Music Against Child Labour Initiative

The Music Against Child Labour Initiative is calling on orchestras, choirs, and musicians of all genres worldwide to dedicate one concert in their planned repertoire, between October 2013 and December 2014, to the struggle against child labour. The first concert was performed in October 2013 during the Global Conference on Child Labour in Brasilia.

Artists are also being asked to sign on to the campaign’s Music against Child Labour Initiative Manifesto, denouncing child labour and calling for action to end it. This joint Manifesto explains the reasons behind this Initiative: that music, which unites all human beings, can touch and raise the awareness of a new audience and strengthen the worldwide movement against child labour; that it can also improve the quality of life and the quality of education of children and youth; music can strengthen learning and build children's self-confidence; and children can gain new experiences and be involved collectively in the production and performance of great art.

As part of the campaign, in December 2013 in Abidjan, Cote D’Ivoire, singers of different genres, including rap and reggae, together with actors and novelists, launched two new music videos dedicated to the struggle against child labour. The artists formed a "Choeur pour l’abolition du travail des enfants," a choir for the abolition of child labour, to use their talents and celebrity to raise awareness about the problem in their country and to mobilise action to end it.

The initiative will include the development of a module on music as part of the Supporting Children’s Rights through Education, the Arts and the Media (SCREAM) programme. IOL believes that involving socially excluded children in structured musical activity and education can help protect them from child labour. Engaging girls and boys in collective musical activity can support their withdrawal and protection from child labour and assist in building their skills and self-esteem. Access to musical and other creative education makes schools more attractive to children and helps to ensure they continue their education and are protected from risk.

Click here to sign up to the campaign or pledge support.

Child labour

According to the IOL, over the last decade, the international community has become aware of the problem of child labour and has increased legal and policy action against it. However, millions of children are still working in different types of child labour. The SCREAM programme is an education and social mobilisation initiative that relies heavily on the arts, and is designed to help educators, in formal and non-formal education settings worldwide, to cultivate young people’s understanding of the causes and consequences of child labour. SCREAM is based on the four pillars of the "learning to know, learning to do, learning to live together, and learning to be" education approach.  Through SCREAM, thousands of young people around the world, as individuals or in groups, have become engaged in creative and fruitful initiatives to raise awareness about child labour and have become young advocates for a fair globalisation.