5.5 million kilometres march

End Child Slavery Week

Vision

To mobilise worldwide efforts to end child slavery.

End Child Slavery Week 2014 Demand

That the eradication of child slavery be made an international post-2015 Development Goal.

Overall Strategy

To bring civil society organisations, the public sector, private sector and citizens of the world together
to stage the boldest and most influential global campaign of our time to end child slavery.

What?
End Child Slavery Week (ECSW) will provide a unique and powerful platform for stakeholdersinternationally to pool their talent base, financial resources and influential networks to put the
suffering of children in slavery in the brightest of spotlights on the world stage. Through publicpressure, immediate action by the UN, governments and business leaders will be demanded to make
the atrocity of child slavery a priority in national legislation, policies and programmes to achieve real and lasting outcomes for all children trapped in the living hell of slavery, turning in their life a new leafby realising all their rights, particularly freedom from exploitation and inclusion in education.

Why?

According to 2012 ILO estimates, there are a minimum of 5.5 million children in forced labour aroundthe world, and 85 million children currently engaged in hazardous work in need ofimmediate and urgent help. Forced labour is a subset of slavery therefore the statistics of child slavery would be farhigher. The figure of 5.5 million children in forced labour has not changed since the 2005 estimates.This means that the world is failing millions of children across the globe suffering horrific abuse, whilethose with the power to change things standby idly.The first step to ending this travesty against justice is to make the end of child slavery a global
priority. A worldwide movement against child slavery via a highly coordinated campaign for a focusedperiod of time every year is now urgently needed to secure the immediate rescue, rehabilitation andrepatriation of all children imprisoned by slavery.


When?

The timing for End Child Slavery Week 2014 is from Thursday November 20th - Wednesday November 26th to coincide with both the Trust Women’s Conference in London on November 19th
(staged by Thomson Reuters Foundation who have generously offered this star studded event as the launching pad for the inaugural ECSW) and Universal Children’s Day on November 20th
.
How?

One specific matter in need of reform as agreed by ECSW partners will form the basis of an overarching demand each year, with pressure maintained on that matter until it is addressed. “The
Big Picture” or longer term objectives will also be communicated through various channels, with the ECSW website serving as a forum for participating countries to draw attention to highpriority nationalissues and associated objectives, backed by strong research and evidence.

ECSW 2014 Strategy

• Letters from several influential political figures and a joint letter from all ECSW partnerorganisations will be sent to heads of states in all countries, urging them to demand that theeradication of child slavery be included as a priority and matter of utmost urgency in the post-2015Development Agenda.
• Ground breaking social media campaign incorporating an online petition and virtual march to rally a minimum of 5.5 million signatures/march 5.5 million kilometres (1 petition signature = 1 km), representing the minimum 5.5 million children in slavery around the world.
• High profile marches led by children rescued from slavery in cities around the world.
• Events, activities, meetings and media coverage in participating countries with a focus on local demands.
• Delivery of petition signatures to the UN Secretary General by ECSW co-signatories in a prearranged meeting.
• Delivery of petition signatures to heads of states in all countries by senior representatives from ECSW partner organisations, preferably in a prearranged meeting.
• ECSW will be followed by a series of specific and time bound action points, with campaign performance judged against mutually agreed upon indicators and periodic reporting of progress
disseminated to all stakeholders.


http://globalmarch.org/sites/default/files/ECSW_Summary_Concept_Note.pdf