Brasília, March 10, 2003 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - On March 13-14, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the International Labor Organization's International Program to Erradicate Child Labor (ILO-Ipec) will hold a seminar in Managua (capital of Nicaragua) on the best ways to combat child labor in Latin America.

During the meeting the participants will analyze various programs that have achieved positive results in combatting child labor. The programs have been developed by governmental bodies, private organizations, labor unions, and civil society entities in Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Equador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua.

For its part, the ILO-Ipec will present its system for program evaluation, using as examples the cases of national campaigns against child labor in Brazil and Colombia. According to IDB researchers, despite social indicators that point to improvements over the last decade in school enrollment and the survival rate of children under 5, child labor rates have remained elevated. (DAS)