Background "A teacher affects eternity," observed Henry Adams. Teachers are one of society's most valuable resources and are important catalysts for social transformation. They have played important roles in addressing social justice issues throughout history. Today, teachers continue to lead the way in this tradition to address one of the most critical global issues of our time, that of exploitative and abusive forms of child labor. Around the world, an estimated 246 million children ages 5-17, are engaged in child labor. The majority of them work in conditions considered illegal, hazardous, or extremely exploitative. Children can be found working in all sorts of jobs, including agriculture, fishing, manufacturing, mining, domestic servitude, forced prostitution, and illicit activities. This reality, unfortunately, is not widely known or understood. There is an urgent need to raise greater awareness about this issue. Teachers, we believe, are important professionals who can help to achieve this goal. Through their teaching, they can directly contribute to the global effort to combat exploitative child labor. The UI Center for Human Rights is dedicated to providing teachers the necessary resources and opportunities to enable them to contribute to this global effort. Project Overview The UICHR, in collaboration with other leading organizations, organized the first national training conference, "Teaching About Global Child Labor" on July 26-27, 2004 in Iowa City. A total of 35 teachers from across the nation were selected through a competitive process for this special training opportunity. For two days, they participated in intensive training on global child labor. Several practitioners, well-known for their expertise on child labor in Africa, Asia, and Latin America traveled far to contribute to this training program. Mr. Kailash Satyarthi, founder and chairperson of Global March Against Child Labor, gave the keynote address at the conference. All teachers received a complete set child labor modules developed as part of the Child Labor Research Initiative. The conference organizers also ensured children's participation by integrating local youth leaders as conference speakers and participants. Project Personnel The training event was coordinated by former UICHR Deputy Director Chivy Sok, with the assistance of Graduate Assistant Tii Russell and the UICHR staff. Project Status The "Teaching About Global Child Labor" training conference was held on on July 26-27, 2004 and was a one-time event. Archived conference materials include: Conference Flyer (PDF format) Conference Agenda: July 26 (PDF format) Conference Agenda: July 27 (PDF format) The Child Labor Curriculum Modules used for the event can be found on the Educational Innovation project materials page. Visit the UICHR home page for news on future UICHR-sponsored human rights teacher training events. Further Information For further information, please contact: UI Center for Human Rights Email: uichr@uiowa.edu
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