At its 6th World Congress held in Cape Town, South Africa, in July 2011, Education International adopted its most recent resolution on Child Labour, calling on its member organisations to adopt specific policies and a programme of actions on child labour, as well as to support unions in developing countries fighting child labour.
Following the adoption of this resolution, EI organised an international conference on“School is the best place to work: Education unions against child labour”, in collaboration with its member organisations AOb in the Netherlands and GEW in Germany.
The Conference took place in Berlin, Germany, from 5 to 7 October 2012. The German Confederation of Trade Unions (DGB), Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES) and the International Labour Organisation’s Bureau for Workers' Activities (ILO-ACTRAV) also supported the conference.
The conference brought education unions from 30 countries from all over the world together to discuss the issue of child labour and their role as unions in the implementation of education for all.
The aim of the conference was to exchange experiences and collect good practices in fighting child labour in different countries. Further steps for solidarity cooperation to combat child labour and promote Education for All were explored. Finally, the participants looked at how to achieve coherence in campaigning on the linked issues of achieving decent work and education for all on the one hand and eliminating child labour on the other.