VIENTIANE, Oct. 9 (Xinhua) -- The Lao Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare has called on all relevant organizations to help circulate the National Plan of Action on the Elimination of Child Labor in Laos so that its goals are widely known and put into practice.
The call came at a meeting of the International Labor Organization (ILO)'s tripartite constituents, namely the Lao Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare, Lao Federation of Trade Unions, and the Lao National Chamber of Commerce and Industry, according to Laopattana report on Monday.
The meeting, held in Lao capital Vientiane from Wednesday to Thursday, discussed the plan, efforts to create jobs for more young people, and the elimination of child labor in all its forms by 2025.
During the meeting, government officials, together with inspection officials from other ASEAN member states and representatives of the social sector, discussed action to accelerate national-level strategies to eliminate child labor.
Meeting participants agreed on a set of recommendations, including strengthening the institutional and human capacity of the labor inspection system to more effectively detect and address cases of child labor.
The Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare and the Ministry of Planning and Investment's National Statistics Bureau carried out the first workforce survey and child labor survey in Laos in 2022, which was supported by the ILO.
The survey was conducted in age groups between 5 and 17 and urban areas throughout the country and found that at least 172,000 children were in employment. ■
