Responsible business conduct and child labour
Photo © Adobe Stock/Tinnakorn
Online
Responsible business conduct and child labour
Understanding the elimination of child labour and ILO core conventions for effective human rights due diligence
16 September–4 October 2024
The course is available in English
Introduction to the course
Child labour remains a persistent problem in the world today. The latest global estimates indicate that 160 million children - 63 million girls and 97 million boys - were in child labour globally at the beginning of 2020, accounting for almost 1 in 10 of all children worldwide. Seventy-nine million children - nearly half of all those in child labour - were in hazardous work that directly endangers their health, safety and moral development. Global progress against child labour has stagnated since 2016. The percentage of children in child labour remained unchanged over the four year period while the absolute number of children in child labour increased by over 8 million. Similarly, the percentage of children in hazardous work was almost unchanged but rose in absolute terms by 6.5 million children This course looks into how companies, development finance institutions, state-owned enterprises, procurement agencies, and relevant stakeholders can contribute to the eradication of child labour in enterprises' own operations and business transactions through responsible business conduct and effective human rights due diligence (HRDD).
Who attends this course?
- Enterprises (privately owned or state-owned); - Procurement agencies - Line ministries with a specific mandate and interest in business and human rights (trade and commerce, procurement, justice and human rights); - Development finance institutions; - National human rights institutions; - Academia; - Tripartite appointed national focal points for the promotion of the MNE Declaration and OECD National Contact Points for RBC; - UN agencies; - Employers' organizations and trade unions.
What topics does this course cover?
This course provides participants with the essential building blocks related to child labour and responsible business conduct, structured in five modules:
- ILO core conventions, and resources related to child labour: Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work and the ILO Tripartite Declaration of Principles concerning Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy;
- Understanding child labour and data collection;
- Sectoral and regional perspectives on the elimination of child labour;
- Company initiatives, multi-stakeholders initiatives and partnerships for the ;abolition of child labour
- Grievance mechanisms, access to remedy and remediation.
What will I be able to do?
Participants will be able to advise their institutions to further advance responsible business conduct and contribute to more effective HRDD processes related to child labour, including:
- Strengthening existing or newly HRDD systems in terms of child labour
- Identification of child labour
- Develop and establish partnerships for the elimination of child labour
- Grievance mechanisms and access to remediation
- Designing HRDD interventions relative to child labour
What will I learn?
- Have a clear understanding of integrated approaches towards the abolition of child labour;
- Identify the roles and responsibilities of enterprises and governments towards the elimination of child labour;
- Learn from ILO experts, enterprises, and multi-stakeholder initiatives on the latest innovations towards the elimination of child labour;
- Practical approaches towards effective HRDD and child labour.
Why should I join?
The International Training Centre of the ILO (ITCILO) is part of the UN system and is the training arm of the International Labour Organization. The ITCILO is known for innovative learning methods and for being a marketplace for new ideas and innovations
in the world of work.
- An opportunity to connect and interact with colleagues from across the globe on topics of mutual concern;
- Learn from and with each other on best practices;
- Engage with experts from international and regional organizations on tools and instruments to advance workers’ rights in business operations.
- Successful candidates receive an ITCILO Certificate of participation.
Course structure and methodology
The course will be offered through the eCampus – the ITCILO learning platform – over a period of 3 weeks from 16 September to 4 October 2024, for an estimated total of 32 learning hours.
- Online learning: Flexible self-guided online learning on the ITCILO eCampus.
- ‘Real time’ learning and experience sharing: live interactive webinars with highly experienced trainers and resources persons.
- Forum and experience sharing: Interactions among the participants and with the facilitators during the live sessions as well as on the course forum.
As part of your participation, you will develop a specific HRDD component related to child labour (risk assessment, capacity building plan, intervention and remedial mechanisms, etc.) relevant to the product/service, sector and/or location of your choice.
At the end of the learning journey, participants receive a Certificate of Participation.
How to register
Please apply by 10 September 2024 via the following link:https://oarf2.itcilo.org/STF/A9717092/en
Partial scholarships are available for qualifying candidates and will be allocated on a rolling basis. Therefore, we encourage interested candidates to apply as early as possible.