HUMAN RIGHTS Benin, for example, and on plantations in Benin, Côte d’Ivoire and Togo.24 The ILO has adopted two instruments to guide its work in this area: the Minimum Age Convention (1973) (No. 138) and the Worst Forms of Child Labour (1999) (No. 182), which came into force in 2000. In 1992 the International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) was launched to complement ILO standards on the subject, and to implement programmes to progressively eliminate child labour. 5.1 The Minimum Age Convention (1973) (No. 138) The Minimum Age Convention consolidates and revises earlier Conventions relating to the minimum age in different sectors such as agriculture, fishing, industry, seafaring, non-industrial employment and underground work. Convention No. 138 provides the only comprehensive set of guidelines relating to the appropriate age at which young children can enter the workforce. The main elements are: Aim of the Convention • To abolish child labour. Tools • National policy to abolish child labour; • To progressively increase the minimum age for children to enter the workforce to 18 years. Prohibited areas of child labour (cannot be excepted) • Construction; • Electricity, gas and water; • Manufacturing; • Mining and quarrying; • Plantations and farms (with the exception of family holdings); • Sanitary services; • Transport, storage and communications. National exceptions (after consultation with employers’ and workers’ organizations) • Artistic performances; • Light work which does not prevent school attendance and is not harmful to the health and development of children; • Limited categories of employment or work in which there may be problems in applying the Convention; • Vocational training and apprenticeships. 16 Compulsory coverage (cannot be excluded) • Any employment or work which by its very nature and the circumstances in which it is carried out may jeopardize the health, safety and morals of young people. Action required by governments • The minimum age limit for work cannot be below 14–15 years; • List occupations which are to be included as ‘national exceptions’; • To specify a minimum age limit for children to enter the workforce. Convention No. 138 prohibits work by children in a number of areas and aims at the progressive elimination of child labour. However, it takes into consideration the conditions prevailing in different countries and provides a flexible approach to tackling this problem. Although states may make exceptions to the general rule, the goal remains the same: the total abolition of child labour. 5.2 The Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (1999) (No. 182) The ILO realized that there was a need for a Convention which focused on the most harmful forms of child labour. In 1998 a global march against child labour arrived at the ILO’s Geneva headquarters, urging the ILO to adopt stringent measures to address this issue. In June 1999, the ILO adopted the Convention on the Worst Forms of Child Labour (No. 182). Convention No. 182 complements Convention No. 138 and takes into account the provisions of relevant instruments such as the Forced Labour Convention (1930) and the UN Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade, and Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery (1956). It is designed to stimulate action-oriented programmes to prevent children from working in what are undoubtedly the worst kinds of work or activities for anyone – especially young children. Convention No. 182 entered into force on 19 November 2000. All ILO Conventions come into force a year after the date that the second ratification is deposited with the ILO, in this instance by Malawi on 19 November 1999. As of January 2002, 113 countries have ratified Convention No. 182. It has the distinction of being the ILO Convention with the fastest rate of ratifications, an indication of the worldwide commitment to ban this practice. The main elements of Convention No. 182 are: THE INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANIZATION: A HANDBOOK FOR MINORITIES AND INDIGENOUS PEOPLES