CRC/C/GC/11 page 16 distinguishing child labour that needs abolition, on the one hand, and acceptable work done by children, including such activities that allow indigenous children to acquire livelihood skills, identity and culture, on the other. Child labour is work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential and dignity and that is harmful to their physical and mental development.31 70. Provisions in the Convention on the Rights of the Child refer to the use of children in illicit production and trafficking of drugs (art. 33), sexual exploitation (art. 34), trafficking in children (art. 35), children in armed conflicts (art. 38). These provisions are closely related to the definition of the worst forms of child labour under ILO Convention No. 182. The Committee notes with grave concern that indigenous children are disproportionately affected by poverty and at particular risk of being used in child labour, especially its worst forms, such as slavery, bonded labour, child trafficking, including for domestic work, use in armed conflict, prostitution and hazardous work. 71. The prevention of exploitative child labour among indigenous children (as in the case of all other children) requires a rights-based approach to child labour and is closely linked to the promotion of education. For the effective elimination of exploitative child labour among indigenous communities, States parties must identify the existing barriers to education and the specific rights and needs of indigenous children with respect to school education and vocational training. This requires that special efforts be taken to maintain a dialogue with indigenous communities and parents regarding the importance and benefits of education. Measures to combat exploitative child labour furthermore require analysis of the structural root causes of child exploitation, data collection and the design and implementation of prevention programmes, with adequate allocation of financial and human resources by the State party, to be carried out in consultation with indigenous communities and children. Sexual exploitation and trafficking 72. Articles 34 and 35 of the Convention with consideration to the provisions of article 20, call on States to ensure that children are protected against sexual exploitation and abuse as well as the abduction, sale or traffic of children for any purposes. The Committee is concerned that indigenous children whose communities are affected by poverty and urban migration are at a high risk of becoming victims of sexual exploitation and trafficking. Young girls, particularly those not registered at birth, are especially vulnerable. In order to improve the protection of all children, including indigenous, States parties are encouraged to ratify and implement the Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. 73. States should, in consultation with indigenous communities, including children, design preventive measures and allocate targeted financial and human resources for their implementation. States should base preventive measures on studies which include documentation of the patterns of violations and analysis of root causes. 31 ILO, Handbook on Combating Child Labour among Indigenous and Tribal Peoples, 2006, p. 9.

Select target paragraph3