In the Universal Declaration of Human Rights it is stated that ‘every organ of society’ should contribute to ensuring that human rights are observed and implemented. This of course includes the business community. The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) (PDF), which has been ratified by almost all countries worldwide, obliges states to ‘recognize the right of the child to be protected from economic exploitation and from performing any work that is likely to be hazardous or to interfere with the child’s education or to be harmful to the child’s health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development’ (Article 32.1.CRC). National governments have committed themselves to incorporating this obligation in national legislation so that their citizens and organisations, including businesses, comply with international agreements – at home, but also in operations outside their home markets.

The OECD Guidelines (PDF) for multinational enterprises spell out what the national governments of OECD member states expect from the businesses sector – both within and outside their home markets, and throughout their supply chains – and this includes combating child labour. In the Guidelines, it is specified that businesses should encourage their suppliers and subcontractors to comply with them as well.

Furthermore, the United Nations’ Global Compact spells out principles that businesses should adhere to – including principle 5 : taking effective action to end child labour.

The two ‘Conventions’ on child labour of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), ratified by more than three-fourth of all countries, are the most explicit in specifying what combating child labour should amount to in practice. These are the Minimum Age Convention (No.138) and the Convention on the Worst Forms of Child Labour (No. 182). These Conventions have been jointly drafted in the ILO by national governments, employer’s associations and trade unions. The business community is therefore politically and morally obliged to implement them. The Minimum Age Convention specifies that working is banned for children under the age of 15 (developing countries may opt for 14 years’ of age); light work is allowed for 12-and-13-year-olds in most developing countries provided it does not interfere with their schooling. The Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention includes a ban on hazardous work for children under the age of 18. Of course this Convention also bans ‘working’ as a child soldier, in drugs trafficking, pornography and prostitution, and forced labour.