Bonded labor/debt bondage is a form of slavery where families receive a small amount of money, sometimes as little as $40, in return for sending their children away to work. Families are often persuaded to "sell" their children under false pretenses. They think that their children will be taken care of and have better opportunities. The children may only return to their families if they can repay the loan (money given to their parents). However, often the loan increases due to added costs and families are never able to pay it off.

Trafficking is the "...recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons..." by force, abduction, fraud or deception for the purpose of exploitation, including sexual exploitation, forced labor, slavery, servitude or the removal of organs.

"Backward" castes and tribes are the lowest group in terms of human development, literacy rate, infant mortality rate, maternal mortality rate, male and female life expectancy, etc.),

Economic activity (work) covers all paid and unpaid work done outside one's own home in rural or urban areas. For example, children working in a production facility for no pay or as maids in someone else's house are considered economically active. In contrast, children doing chores in their own homes are not considered economically active - by international labor standards. Even so, the time children spend on these activities in their own homes can be substantial. In some cases, school enrolment is jeopardized.³³ Economic activity and child labor are closely linked. Almost 9 in 10 economically active children are in child labor situations that require elimination.³⁴

E-9 countries are nine of the world's high-population countries: Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria and Pakistan. Together the E-9 countries account for more than 50 percent of the world's out-of-school children and over 71 percent of its illiterate adults!

G-7 countries are a group of seven leading industrialized nations - Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States - that began meeting annually in the mid-1970s to address economic and political issues. Sometimes referred to as G-8 when Russia is included.

Basic education comprises both primary and lower secondary education intended to meet the basic learning needs of all people of all ages.

Class is a socio-economic category that differentiates large groups of people on the basis of income (upper, middle and lower) and occupation (commercial, industrial, agricultural, etc.), determined by people's relationship to the factors of production (capital and labor).

Ethnicity refers to a sense of community based on common background, such as language, territory, political unity, cultural values, goals and/or myths.

Culture is a system of shared beliefs, values, customs, behaviors and artifacts that the members of society use to cope with their world and with one another; and are transmitted from generation to generation through learning.

The G-8 Summit is an annual meeting of leaders from the eight economically advanced countries in the world.

Sub-Saharan Africa is Africa south of the Sahara Desert; those countries of Africa that are not part of North Africa. There are nearly fifty (47) countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Big Five countries - Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Nigeria - are identified on the basis of their large out-of-school populations. The Big Five are home to 57 percent of the children who do not attend school in the world! These countries have been invited to join the Analytical and Technical Fast Track (AFT), a preparatory phase leading to eventually participation to the Fast Track Initiative (FTI). The FTI is a partnership of donors and developing countries created to help low-income countries achieve universal completion of primary education by 2015.

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³³ Every Child Counts: New Global Estimates on Child Labor, International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor, International Labor Organization, Geneva, April 2002, p. 29-30, available from http://www.ilo.org/public/english/standards/ipec/simpoc/others/globalest.pdf; Internet accessed February 2005.
³⁴ Every Child Counts: New Global Estimates on Child Labor, International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor, International Labor Organization, Geneva, April 2002, p. 29-30, available from http://www.ilo.org/public/english/standards/ipec/simpoc/others/globalest.pdf; Internet accessed February 2005.