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The International Center on Child Labor and Education (ICCLE) is a 501 (c) 3 nonprofit organization dedicated to mobilizing worldwide efforts to advance the rights of all children, especially to receive a free and meaningful education and to be free from economic exploitation and any work that is hazardous, interferes with a child's education, or is harmful to a child's health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development. The Center serves as the international advocacy office of the Global March Against Child Labor, a movement representing some 2,000 organizations in 140 countries intended to highlight child slavery and hazardous child labor. The Center also serves as a clearinghouse – for the dissemination and sharing of information and knowledge on global child labor issues. ICCLE has built up a great deal of goodwill and respect by being a key player in the establishment of the Global Task Force on Child Labor and Education with UNESCO, the World Bank, ILO, UNICEF, and the Global March.
The problem
There are more than 100 million children of primary school age deprived of basic education in the world today. Most of them (57 percent) are girls. Huge numbers of them are child laborers.
Some 166 million below the age of 15 are trapped in child labor globally, and 126 million children aged 5-17 work in the worst forms of child labor, comprising all forms of slavery, the use of a child for prostitution, for pornographic purposes or for illicit activities, and hazardous work.
ICCLE’s perspective
ICCLE promotes the fact that child labor is a key obstacle to eradicating poverty (Millennium Development Goal 1) and achieving universal education (Millennium Development Goal 2). Child labor perpetuates poverty by denying children the opportunity to acquire the education and skills they need to obtain decent work and incomes as adults and by driving adults out of the market place, thereby hindering the establishment of decent working conditions for adults. Therefore, the elimination of child labor is an essential pre-requisite to the eradication of extreme poverty (MDG 1). Likewise, realizing universal education (MDG 2) is contingent upon freedom from labor so that children can attend school and perform well. Universal education can never be achieved as long as 218 million children aged 5-17 are trapped in child labor worldwide. Nor can poverty be eradicated until children are withdrawn in a time bound manner from work and brought to schools.
ICCLE advocates that giving children the opportunity to attend school is the best way to address child slavery and the best rehabilitation for child laborers. Education further contributes to economic growth and global peace and security.
To advance these crisscrossing goals, ICCLE fulfills important needs in the international policy arena and the U.S. context.
For whom?
There are more than 100 million children of primary school age deprived of basic education in the world today. Most of them (57 percent) are girls. Huge numbers of them are child laborers.
ICCLE serves the 218 million children ages 5-17 trapped in child labor worldwide, particularly the 126 million caught in the worst forms of child labor and the some 166 million children below the age of 15 trapped in child labor globally. Of these, 74 million are engaged in hazardous work.
Roughly 122 million children ages 5 to 14 are economically active in Asia and the Pacific, nearly 50 million in Sub-Saharan Africa, 6 million in Latin America and the Caribbean, and 13.4 million in other regions. While Asia and the Pacific region has the highest number of working children ages 5 to 14 worldwide, Sub-Saharan Africa has the largest ratio of working children in this age group in the world, with 26 children working out of every 100.
Board of Directors
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Elie Jouen
Deputy General Secretary, Educational International
5 boulevard du Roi Albert II, 1210 Brussels, Belgium |
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Hans Rysgaard
Boardmember, International Cocoa Initiative (Geneva)
Copenhagen, Denmark
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Andrew J. Samet
Counsel for Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg, P.A, Washington, D.C.
Former Deputy Assistant Secretary, International Affairs, US Department of Labor, during the Clinton Administration |
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Douglas Hellinger, Director/Secretary
Executive Director, The Development Group for Alternative Policies (D-GAP)
Washington, D.C. |
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Thabisile C. Msezane
Vice-President and Director, Sithabile Child and Youth Care Center
South Africa |
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Permanent Invitee to the Board
Bill Goold
Policy Advisor Congressional Progressive Caucus
Washington, D.C. |
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