From: <g.oonk@indianet.nl>
Date: Fri, Jun 4, 2010 at 8:47 PM
Subject: Successful petition | How mining effects children, women,
adivasi, dalits | ISO 26000 Guidance | More
To:
Dear reader,
Here is another round of news on the activities of the India Committee
of The Netherlands (ICN) and some coalitions in which it participates.
Successful petition presented at Global Child labour Conference
Over the last two months we have asked your support for the petition
'Stop Child labour - Every Child to School'. A big thanks to everyone
of you who made this petition a success!
During the Global Child labour Conference on the 10th of May Mr.
Venkat Reddy, co-ordinator of the Indian NGO MV Foundation together
with the chairperson of the Dutch Federation of Trade Unions, Mrs.
Agnes Jongerius, presented more than 12.000 signatures to the
chairperson of the Conference, Minister Piet Hein Donner of the
Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment of The Netherlands. See also
conference website:
http://www.childlabourconference2010.com/
At the Conference a Roadmap for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of
Child Labour was adopted after long negotiations of country
representatives, trade unions, employers organizations and NGOs. An
important result of the petition, in which we argued for a global
policy to eliminate all forms of child labour (and not only the worst
forms), is the following statement in the Preamble of the Roadmap:
'Considering that action to eliminate the worst forms of child labour
is most effective and sustainable when it is situated within action to
eliminate all child labour, including through area-based and
sector-based programmes''
The full Roadmap can be found here:
http://www.indianet.nl/pdf/roadmapchildlabour.pdf
Mining and its effects on children, women, Adivasi and Dalits
Reports recently released by Indian NGOs reveal the desperate
situation for children and adults living and working in mining areas
in India. Among them Dalits, Adivasi and women are the main victims.
The report India's Childhood in the "Pits" published by HAQ, SAMATA
and mines, minerals and People (mmP) shows that districts that are
entirely dependent on mining have a lower literacy rate than the
national average. The mortality rate of children under five years of
age is higher. Child labour is rampant.
GRAVIS has released the report Women Miners in Rajasthan, India. The
report explores the harsh everyday life and work of female quarry
workers in Rajasthan. An article on these two reports and the reports
themselves can be found here:
http://www.dalits.nl/pdf/MiningAndItsEffectOnChildren.pdf
Action Plan for Companies Against Child labour presented to Dutch
Foreign Minister
On the 26 of May FNV chair Agnes Jongerius en ICN director Gerard Oonk
presented the Dutch version of the Action Plan for Companies to Combat
Child Labour' to the Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Maxime
Verhagen. The Minister wrote a preface to this Dutch edition in which
he urges companies to use the Action Plan in a step-by-step approach
to eradicate child labour in their supply-chains. The presentation of
the Action Plan took place in the store of high-end garment retailer
McGregor in Amsterdam, one of the members of the FairWear Foundation.
The FairWear Foundation is a multi-stakeholder initiative of around 50
companies, unions and NGOs that co-operate to improve working
conditions in the global garment industry and also try to eradicate
child labour. The Minister interviewed participants in the FairWear
Foundation on how they tackled child labour in their production chain.
You can find the Action Plan here:
http://www.indianet.nl/pdf/actionplanchildlabour.pdf
ISO 26000: new international Guidance Standard for Social
Responsibility of Organizations
As representative of the Dutch CSR Platform (consisting of 35
organizations in the field of development, human rights, environment,
fair trade as well as the two Dutch trade union federations) the
director of ICN was closely involved in the development of an
international Guidance Standard for the Social Responsibility of
organizations, a project of the International Organization for
Standardization (ISO).
In May 2010 the Guidance Standard was finalized during a working
conference in Copenhagen. It now has to be voted on by the National
Standard Bodies that are members of ISO. A large number of developing
countries, not only their governments but also their NGOs, unions,
consumer organizations and employer's organizations, were closely
involved in the five year process of developing the standard. Some
crucial issues for ICN like human rights, labour rights, child labour
and caste-based discrimination are also adequately reflected in the
document. Please find the ISO press release on ISO 26000 here:
http://www.iso.org/iso/pressrelease.htm?refid=Ref1321
The unedited final version of the ISO 26000 Guidance Standard for
Social Responsibility can (still) be found on www.iso.org/wgsr (see
upper right hand corner of homepage: Meeting 8 Copenhagen: N191 ISO
26000 Revised Draft 21 May)
Kind regards,
Gerard Oonk
director India Committee of the Netherlands
Mariaplaats 4e,
3511 LH Utrecht
tel. 030-2321340; fax.030-2322246
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