ILO says Peru on track to eradicate child labor

Peru is on track to achieve the goal of eradicating child labor, proof of this is its recently-launched national strategy through 2021, said Maria Olave, an official of the International Labor Organization in Peru.

Olave welcomed the strategy calling it a "coordinated and comprehensive" effort that brings together representatives from different sectors of the government and the civil society.

"ILO wants the Peruvian State to implement the public policies under that document, which has specific indicators on reducing child labor. The country is committed to achieving that goal and we will provide technical assistance," Olave stated.

The ILO official said Peru has strengths to meet this national strategy, including a "never seen before inter-sectoral and inter-governmental coordination, but now the different levels of State and Government are strongly associated."

However, she said, there is much to be done, for example, Peru’s National Institute of Statistics and Informatics (INEI) lacks more complex measurements on the activities of children.

(END) DOP/MVF/RZZ/EEP

Published: 8/8/2012