IPEC's aim is to work towards the progressive elimination of child labour by strengthening national capacities to address child labour problems, and by creating a worldwide movement to combat it. IPEC is also watchful of opportunities to contribute to national discussions on the implementation of ILO Conventions.

These discussions can feed into the governments’ reports on ratified Conventions, thereby opening the process to a broad range of government officials and employers’ and workers’ representatives. This is especially important in the case of Convention No. 182, which covers many aspects that are beyond the direct scope of labour legislation (such as slavery-like practices, trafficking, sexual exploitation and illicit activities). It would improve the quality of reports if other concerned ministries or authorities – law enforcement, for example – were systematically involved in the reporting process. Such involvement would in turn contribute to raising awareness and mainstreaming child labour in the national agenda so as to address the root causes of child labour. This is a good demonstration of the integrated approach that IPEC applies, linking ILO standards to technical cooperation. These reports are also a potential source of information for IPEC on the country’s achievements as well as needs for technical assistance to combat child labour.

History

IPEC was launched in 1992 with the overall goal of the progressive elimination of child labour, which was to be achieved through strengthening the capacity of countries to deal with the problem and promoting a worldwide movement to combat child labour. As a consequence of the adoption and unprecedented ratification rate of Convention No. 182, this goal is now formulated to stipulate priority on the WFCL. It also calls for the provision of alternatives for children and families to ensure that the children truly benefit as a consequence of child labour interventions and do not end up in worse situations.

IPEC's work on child labour is an important facet of the ILO's Decent Work Agenda because child labour perpetuates the vicious cycle of poverty by preventing children from acquiring the skills and education they need for a better future. The consequences of child labour also go well beyond childhood: they also affect national economies through losses in competitiveness, productivity and potential income.Withdrawing children from child labour, providing them with education and assisting their families with training and employment opportunities contributes to concrete reductions in the decent work deficit. IPEC's experience shows that to be effective, poverty alleviation programmes must address child labour issues through prevention, withdrawal, and the strengthening of national capacity, especially in the education system.

Setting target group priorities

While the goal of IPEC remains the prevention and elimination of all forms of child labour, the priority targets for IPEC's action are the worst forms of child labour, which are defined in Convention No. 182 as:

all forms of slavery or practices similar to slavery,
such as the sale and trafficking of children,
debt bondage and serfdom and forced or compulsory labour, including forced or compulsory recruitment of children for use in armed conflict;
the use, procuring or offering of a child for prostitution, for the production of pornography or for pornographic performances;
the use, procuring or offering of a child for illicit activities, in particular for the production and trafficking of drugs as defined in the relevant international treaties;
work which, by its nature or the circumstances in which it is carried out, is likely to harm the health, safety or morals of children.

http://www.ilo.org/public/english/standards/ipec/index.htm