On the World Day Against Child Labor, June 12, the Foreign Ministry reiterates its commitment to prevent children and adolescents from being subjected to working conditions that impede their full physical and mental development and to fully comply with international standards.

The Mexican government backs the campaign against child labor that the International Labor Organization's (ILO) has had since 2002, whose theme this year is "In conflict and disasters, protect children from child labor."

Mexico is fully convinced of the need to create conditions conducive to safeguarding the fundamental rights of children and adolescents in accordance with the international legal framework. Our country has been a party to the Convention concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labor (ILO Convention 182) since 2000, and in 2015 it ratified ILO Convention 138 on a minimum working age.  In addition, with the support of the ILO, in 2013 we launched the Mexico without Child Labor campaign to raise public awareness and mobilize society against this problem.

As part of the National Development Plan 2013-2018 and, specifically, in compliance with strategy 4.3.2 to promote dignified or decent work and to contribute to the eradication of child labor, the Mexican government has taken steps to strengthen the institutional and legal framework with a focus on prevention.  In 2014, Article 123 of the Constitution was amended to raise the minimum working age from 14 to 15 so that children could finish their elementary education. This enabled Mexico to ratify Convention 138.

In addition, the Interministerial Commission for the Prevention and Eradication of Child Labor and Protection of Adolescent Workers of Legal Working Age in Mexico (CITI), chaired by the Labor Ministry (STPS), was created in 2013 with the active participation of the Foreign Ministry. The purpose of the CITI is to coordinate the federal agencies involved in designing, implementing and evaluating policies, programs and actions to prevent and eradicate child labor and protect young workers of legal working age.  On June 9, 2017, the Labor Ministry signed a collaboration agreement with the National System for the Integral Development of the Family (SNDIF) to enhance the actions of both agencies in the prevention and eradication of child labor. 

These steps are indicative of the fact that eradicating child labor is a priority on both the national and international political agendas.