A/HRC/18/30 22. The concept of slavery and slavery-like practices cannot be analysed without referral to the development of international human rights instruments, starting with the adoption in 1948 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which establishes the principle of the prohibition of slavery in all its forms. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights went on to legally prohibit slavery in all its forms, including servitude and forced labour (art. 8), while the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights recognizes that children should be protected from economic and social exploitation. Additionally “their employment in work harmful to their morals or health or dangerous to life or likely to hamper their normal development should be … punishable by law” (art. 10). 23. When it comes to the specific situation of children, it is important to note those developments which occurred both in international human rights and labour laws that are relevant when addressing the issue of child slavery. 24. International law does not clearly define child exploitation, but it has been widely accepted that “what gives cause for concern is work that places too heavy a burden on the child; work that endangers his safety, health or welfare, work that takes advantage of the defencelessness of the child, work that exploits the child as a cheap substitute for adult labour, work that uses the child’s efforts but does nothing for his development, work that interrupts the child’s education or training and this prejudices his future.”6 This definition was legally encapsulated in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which contains one of the most explicit and comprehensive set of obligations for States relating to the suppression of economic exploitation and worst forms of child labour. Article 32 of the Convention recognizes the child’s right “to be protected from economic exploitation and from performing any work that is likely to be hazardous or to interfere with the child’s education, or to be harmful to the child’s health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development.” Article 36 provides an even broader, albeit less specific safeguard, requiring States parties to “protect the child against all other forms of exploitation prejudicial to any aspects of the child’s welfare.” 25. In 1999, the ILO member States, conscious of the magnitude of the problem of children being trapped in the worst forms of child labour, adopted Convention No. 182 (1999) concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour. This convention is the reflection of a global consensus that immediate and effective measures should be taken to secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour as a matter or urgency. ILO recommendation No. 190 advises ILO members on the implementation of Convention No. 182 and allows for exceptions for children from the age of 16 working in hazardous environments, provided that the health, safety and morals of the children concerned are fully protected and that “the children have received adequate specific instruction or vocational training in the relevant branch of activity”. 26. There is undoubtedly a close link between ILO Convention No. 182 the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which is important in combating the exploitation of children. Article 32 of the latter correlates to article 3 of the ILO Convention No. 182 with regard to debt bondage, serfdom, forced or compulsory labour, and all forms of slavery and any work which will harm the health, safety or moral of children.7 6 7 Report of the Director-General to the International Labour Conference, Sixty-ninth Session (Geneva, ILO, 1983). Jaap E. Doek, “The CRC and the elimination of economic exploitation of children”, International Conference “Stopping the economic exploitation of children: new approaches to fighting poverty as a means of implementing human rights?”, 22–24 February 2002, Hattingen, Germany. 7