2006年VOA标准英语-ILO Says Child Labor Declining in Asia

By Claudia Blume
Hong Kong
04 May 2006

The International Labor¹ Organization says child labor - especially in its worst forms - is on the decline for the first time across the globe. Asia is one of the regions where the number of working children has dropped significantly.

--------------------------------------------------------

Young boy works on tire at garage in Allahabad, India  
  

A report by the International Labor Organization says there are five million fewer working children in the Asia-Pacific region today than there were four years ago.

The ILO says Thailand, Malaysia and China are among those countries where child labor has declined significantly.

Panudda Boonpala is a child labor specialist at the ILO's regional office in Bangkok. She says economic growth in certain countries has played an important role in the reduction of child labor. She says, however, that economic improvements need to go hand in hand with better access to education, and with the political will to stop child labor.

"In the situation where poverty reduction targets rural poor, for example, and at the same time expands basic education for the same population, and works at the same time on law enforcement in certain economic sectors² where child labor is a common practice, then the chance to have child labor reduction grows much faster," she said.

Despite the decline, the ILO estimates there are still more than 122 million children aged³ between five and 14 working in Asia, the highest number of child laborers⁴ in the world.

In some countries, the number of child laborers has gone up in the past few years. Panudda says crisis situations - including the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami⁵, last year's earthquake in Pakistan and political unrest in countries like Sri Lanka and Afghanistan have forced many children to enter the labor force.

"Children who have lost their families, even sometimes the family is there but the livelihoods⁶ of the family is gone - and many of these children are at risk of entering (the) labor force after the crisis," she explained.

Panudda says one of the most positive developments in recent years is that a number of countries in the region - such as the Philippines, Indonesia, Pakistan and Cambodia - have set up deadlines to eliminate what the ILO calls the worst forms of child labor. These include bonded⁷ labor, commercial sexual exploitation, the use of children for illicit⁸ activities such as drug trafficking, and work that is considered dangerous, such as mining and deep sea fishing.

The ILO believes that these forms of child labor could be wiped out worldwide in ten years. Panudda says she is optimistic that Asia will be among the regions that will meet this target.

1 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

2 sectors   

n.部门( sector的名词复数 )；领域；防御地区；扇形

参考例句：

• Berlin was divided into four sectors after the war. 战后柏林分成了4 个区。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Industry and agriculture are the two important sectors of the national economy. 工业和农业是国民经济的两个重要部门。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

4 laborers   

n.体力劳动者，工人( laborer的名词复数 )；（熟练工人的）辅助工

参考例句：

• Laborers were trained to handle 50-ton compactors and giant cranes. 工人们接受操作五十吨压土机和巨型起重机的训练。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Wage-labour rests exclusively on competition between the laborers. 雇佣劳动完全是建立在工人的自相竞争之上的。 来自英汉非文学 - 共产党宣言

5 tsunami   

n.海啸

参考例句：

• Powerful quake sparks tsunami warning in Japan.大地震触发了日本的海啸预警。
• Coastlines all around the Indian Ocean inundated by a huge tsunami.大海啸把印度洋沿岸地区都淹没了。

6 livelihoods   

生计，谋生之道( livelihood的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• First came the earliest individualistic pioneers who depended on hunting and fishing for their livelihoods. 走在最前面的是早期的个人主义先驱者，他们靠狩猎捕鱼为生。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• With little influence over policies, their traditional livelihoods are threatened. 因为马赛族人对政策的影响力太小，他们的传统生计受到了威胁。

7 bonded   

n.有担保的，保税的，粘合的

参考例句：

• The whisky was taken to bonded warehouses at Port Dundee.威士忌酒已送到邓迪港的保稅仓库。
• This adhesive must be applied to both surfaces which are to be bonded together.要粘接的两个面都必须涂上这种黏合剂。

8 illicit   

adj.非法的，禁止的，不正当的

参考例句：

• He had an illicit association with Jane.他和简曾有过不正当关系。
• Seizures of illicit drugs have increased by 30% this year.今年违禁药品的扣押增长了30%。