Tabu Kinderarbeit? – Kinder kämpfen für ihr Recht, zu arbeiten

In the organizer's words:

The 2030 Agenda wanted to end child labor by 2025. It has not worked. Millions of children in the Global South work - not for fun, but to survive or to support their families. Since the 1970s, young working people have been organizing themselves in children's unions and fighting for their rights. Their point? Working is not the problem - the exploitative conditions are!

Adultism & discrimination criticism - Child labour is often reflexively tabooed in the Global North because we have globalized our Eurocentric idea of childhood. In doing so, we ignore adultism - the power differential between adults and children. Time to question this!

What can you expect?

• Reflection on approaches to development education: decolonial and empowering rather than eliminative and charitable approaches

• Impulses from ProNATs: Why the "abolish child labor" narrative is a postcolonial myth
• A critical look at volunteering: Helping without reproducing colonial patterns
• Action Steps: How can we really support young working people?

For whom?

• People involved in development education, NGOs & volunteering
• Students & activists who question global power relations
• Anyone who wants to engage with discrimination criticism & adultism

The participation fee is 25 euros (including certificate of participation)

Registration: ehemaligenarbeit@invia-koeln.de, registration deadline is September 8, 2025