World Day Against Child Labor
Intervida presents ‘Do It Yourself’, its campaign to fight against Child Labor Exploitation
Madrid (12/06/2008). Today, more than 218 million children between 5 and 14 years old are obliged to work around the world; and one in every six children between 5 and 17 years are exploited through work of some kind. The poverty of millions of families drives these to use all available members as a labor force in order to survive, including children, in both developed and developing countries.
INTERVIDA, aware of the seriousness of this situation has implemented the “Do it Yourself. Give them a Voice 2.0” campaign, which was presented this morning in Madrid, coinciding with World Day Against Child Labor. The campaign arose from the aim to denounce this violation of children’s rights and the desire to raise society’s awareness of this terrible problem.
With the motto “Do it yourself, don’t let a child do it”, a brand is created in which the user can design its own products, looking to raise awareness on responsible consumption, and inviting the public to acquire products which have not been manufactured by children.
INTERVIDA has even brought its “Do it Yourself. Give them a Voice 2.0” campaign to the Web, proposing an image which reclaims solidarity with child workers, especially in the textile industry in many parts of the world. More specifically, in the Web campaign www.hazlotumismo.org the users will have the opportunity to create their own virtual tee-shirts, demonstrating their commitment to fighting child labor. Furthermore, among the online designs which are presented on the Web, the users will vote to choose a tee-shirt which will be the image for the campaign, getting them actively involved in the campaign in different ways.
On www.hazlotumismo.org web users can also learn more about this problem which affects millions of children around the world through diverse documentation and stories which bring them closer to the experiences of some of these children.
Within the campaign’s framework, INTERVIDA has also presented the media with the book “Exploited Lives”, the second volume in the LIVES series published by INTERVIDA, focused on the worst forms of work and child labor exploitation. This books has been written with the aim of contributing to the fight against the violation of children’s rights, raising society’s awareness and disseminating as much information as possible on this terrible problem among the communication media and the general public.
Finally, as part of the presentation of “Do it Yourself. Give them a Voice 2.0”, the organization has addressed the reality of the serious child labor problem in Bangladesh, where the number of child laborers in increasing, through the documentary “Before Growing Up”. Factors such as poverty, the abundance of natural disasters and the overpopulation of the country further exacerbate the problem, and to fight against these is not an easy task. Through several examples, this report aims to clarify which elements are needed to be able to talk about the end of child labor.
In 2006, INTERVIDA launched the Give Them a Voice, an initiative which arose to combat all types of child labor exploitation. During its first years it was aimed towards combating the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC). Now it goes one step further and begins to work towards combating child labor exploitation, since the elimination of this is essential for guaranteeing a free and prosperous society which respects the rights of its most vulnerable members.
About INTERVIDA
FUNDACIÓN INTERVIDA is a nonpartisan, nondenominational and independent development NGO in special consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council. Its objective is to contribute to sustainable human development towards improving the living conditions of the most disadvantaged communities. Currently, INTERVIDA is active in several countries in Latin America, Africa and Asia, offering its support to nearly five million people.
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