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Kyrgyzstan ratifies treaty on combating worst forms of child labour - UN agency

Kyrgyzstan ratifies treaty on combating worst forms of child labour - UN agency

Kyrgyzstan has become the 150th country to ratify the fundamental worldwide standard for combating the worst forms of child labour, putting the treaty within sight of universal ratification by all 177 members of the United Nations International Labour Organization (ILO), the agency announced today.

Kyrgyzstan has become the 150th country to ratify the fundamental worldwide standard for combating the worst forms of child labour, putting the treaty within sight of universal ratification by all 177 members of the United Nations International Labour Organization (ILO), the agency announced today.

ILO Convention No. 182, which provides the basis for national law and practice against the worst forms of child labour, was adopted in 1999 and has received the most ratifications in the shortest time of any treaty in the agency's 85-year history. Should the convention be ratified by all ILO Member States, it would become the first of the agency's conventions to receive universal support.

"This rapid pace of ratification shows that world opinion has taken a determined stand against the scourge of child labour, particularly in its cruellest and most exploitative forms," said ILO Director General Juan Somavia.

The convention identifies the worst forms of child labour as those which have a "debilitating effect on the health, morals or psychological well-being of children," including work in dangerous industrial activities such as mining, illegal activities such as prostitution, pornography or drug trafficking, work in extreme conditions of heat or cold and work that involves exposure to hazardous substances or chemicals.