Every segment of society is involved, and the movement's expansion in recent years has gone beyond political boundaries, languages, cultures and spiritual traditions, Roselaers will tell a forum on Capitol Hill on May 10.

"On-the-ground efforts to prevent children from going into child labor-and to remove children already caught up in this scourge-have doubled, redoubled and doubled again," says Roselaers.

The international official notes that IPEC has gone from just one donor government and six program countries eight years ago, to 25 donors providing funds for work in 70 countries. At the same time a wide range of other organizations-government and non-governmental bodies-have "greatly expanded the reach and effectiveness of their operations in the struggle against child labor." But, "with tens of millions of children caught up in the worst forms of child labor, the challenge remains enormous," he adds.

The U.S. Department of Labor is providing $4.3 million through the ILO to combat the trafficking of children for labor exploitation in West and Central Africa. The project, scheduled to start this month, will provide rehabilitation services and preventive measures to help an estimated 27,000 child victims of trafficking and children at risk of being exploited.

IPEC is a technical assistance program of the International Labor Organization, the United Nations specialized agency on work where two years ago members adopted an international convention on the worst forms of child labor, covering all types of slavery, prostitution, pornography, other illicit activities, and hazardous work. The United States was the third country to ratify the treaty. Seventy-two (72) countries have ratified it in the two years since adoption, a record rate in the ILO's 82-year history.  

--- Frans Roselaers, Director of the International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor (IPEC), based in Geneva, will be available for interviews in Washington, DC on May 10, 2001. He will speak at the Capitol Hill forum "Abusive Child Labor: From Awareness-Raising to Problem Solving," sponsored by Senator Tom Harkin. Also available for interviews is IPEC's Director of Policy Development and Advocacy, Alice Ouedraogo, from the West African nation of Burkina Faso. An IPEC program starting this month in West and Central Africa aims to help an estimated 27,000 child victims of trafficking and children at risk of being exploited.

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