In the presence of more than 100 representatives of public and private institutions, employers’ and workers' organizations, NGOs, academia and the media, the Minister of Labour and Employment Promotion of Peru, Sylvia Cáceres; the Minister of Women and Vulnerable Populations, Gloria Montenegro and the Director of the ILO Office for the Andean Countries, Philippe Vanhuynegem, chaired the launch of Peru as a Pathfinder Country of Alliance 8.7.
In her intervention, the Minister of Labour reaffirmed the political will of the Peruvian Government through its different sectors and throughout the national territory to accelerate the elimination of child labour and forced labour, in order to reach target 8.7 by 2030.
The Minister of Women confirmed that action at the national level is coordinated with the Ministry of Labour to protect the rights of women and strengthen their capacities to prevent situations of abuse and violence, which has an impact on boys, girls and adolescents and that is one of the causes of child labour.
The Director of the Andean Office of the ILO congratulated the country and acknowledged the advances made in the fight against child labour and forced labour and urged the authorities to allocate more public budget to achieve the results included in national policies and advance global goals.
As a Pathfinder Country of Alliance 8.7 and an active member of the Regional Initiative Latin America and the Caribbean free of child labour, Peru has a double commitment: with its citizens, to ensure the full exercise of fundamental rights and make decent work a reality and with the region and the world, to share their experiences and learning, that will contribute to leaving no one behind.
After two days of work, the workshop ended with the intervention of various sectors that addressed human trafficking, forced labour and their link with child labour from a public policy perspective.
As a manifestation of this cross-sectional articulation, Sergio Quiñones, General Director of Fundamental Rights and Occupational Health and Security of the Ministry of Labour and Employment Promotion of Peru, presented eight transversal commitments to diverse sectors that aim to accelerate the eradication of child labour and forced labour.
To see the list of commitments, click here (available only in Spanish).
The closure of the meeting was chaired by Elena Montobbio, Deputy Director of the ILO Office for the Andean countries. She congratulated Peru for the political will expressed in the commitments, that were made by high-level decision makers, and emphasized the need to continue with intersectoral efforts and to design solutions with a larger public budget, sufficient resources and a wider territorial response.