This is a pioneering project on several counts. It will be the first child labour project of the ILO in Russia, and apart from that in Turkey, it will be amongst the first schemes of this kind to be organised on the fringes of Europe. It will also be one of the very few ILO child labour projects in which the trade union movement will take a part.

This work in St Petersburg, by the ILO, is worthy of note. The purpose is to reveal the local reasons for child labour and to find ways to combat the practice. The project is valuable on humanitarian grounds, and as it will be implemented so closely to Finland it will help us to gain a better understanding of the various issues which are connected to child labour.

Firstly, it is a symptom of social ills, and in this it is like the visible peak of the iceberg. Secondly, it is caused by poverty. It does not really matter very much where and how the use of child labour occurs. In principle there is very little difference in children fighting a war in Sierra Leone, weaving a carpet in Pakistan or selling themselves on the Russian streets.

Child labour is not something that occurs only in far flung places. It is happening in Europe, and with the enlargement of the EU it will become one of the problems which will require an urgent solution. Child labour is not restricted by colour, creed or geographic limitations.

According to the ILO some 80 per cent of families in St. Petersburg are living below the poverty line. For many children and teenagers in that city, the major problem in their life has been the disappearance of their families, their parents having been unable to provide for the children's basic needs because of a lack of money and for a myriad related problems.

There has been an explosion in the number of street children in St. Petersburg. Statistical evidence is patchy, but it has been estimated that there are some 20,000 to 30,000 street children. Two thirds of these are boys, and during recent years children who are even younger than ten have started to appear on the streets.

According to some statistics 42 per cent of these children come from single parent families, 32 per cent from large families, 15 per cent are children of alcoholics, while 20 per cent have no family links at all.

The ILO will commence this St. Petersburg project by contacting possible partners. The education and child welfare authorities, social workers, the police, teachers and established non-governmental organisations will be in a central position.

The trade union movement, in St. Petersburg and the surrounding region, has already indicated its positive interest in this project, which will also aim to ensure that the basic demands of the trade union movement, ie fundamental rights, human dignity, work and a living wage for everyone, are available. Job finding, cooperation with families and possibly the provision of premises for use as children's support centres, are ideas which have been advanced as being concrete contributions from the trade unions.

The main emphasis of the ILO project will be that of prevention. The ability of their teachers, to recognise possible problem children, will be strengthened by further training. Such training courses will be also offered for the teachers in the schools which surround St. Petersburg, since there are numerous children arriving in the big city from poor rural families. It will be the responsibility of the social institutions and authorities to give financial help to the poorest families with children and to provide more information.

It is to be hoped that the Finnish authorities will accept the responsibility of publicising this St. Petersburg project. There are numerous Finnish organisations and communities that give humanitarian aid to Russia and that provide active assistance. There are also Finnish individuals by the thousand who donate to Russia. The ILO is about to commence a project which is supported by Finland and which deserves to be more widely acknowledged.