National Round Table on the Responsibility of Business to Eliminate Child Labour

Dedicated to the World Day against Child Labour, the Round table "The Businesses Against  Child Labour" attracted considerable interest of more than 20 media outlets. The Forum took place in the National Press Club of the Bulgarian News Agency  and was organized by the project office of the International Programme for the Еlimination of Child Labour (IPEC) and the International Labour Organization (ILO) with the support of Global Compact national network.

Velina Todorova ILO/IPEC opened the discussion, emphasizing that child labour is the worst alternative to education and presenting statistics about drop-outs students from Bulgarian schools. She made clear that business should include in the business ethics codes the prohibition of child labour, and that the state and the businesses could join forces in forging changes in the education systems to allow for curricula and approaches adequate to the needs of the labor market.

Maya Nyagolova, Global Compact (GC) network Bulgaria, talked about the commitment of the GC members to apply the 10 principles of the global initiative in their work, the 5th principle being Elimination of child labour. In their Communication on progress, the members of the Global Compact report how these principles are implemented and that the media and the society should be persistent in asking for coincidence between the reported and the real practices.

Stamen Tassev, BBLF Executive Director, tackled a different perspective on child labour: he advocated the need to support the young people who participate in student companies and show eagerness to get involved in businesses. Mr. Tassev stated his readiness to expel every BBLF member that violates the principles related to child labour.

More materials on the topic from the International Labour Organization:

Child Labour and Education - Questions and Answers - in English and Bulgarian

Facts on Child Labour - in English and Bulgarian

Presentation on the topic - "Education - the Right Answer to Child Labour"