WK 327 Investing in Strategy Building

Learn about how activists in India built a strategy for stopping child labor using tactics that would help them gain a broad base of worldwide support.

Presenter

Kailash Satyarthi, South Asia Coalition on Child Servitude (SACCS) and Global March Against Child Labor, India

• Read the outline of Kailash Satyarthi’s presentation

The Global March movement began when thousands of people around the world marched to send a message against child labor. The march, which started on January 17, 1998, touched every corner of the globe, built immense awareness and led to a high level of participation among the general public. This march finally culminated at the International Labor Organization Conference in Geneva. Over the years, the Global March Against Child Labor has used a wide variety of tactics to work to eliminate child and provide access to quality education for all. This has brought about a radical shift in the lives of many children and successfully initiated some policy changes as well. Realizing the connections between child labor and education, Global March co-initiated Global Campaign for Education, which is the single largest worldwide network of NGOs, teachers’ organizations and others on the issue of education for all. The Global March also helped pass the International Labor Organization’s new convention concerning the prohibition and the immediate elimination of the worst forms of child labor. Governments have ratified Convention 182 more quickly than any other international treaty. NGOs, trade unions and some businesses have launched innovative programs to protect children. In May 2004, around 200 children representing nearly 50 countries gathered for the first ever Children’s World Congress on Child Labor in Florence, Italy, to share their views and to demand a world free of child labor.