INTRODUCTION
1.
By resolution 6 B (XXXI) of 13 September 1978, paragraph 9, the Sub-Commission decided "to inscribe the subject of the exploitation of child labour on the agenda for its thirty-second session in 1979, International Year of the Child."
2.
In the same resolution, paragraph 12, the Sub-Commission requested the Secretary-General "to co-operate with the United Nations agencies concerned with the question of the exploitation of child labour through the exchange of information, the preparation of joint studies and similar activities, and to report to the Working Group at its fifth session."
3. The resolution contains other provisions indicating the concern of the Sub-Commission over the question of the exploitation of child labour. In paragraph 7, the Sub-Commission invited "Goverments which may need assistance in dealing with slavery-like practices which may exist in their countries", including the exploitation of child labour, "to avail themselves of the International Labour Organization's technical assistance programme in order to solve these problems." In paragraph 8, it requested the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) "to gather evidence concerning the sale of children, and to give information on this question to the Working Group." In paragraph 10, it urged all States which had not yet done so to ratify and implement the Convention Concerning Minimum Age for Admission to Employment, 1973 (No. 138). In paragraph 11, it appealed to the Governments concerned "to press privately-owned industries to amerliorate the conditions of work of children and to seek ways and means of enforcing relevant existing legislation."
4.
In pursuance of its mandate, which, as laid down in Economic and Social Council decision 16 (LVI) of 17 May 1974 and Sub-Commission resolution 11 (XXVII) of 21 August 1974, includes reviewing "developments in the field of slavery and the slave trade in all their practices and manifestations" as defined in, inter alia, the Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade, and Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery of 1956, the Working Group on Slavery has examined allegations concerning the exploitation of child labour in some countries since its first session. Allegations have also been submitted to the Group concerning the sale of children for the purpose of exploiting their labour, particularly as domestic servants. These allegations, and the relevant discussions in the Working Group, and its recommendations, are reflected in the Group's reports to the Sub-Commission. 1/
5.
In resolution 5 (XXIX) of 31 August 1976, the Sub-Commission requested the Working Group "to continue its study of the problems of slavery and the slave trade in all its practices and manifestations", including "such manifestations as the sale of children...
6
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At its third session, the Working Group had before it a paper prepared by the Secretary-General, summarizing various aspects of the problem of the sale of children, including its relevance to the question of the exploitation of child labour. 2/
1/ E/CN.4/Sub.2/AC.2/3; E/CN.4/Sub.2/373; E/CN.4/Sub.2/389; E/CN.4/Sub.2/410. 2/ E/CN.4/Sub.2/AC.2/11.