On the occasion of June 12, which the International Labor Organization (ILO) has declared “International Day against Child Labor”, the movements of working children and youth of Latin America and the Caribbean have issued the following statement.
MOLACNATs – Movements of working children and youth of Latin America and the Caribbean.
June 12, 2023
DECLARATION FOR WORK IN DIGNITY, FREE FROM EXPLOITATION
The Movements of Working Children and Youth of Latin America and the Caribbean (MOLACNATS), who fight for the defense and promotion of our rights and the rights of all children, reject June 12 as a day of punishment, persecution and exclusion of working children who have been fighting for the dignity of our labor for more than 45 years. In contrast, we emphasize:
1. Thirty-three years after the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, Latin American governments are still taking steps backwards in the protection and defense of the rights of working children.
2. Our absolute rejection of all forms of exploitation of children and adolescents and all forms of slavery, such as trafficking in persons, including children and adolescents, forced labor, including compulsory recruitment of children for use in armed conflicts.
3. The “worst forms of child labor” listed in ILO Convention 182 are crimes! Therefore, states must review their policies to actually counter these crimes. Instead of prosecuting working children, they should prosecute those who commit these aggressions, threatening our integrity and, above all, our dignity.
4. It is critical that States enable children to receive quality education and comprehensive and timely health care, as well as provide for their safety in situations where there is violence or risk.
For this reason, the organizations of working children and youth in Latin America and the Caribbean call for a mobilization of society to reject all laws that contribute to our discrimination and persecution. We demand that States, with our participation, create laws to promote productive work that contributes to our development and autonomy. They must ensure that, thanks to our work, we can continue to study and fight against poverty, hunger and exclusion in all its forms.
Yes to work in dignity, no to exploitation!
For the dignity of children and adolescents all over the world!
WE ORGANIZED NATs FIGHT FOR OUR DIGNITY AND A DEMOCRATIC, JUST AND HUMAN SOCIETY!
