Child Labor, Human Trafficking and Forced Labor
In 1993, the United States Congress directed the Secretary of Labor, Robert Reich at the time, to identify foreign industries and countries which export goods to the United States which were produced using child labor. Responsibility for this project was given to ILAB which published the first of its reports on the subject: The Sweat and Toil of Children: The Use of Child Labor in American Imports.
In 1999, President Bill Clinton signed Executive Order 13126 which prohibited the purchase of items which were produced by forced or indentured labor. It also authorized the Department of Labor to compile a list of items and their respective countries which would be banned. This fell under the purview of the Bureau of International Labor Affairs. The current list, as compiled by ILAB, consists of 31 products including bamboo, beans, cocoa, coffee, nuts, rice, rubber, shrimp, and sugarcane. The products come from countries such as Afghanistan, Argentina, Benin, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Burma, China, Colombia, Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Ivory Coast, Mali, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Russia, Sierra Leone, Tajikistan, Thailand and Uzbekistan. As of 2004, ILAB has spent more than $250 million to combat child labor since 1995.
On April 10, 2009, the Bureau of International Labor Affairs announced a letter of intent to "Fund International Child Labor Elimination Projects in Fiscal Year 2009" this involves the awarding of merit-based "cooperative agreement awards" to organizations seeking to fund projects to combat child labor through education. It is intended that $20 million be budgeted for this purpose. These efforts will be focused in the countries of Guatemala, Indonesia, Nepal, and Rwanda.
Read more about this topic: Bureau Of International Labor Affairs
Famous quotes containing the words child, human, forced and/or labor:
“There are only two things a child will share willingly—communicable diseases and his mother’s age.”
—Benjamin Spock (b. 1903)
“All human rules are more or less idiotic.”
—Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835–1910)
“Another danger is imminent: A contested result. And we have no such means for its decision as ought to be provided by law. This must be attended to hereafter.... If a contest comes now it may lead to a conflict of arms. I can only try to do my duty to my countrymen in that case. I shall let no personal ambition turn me from the path of duty. Bloodshed and civil war must be averted if possible. If forced to fight, I have no fears from lack of courage or firmness.”
—Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1822–1893)
“Having behind us the producing masses of this nation and the world, supported by the commercial interests, the labor interests, and the toilers everywhere, we will answer their demand for a gold standard by saying to them: You shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns, you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold.”
—Administration in the State of Neva, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)