VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnamese football striker Le Cong Vinh is taking part in a campaign launched by the International Labour Organization (ILO) to prevent child labour.

Coinciding with the opening of the 2014 FIFA Football World Cup in Brazil on June 12, he is scheduled to join famous celebrities including footballer Tim Roth and legendary musical star Cher, at the launch of the campaign in New York, holding up the Red Card and saying no to child labour.

A new album supporting the anti child labour campaign, written by Grammy-nominated musician Mike Einziger and internationally acclaimed violinist Ann Marie Simpson, will be also released on the occasion.

It features songs by a number of award-wining artists committed to the cause including Travis Barker, drummer from Blink-182; Minh Dang, activist and survivor of human trafficking; Dominic Lewis, composer; LIZ, R&B pop-artist; Pharrell Williams, Grammy award-winning singer/producer; and Hans Zimmer, Oscar award-winning film composer.

“We hope these songs will inspire people to join the global movement against child labour and take action to make a difference in the lives of child labourers,” said Marcia Poole, the ILO’s Director of Communications.

In New York, giant screens on Times Square are alit, displaying the campaign’s anti-child labour slogans throughout the day, encouraging passers-by to participate in the fight.

According to the ILO, about half of all children in child labour globally are simply too young to be working. Most children in child labour perform unpaid work on family farms.

Eighty-five million children aged 5-17 years are doing work on farms or in mines and sweatshops that imperils their health and safety, often endangering their lives. Millions of others perform domestic work. The less fortunate often become victims of commercial sexual exploitation, or are abused in the drug trade and far too many left to beg and salvage for food on the streets.

Some 5.5 million children are in living conditions most aptly described as modern-day slavery, the victims of human trafficking and children forced to become soldiers in government armies or private militias.

In Vietnam, an estimated 9.6% of children aged 5-17, or 1.75 million, are child labourers. The main findings from the first National Child Labour Survey launched in March showed that two in every five child workers are under 15 of age.

Most child labourers live in the countryside, work in agriculture and are unpaid family workers.

About one-third of the child workers, or nearly 569,000 children, have to work an average of more than 42 hours per week, which affects their schooling.

“Child labour deprives children of their childhood, robs them of the opportunity to live life to its fullest potential and destroys their dignity,” striker Cong Vinh said.

The rate of child labour in Vietnam is lower than the world’s average and very close to the regional figure. However, with 1.75 million child workers, the country still has a long road ahead to traverse in the fight against child labour.

“This is a process which takes time,” said ILO Vietnam Country Director, Gyorgy Sziraczki.

“Awareness raising plays a key role in fighting child labour. Policymakers, employers and families should understand that all children should go to school. Children are the greatest assets of families, communities and the society as a whole. How we treat them will shape our future.”

2014 World Day Against Child Labour draws the attention to the role of social protection in keeping children out of child labour and removing them from it. The campaign sends out a message that children have a right to play, not work.

Source: VOV