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26 July, 2005
On June 12, the ILO will focus a day on child labour in the mining sector in celebration of its fourth World Day Against Child Labour. The ICEM and mining employers’ organisation International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM) last week signed an accord calling for an end to child labour in all mining and quarrying activity.
The ILO’s International Programme on Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) has found that most child miners are employed in small-scale enterprises which are unregulated and undocumented. IPEC has undertaken pilot projects on child labour in mining in Mongolia, Tanzania, Niger and the Andean countries of South America. Results show the best way to halt such practices is direct involvement in local mining communities and providing access to quality education with real prospects of meaningful employment when children leave school.