EU delegation inspects child labour elimination projects in Chennai

Chennai, Feb 17 (ANI): A European Union (EU) delegation recently inspected the ongoing child labour elimination projects in Chennai.

The three-member delegation visited slum areas of Chennai and interacted with underprivileged children.

Daniele Smadja, Ambassador, delegation of the European Union to India said that both India and European Union shared common values and one of these was the protection of the child rights.

"Both India and European Union share a number of values one of these values is in respect to human rights there is a very important international instrument which is convention of child rights which we attach a lot of importance so its normal that India and the European Union share the same sort of values such as human rights, democracy and very much touch to the protection of the child and work also together concerning the eradication of child labour, unfortunately India is the country where there is the biggest number of child labours," said Smadja.

The European union has been funding a number of projects on child labour elimination in India.

Currently there are four ongoing projects-two in Tamil Nadu and two in West Bengal.

European Union mainly focuses on ensuring schooling opportunities for all children in the age group of 6-14.

Child labour is a key obstacle to child empowerment and the fulfilment of child rights. India has one of the largest numbers of child labourers in the world.

According to official estimates around 12.6 million children under the age of 14 are employed in various occupations such as domestic servants. (ANI)