ABSTRACT
This chapter explains definitions of child labour and national legislation enacted for the prevention of child labour. It provides a overview of the prevalence of child labour in Sri Lanka. National legislation to regulate child labor was first introduced in Sri Lanka with the enactment of the Employment of Women, Young Persons and Children Ordinance. The most important Act on the employment of children in Sri Lanka today is the Employment of Women, Young Persons and Children's Act of 1956 (EWYPCA). The International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) was established by the International Labour Organization (ILO) in 1992 and the Sri Lanka country programme commenced in 1997. In the case of Sri Lanka, children displaced as a result of the ethnic war centers in uncleared areas under the dominance of the Liberation Tamil Tigers of Eelam (LTTE) a terrorist groups fighting for autonomy in the North, are under the threat of being recruited as child soldiers.
