This presentation by the Working Group on the Worst Forms of Child Labour was given at the session "Worst forms of child labour in the mining sector" during the 7th Multi-Stakeholder Forum on Responsible Mineral Supply Chains held on 26-28 May 2014 in Paris. Find out more at: http://mneguidelines.oecd.org/icglr-oecd-un-forum-paris-may-2014.htm

1. Working Group on
Worst Forms of Child
Labour in Mining
Proposed Actions for the Forum
7th Multi-stakeholder forum on
responsible mineral supply chains
28 May 2014 - Paris, France

2. Worst Forms of Child Labour in
Mining Working Group
• At the 6th Meeting of the ICGLR-OECD-UN GoE Forum on Responsible
Mineral Supply Chains, the Forum agreed to create an informal working
group on the Worst Forms of Child Labour in Mining to put forward a set
of recommendations to the Forum
• Working Group members include:
– Alliance for Responsible Mining
– Children’s Voice (based in the DRC)
– Human Rights Watch
– Pact
– NELICO (based in Tanzania)
– Government of Canada
– OECD Secretariat
• ILO definition of Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention 1999
(No. 182) and recommendation 190 (hazardous work)
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3. Today
• Review three actions the working group has suggested
for the Forum
• Get your feedback to these suggested actions
• Obtain approval to develop a fuller proposal to be
reviewed by the Multi-Stakeholder Group (MSG), and
shared with Forum participants at the 8th Forum in
November
• Invite participation from industry, producing country
governments and international organisations
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4. Action 1: Mainstream issue of WFCL
• Mainstream the issues of the WFCL in Mining
amongst Forum participants
– Continue to direct attention to the issue of the Worst Forms of Child
Labour (WFCL) in Mining during Forum meetings
– Invite experts from other industry initiatives (for example agriculture,
textiles, consumer goods) who are further ahead in addressing WFCL
issues to share insights, lessons learnt and solutions with the Forum
and stakeholder groups
– Invite key government including for example the Ministers for Mining,
and invite them to support commitments to fight child labour and
ensure that law enforcement in their respective countries is aligned to
this goal.
– Empower and support civil society on the ground to raise awareness to
the community on the negative impact of child labour in the mining and
the importance of education to the children and the community at large.
– Call on civil society actors, governments and industry to proactively
engage with governments and industry to address the WFCL in mining 4

5. Action 2: Common Approaches
• Develop a set of Common Approaches to address
the WFCL in Mining
– Draft a set of Common Approaches on the Worst Forms of Child
Labour (WFCL) similar to the Appendix on artisanal and small-scale
mining in the Supplement on Gold to help implement the OECD
Guidance
– The Common Approaches would lay out the steps that governments,
industry and civil society can take to address this challenge in a
practical and progressive way
– Forum stakeholders should develop Detailed Recommendations to
governments, industry and civil society in line with the above
Common Approaches. The Detailed Recommendations should
draw upon standards and recommendations already in existence for
governments
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6. Action 3: Encourage donor coordination
• The Forum could act as a platform to hear about,
develop and support projects to address the
WFCL in Mining, including:
– Country studies or case studies to understand the enabling conditions
needed to address the WFCL in Mining – these should draw upon
studies in other industries and feed into the Common Approaches and
Detailed Recommendations (Action 2)
– Baseline assessments of the awareness-levels of WFCL in Mining
amongst government and industry stakeholders in key producer
countries - building upon the initial baseline assessments currently
planned in the DRC and Colombia
– Evaluate impact of efforts in addressing the WFCL in Mining
– Launch a pilot programme to assess how small-scale mining operations,
traders, and refiners conduct child labor due diligence risks in their
supply chain, what are the key challenges, what are the emerging best
practices) 6

7. Thank you
• Questions & feedback to suggested actions
• Approval to develop a fuller proposal to be shared at the
8th Forum in November 2014
• Invite participation from industry, producing country
governments and international organisations
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