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Assistant Secretary Jendayi E. Frazer Statement

Combat Child Labor - June 13, 2006

I want to thank you for letting me be a part of this important event, even if only from afar.  It is a privilege for me to address such a courageous gathering of young people.  Many of you here are victims of child labor, but you have not allowed yourself to remain victims, and have fought back -- taking your future into your own hands, changing the course of your lives, by learning a trade, returning to school, and preparing for tomorrow.

Trafficking in human beings and child labor are nothing less than a modern form of slavery, an offense against human dignity, a crime in which human beings, many of them teenagers and young children, are bought and sold, where children are forced to work long hours with little or no pay in dangerous conditions or in a humiliating fashion. 

The United States is determined to end this modern form of slavery.  We have a particular duty to fight this scourge because trafficking in persons and child labor is an affront to the principles of human dignity and liberty, upon which this nation was founded.

Today you are here to honor the talents of all these children.  I want to congratulate the NGO community in Cameroon on all the tireless work you are doing for these children, working day in and day out with them and making such a profound difference in their lives.    

To the children who are participating in this joint U.S. Embassy / ILO event, I applaud your courage, your determination and your talent.  While I cannot erase the past and wipe away the tragedies that have marked your young lives, I can promise you that you have our support and our encouragement.  Here at the State Department we work hard everyday to combat child labor, prosecute those who benefit from it, and rehabilitate those, like so many of you here today, who were victims of it.

Please be assured that the United States, its government, its people and its representatives at our Embassies care about you, and will continue to fight to protect you and to make your future brighter.

Jendayi E. Frazer