Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-06-13-Speech-4-174"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20020613.6.4-174"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Mr President, it is not because my country has not qualified for the World Cup, but along with my fellow MEPs from other groups and from our group, I think we should seize the euphoria surrounding the World Cup in Korea and Japan to consider the perpetual losers: the children aged six, ten or twelve, who stitch together footballs in India, Pakistan and other countries.
Three reports were presented at the press conference of Global March Against Child Labour in New Delhi last month. They furnish the proof that child labour is still the order of the day in the production of sports equipment. For example, according to a report from the Dutch National India Working Group, the number of children working in the Indian production of sports equipment full-time has hardly fallen over the past four years. This despite an inspection scheme introduced by FIFA. Other reports of a similar kind denounce the situation in Pakistan and China. Admittedly, FIFA demonstrated its good will in 1996 by concluding an agreement with the international trade union on the code of conduct to banish child labour and poor working conditions. However, this code has not been implemented to date, and the reports I mentioned earlier show that we are still a long way off the set goal. Hence the express appeal to FIFA to speed up the implementation of this code.
We all know that child labour is a complex matter. Our campaign should not only be confined to calling FIFA and the manufacturers to task over this in an overbearing manner. The production of sports equipment is certainly not the only, and not even the most important, sector in which children work. In order to tackle the problem at the roots, cooperation is required between industry, civil society, as well as the governments and international organisations involved. After all, we need to look for alternatives where labour, education, income and education are concerned. The countries involved must be reminded of their duty to monitor existing rules effectively.
I should like to underline that this resolution should not be considered as a targeted attack on one specific form of child abuse, or aimed at one specific sector in industry and one product. However, the World Cup is an illustration of the extreme contrasts in our world. Between the fit and healthy children who copy the World Cup on the streets in the richer world and the children on the Indian Subcontinent who stitch together leather footballs in sweatshops all day long. In this way, the World Cup 2002 forms a starting point to remind everyone – manufacturers, governments, international organisation and the public – of their own responsibilities. This is why I warmly support this urgent procedure."@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples