The International Labour Organization (ILO), in collaboration with the Government of Telangana, successfully convened the 16th Annual Meeting of the Child Labour Platform (CLP) at Hyderabad, marking a significant milestone: the official launch of the CLP Programme in India.
Under the theme "From Policy to Impact: Leveraging Knowledge and Action to Prevent Child Labour and Promote Competitiveness in Supply Chains", the meeting brought together CLP co-chairs, namely the International Organisation of Employers (IOE) and International Trade Union Congress (ITUC), government representatives and multinationals, to accelerate efforts aimed at eliminating child labour and promote decent work in supply chains. With 138 million children still engaged in child labour worldwide, the pace of progress has slowed, underscoring the urgent need for innovative, collaborative approaches.
India's pivotal role in global supply chains
India is a major supplier of agricultural commodities such as coffee, cotton, spices and sugarcane, which are integral to global supply chains. While notable progress has been achieved in reducing child labour globally, persistent challenges remain.
"Ensuring decent work for adults, social protection for both adults and children - including migrants - as well as quality education for children, fair recruitment practices and responsible business conduct are essential to breaking the cycle of child labour," said Michiko Miyamoto, Country Director, ILO India. "India's experience demonstrates that collaboration between business, government and social partners can drive real change."
The Child Labour Platform Programme in India: objectives and scope
The newly launched programme adopts an area-based approach, tailored to the unique challenges faced by migrant workers and their children across agricultural supply chains. It will initially focus on Karnataka and Telangana, with potential to expand to other states and supply chains.
The programme aims to increase awareness of fundamental principles and rights at work, particularly the elimination of child labour in coffee, spices, cotton and sugarcane sectors. It will improve access to public services and institutions for migrant workers to reduce socio-economic vulnerabilities that contribute to child labour. It will also strengthen the capacity of supply chain actors to develop and adopt fair recruitment and employment practices in the agriculture supply chain and enhance business due diligence systems in targeted areas to address root causes of child labour.
This initiative builds on the ILO's previous engagement in the cotton sector in Telangana and reflects India's commitment to implementation of national law on child labour as well as responsible business conduct, as enshrined in its National Guidelines on Responsible Business Conduct, which align with international frameworks such as the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and ILO conventions.
Global achievements and new commitments
The meeting showcased CLP's global achievements, including strengthened child labour monitoring and remediation systems in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda, and improved access to health insurance schemes in Côte d'Ivoire. Participants engaged in roundtables on area-based strategies, child labour due diligence, adequate wages and fair recruitment, exploring how these tools can address root causes across commodities and sectors.
Since its inception in 2012, the CLP has connected businesses across sectors - from agriculture and automobiles to luxury goods and construction materials - to tackle child labour in supply chains. In India, this journey began in 2022 with the establishment of the CLP India Country Working Group, followed by a qualitative study on child labour and interstate migration in Telangana in 2023, and training on child labour due diligence for CLP members and suppliers in 2024. All the deliberations among the members of the CLP India Country Working Group since 2022, culminated into finalisation of an India specific multistakeholders intervention programme in 2024. The programme has been now launched, which signals a new chapter in translating policy into measurable impact.
