Address at conference on elimination of child labour

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Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

First of all, let me express my gratitude to the Government of South Africa and the ILO for organizing this conference on the elimination of child labour. – A very important topic.

25 years ago, the first global conference took place in Oslo. An Agenda for Action was agreed upon. The agenda helped mobilize a worldwide movement against child labour.

Only two years later, the "Convention on the worst forms of child labour" was adopted. The first milestone.

The Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO) was instrumental in making the Oslo conference in 1997 happen. – This underlined the important role of trade unions in putting child labour on the international agenda. The Norwegian Confederation is still very active in the global fight against child labour.

For the Norwegian Government, the decent work agenda is very important, both at home and in our international efforts. I urge all countries to implement the ILO’s core conventions, including those on child labour.

Norway is also a partner in "Alliance 8.7" – the global partnership of stakeholders committed to achieving the SDG 8.7. – Which includes eradicating child labour within 2025. I urge everyone to act now to reach this goal.

The businesses obviously have a great responsibility. They can and they should contribute to the elimination of child labour.

In Norway, we have recently strengthened our domestic legislation by adopting "The Transparency Act. The act builds on both the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Companies", and the "UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights". The act promotes companies’ transparency and their job as advocates for human rights and decent work conditions.

We can all agree that continued efforts are needed in the fight against child labour. Let us now act together, once and for all, to eliminate child labour.

Thank you for your attention.