​ ​Programme Director

ILO Director in South Africa, Dr Joni Musabayana​

Minister in the Presidency, Ms. Maite Nkoana- Mashabane

Deputy Minister Boitumelo Moloi

MEC of KZN Social Development, Ms. NM Khoza

Directors General of Department of Employment and Labour

Members of the Coordinating Team

Representatives of different Media Houses

​Ladies and Gentlemen:

It is our greatest honour to welcome everyone to eThekwini this morning; where we are formally launching the upcoming Fifth ILO (International Labour Organisation) Global Conference on the Elimination of Child Labour that will take place in this beautiful city from 15–20 May 2022.

In collaboration with the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the Department of Employment and Labour will host the Conference for the first time on African soil.

Earlier versions of this important gathering also took place in the Americas and Europe.

The global estimates on child labour that were jointly released by the ILO and UNICEF last year show that although there has been some progress in reducing incidences of child labour across the world, the African continent still lags behind other regions.

The time is therefore opportune for the global community to converge on African soil to find solutions that will help our continent, in particular, to deal with the reported highest prevalence and largest number of working children.

In 2019, the United Nations General Assembly committed to ending child labour by 2025. As such, the main goal of the Conference will thus be to assess progress toward achieving Goal 8.7 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

After the devastating natural disaster that befell KwaZulu- Natal and Durban in the last weeks, it is important that we go ahead and hold the Conference in eThekwini as a show of support and solidarity with the people of the province and the Republic of South Africa.

After the devastating natural disaster that befell KwaZulu- Natal and Durban in the last weeks, it is important that we go ahead and hold the Conference in eThekwini as a show of support and solidarity with the people of the province and the Republic of South Africa.

As part of that show of solidarity, the conference organisers took a decision to forego the usual social events that characterise these events.

A unique aspect of this conference which we are proud of as South Africa, is the extent to which child participation will feature greatly. Children will be participating throughout the conference both virtually and physically with children representing all provinces in South Africa, the African continent, as well as the 5 regions of the globe effectively known as the 5 ILO regions.

There is also a dedicated Children's forum which will also contribute to the outcomes of the conference to ensure that the voice of children is heard and appreciated. Living true to the notion of 'nothing about us without us'.

The Conference will bring together stakeholders from all over the world that will be drawn from governments, labour, business, civil society and international organisations such as UNICEF, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the World Bank.

The event will assume a hybrid format which will allow people to participate from wherever they are in the world.

At least 2,500 attendees will be present at the Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre and more than 5,000 people will follow the proceedings from wherever they are on the virtual platform.

We are hopeful that the hosting of this conference will bring about the needed occupancy in accommodation establishments, as well as contribute to the greater value chain of the tourism and hospitality sector, especially the meeting and conference venues which were closed for over 18 months during the Covid-19 lockdown period.

The participants will engage, share best practices, advance policies and commit to the elimination of child labour. This is in line with the commitment of global leaders during the 2019 session of the UN General Assembly to end child labour by 2025.

At the end of the Conference, it is anticipated that they will adopt a document, entitled the 'Durban Call for Action', which will commit everyone to promoting decent work, expanding educational opportunities, promoting universal social protection, and financing child labour elimination.

The Director-General of the Department of Employment and Labour will briefly talk on the state of readiness of the Local Organising Committee in receiving the dignitaries and the different delegations from different countries who will be attending the conference and the programme and focus of the conference.

Over to you DG.

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