latin America and the Caribbean free of child labor.

The inauguration was attended by the ILO Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, José Salazar-Xirinachs, the Director of the Brazilian Cooperation Agency (ABC), Fernando Marroni de Abreu, and the spokesperson for the Network of Focal Points of the Regional Initiative, Esmirna Sánchez.

The Regional Director of the ILO recalled that the region is going through a period of slower growth, which will undoubtedly impact the labor market and the social panorama. “The economic scenario that we now face threatens the sustainability of the progress made, and makes the path to reduce child labor harder, which continues to represent one of the most visible faces of inequality and vulnerability in the region. ”.

In Latin America and the Caribbean, the number of girls and boys in child labor has decreased from 20 million in 2000 to 12.5 million in 2014, which represents an important achievement and, at the same time, poses the challenge to invest the resources to continue advancing in its elimination by 2025.

Based on a recent ILO publication on the costs and benefits of eradicating child labor, Salazar-Xirinachs highlighted that most countries in the region need to allocate 0.3% of their GDP in the next 10 years to end this problem in 2025.

A region united to end child labor

The Regional Director also highlighted the importance of the Regional Initiative for Latin America and the Caribbean Free of Child Labor , a commitment of 25 countries in the region. "Today they are here again to translate that political and institutional commitment into cooperation actions that will lead to financial benefits and other proven benefits for their countries and our region," he said.

The Regional Initiative has convened the meeting “Partners in action. Roundtable on South-South Cooperation to accelerate the reduction of child labor in Latin America and the Caribbean ” as an ideal space to jointly analyze the situation of child labor in the region, assess the efforts made by the countries and renew joint commitments in order to overcome the reality of child labor by 2025, within the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals,

Thus, on July 1, 2 and 3, the 33 Focal Points of the Regional Initiative will meet -formed by representatives of the Government, employers and workers sector-, 14 representatives of International Cooperation Agencies and Directorates of the member countries , and other special guests.