International Law Book Facility Officially Launched

There has been growing international consensus on issues related to child labour – evident in various declarations, platforms, conventions, programmes of action etc. Child labour is the economic exploitation of children, or performance of any work that is likely to be hazardous or to interfere with the child’s health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development. Poverty is the principal cause of child labour. Mostly the children work to support their families and also for their own survival. Paradoxically, however, child labour further aggravates the poverty syndrome as it usually deprives the children of education and opportunity to acquire skills for developing earning potentials. Other causes of child labour include family indebtedness, the lack or poor quality of schooling or non‐formal education, breakdown of extended family, uneducated parents, local cultural setting, and consumerism. It goes beyond economic exploitation or hazardous employment to include forced labour, trafficking, sexual exploitation and the use of children for the production and trafficking of illegal drugs. This article will ponder the socio‐legal situation of child labour and the large number of legislative enactments regarding labour in India, as well as their realities on the ground.     

Industrial Policies and Development Cooperation for a Learning Society

In the countries that have been most successful in development over the past half century, government played a central role (the development state), especially through industrial policies that promoted manufacturing exports. But changes in the global economy mean that African countries won’t be able to rely on the manufacturing export-led growth model. This paper analyzes the reasons for the success of that model, and shows how the same outcomes can be achieved through a multipronged strategy, a comprehensive development plan that pays particular attention to learning and employment.