IQBAL MASIH AWARD NOMINATION: ACE

UNCLAS TOKYO 003157 SIPDIS EILEEN MUIRRAGUI E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV ILAB PGOV PHUM JP SUBJECT: IQBAL MASIH AWARD NOMINATION: ACE REF: STATE 00120132 ¶1. (SBU) Embassy Tokyo nominates ACE (Action against Child Exploitation),a Japan-based NPO devoted to reducing the worst forms of child labor worldwide, to receive the "United States Department of Labor's Iqbal Masih Award for the Elimination of Child Labor." ¶2. (SBU) In 1995 Yuka Iwatsuki, following a year as a university exchange student in the United States, crossed the border to Tijuana, and was shocked to see children as young as three and four years old holding paper cups and begging for money from tourists. The encounter changed her life. After graduating from Sophia University and getting a Ph.D. in International Relations from Osaka University, Ms. Iwatsuki went on to found ACE in 1997 to organize the Japanese leg of the "Global March Against Child Labor." ¶3. (SBU) ACE now has more than 200 members. It divides its child labor reduction activities into four areas: awareness raising, advocacy, alliance building, and international cooperation. In each of these areas ACE has established a model record of effectiveness. Successful projects include frequent Japanese seminars to teach about the child labor problem, fund raising events, and the publication in 2007 of a book in Japanese written by three ACE staff members, "I am 8 Years Old and I Don't Want to Work Anymore." At the 2008 Japan G8 Summit's NGO Forum, ACE drafted the policy recommendations on child labor. ¶4. (SBU) In cooperation with its Indian partner BBA (Bachpan Bachao Andalan) ACE has helped more than 500 children with its Child Friendly Village program. The two partners are currently involved in trying to foil human traffickers targeting children in flood-hit districts of Bihar, India. Building on its own research, ACE has also begun using innovative means to educate the Japanese public about the relationship between chocolate production and exploitative child labor conditions in Africa. In addition to advocacy efforts directed at the public, the government, and the media, ACE is active in educating leading Japanese corporations about the need to eliminate child labor from every aspect of their supply chain. ¶4. (SBU) Organization Name: ACE (Action against Child Exploitation). Address: 1-20-9401, Higashiueno, Taito-ku, Tokyo 110-0015 Japan. Phone: 81-3-3835-7555. SCHIEFFER