33. The International Labour Organisation remarked that "the tabulated data only shows the tip of the iceberg' as the status of 'economically active' young persons is both a controversial definitional problem and a sensitive issue with governments.
Behind the statistics, it can be easily surmised that a much larger number of children are engaged in economic activities". 14/
34. According to available information, the great majority of working children are to be found in agriculture or in small-scale industries in rural areas, and in workshops or quasi-family undertakings in urban areas. The International Labour Organisation has pointed out that many of these children work under conditions detrimental to their health and welfare. Even when the danger of exploitation is less because the children are working in a family undertaking, they are deprived of schooling. The training they receive while working cannot compensate them for the education they have missed. 15/
35. The International Labour Organisation has identified poverty and the lack of educational opportunities as the most basic causes of child labour. Many children are forced to work in order to contribute to the family income or to, at least, their own support. The inadequacy of legislation, insufficient enforcement, and the lack of public concern over child labour in a number of countries have been mentioned as additional causes. The International Labour Organisation has therefore indicated that the fundamental pre-requisite for the elimination of child labour is an overall attack against poverty and under-development, coupled with the enactment and enforcement of minimum age legislation and programmes to educate public opinion. 16/
B. Types of child labour 17/
1. Child labour in industry
36. It appears from available information that child labour is least apparent in large-scale, relatively modern industry. On the other hand, according to several observers, governmental and not, including International Labour Organisation experts and officials, child labour is often employed in small, marginal factories that rely on keeping labour costs to a minimum. Such factories are most numerous in Asia and, to a somewhat lesser extent, in Latin America and
14/ Ibid, p. 5.
15/ Ibid, pp. 5 and 7.
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16/ Ibid, pp. 5-6; International Labour Office, International Year of the Child Synthesis of ILO Inputs (March 1977 - July 1978), July 1978 (ILO/Y.3/1978).
17/ This section is based mainly on the report prepared by the International Labour Office for the International Labour Conference, fifty-seventh session, op.cit.
In addition, the Anti-Slavery Society for the Protection of Human Rights submitted a report entitled "Child Labour in the World Today" to the fourth session of the Working Group on Slavery, and a number of country studies to the fifth session of the Group.
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