The Understanding Children’s Work (UCW) programme is an inter-agency research cooperation initiative involving the International Labour Organisation (ILO), UNICEF and the World Bank.

UCW is guided by the Roadmap adopted at The Hague Global Child Labour Conference 2010.

The Roadmap calls for effective partnership across the UN system to address child labour, and for mainstreaming child labour into policy and development frameworks.

The Roadmap also calls for improved knowledge sharing and for developing further methodologies and capacity to conduct research on child labour.

UCW research activities are designed to inform policies that impact upon the lives of child labourers in countries where they are prominent.
 
Research efforts help provide a common understanding of child labour, and a common basis for action against it.

UCW research extends to a variety of policy issues associated with child labour, including education, youth employment and migration.

For further information on the UCW Programme, see the Programme information pamphlet and the newsletter.