BEIJING, Nov. 28 (Xinhuanet) - A global task force will be set up for the first time to deal with the issue of child labor in international efforts to promote education for all, according to a proposal unanimously adopted by participants in Monday's meeting on Achieving Education for All and Elimination of Child Labor here.

    At the third Round Table of the UNESCO Fifth High Level Group Meeting on Education, education ministers and senior officials from governments and international organizations agreed to immediately launch a global task force to eliminate child labor and develop education for all after recognizing that key links between combating child labor and universal education exist.

    "If children continue to be an income source or a source of cheap labor, universal education won't be achieved," said Ad Melkert, World Bank Executive Director. "Only healthy and well-educated people can ensure sustainable economic development and social welfare to make education accessible to all."

    According to the 2002 statistics of the International Labor Office (ILO), 246 million children are engaged in child labor and 179 million of these boys and girls are involved in the worst forms of child labor. The Asia-Pacific region has the largest number of child workers in the 5-14 age group - some 127 million. Up-to-date figures will be released by the ILO next spring.

    The global task force, agreed the participants, will start to collect better data in countries as reality may be hidden, a precondition to set up effective strategies, and invite other partners to make cooperation broader not only between education and child labor agencies but on an international level.

    It will help increase political will and momentum to mainstream child labor issues, advocacy for coordination and support, and step up exchanges of best practices to help countries learn from each other.

    Chinese Education Minister Zhou Ji called at the meeting for increased international efforts and bilateral and multilateral cooperation.

    Participants agree that the fundamental way to combat child labor is to help families and communities develop their economies and eradicate poverty, which calls for the international community and governments to come up with practical and effective assistance to promote education.

    "Maintaining child labor is maintaining poverty. Only by getting the kids in school can their parents' income be increased, discouraging child labor," said Melkert. Enditem