Japan Tobacco International has reiterated its commitment to pursue what it describes as its flagship child labor elimination program ARISE.
This follows the deferment by the International Labor Organization (ILO) of a decision on a public-private partnership with the tobacco sector – reportedly the third such deferment in two years.
Since 1919, the ILO, the only tripartite UN agency bringing together governments, employers and workers has been charged with setting labour standards, develop policies and devising programs promoting decent work for all women and men within its 187 member-states.
In a note posted on its website, JTI said a meeting of the governing body of the ILO on Thursday had closed without reaching a consensus on whether to continue its partnership with the tobacco sector in the fight against child labor.
“Improving labor practices in our grower communities is a key priority for our company”, Elaine McKay, JTI’s social programs director, was quoted as saying.
“We regret that the hugely positive impact of our current partnership – taking over 30,000 children out of the fields since 2011 – is being jeopardized by the WHO’s FCTC [World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control] secretariat and other anti-tobacco activists. Over the past two years, they have constantly distorted and influenced the debate with unfounded allegations, prioritizing politics over concrete solutions to today’s child labor issues. This has been counterproductive and ignoring the real victims of this debate: children and workers in the tobacco sector, but also tobacco growing communities as a whole.”
“We remain fully committed to pursuing our fight against child labor with our dedicated programs, including ARISE – Achieving Reduction of child labor In Support of Education. We trust that the ILO will find a constructive solution to continue promoting decent work in the tobacco sector,” she said.
Child support reiterated
