A Yukoner was Canada's lone representative at a recent child labour conference held in Florence, Italy.

Marie Abbott, a Grade 9 student from F.H. Collins Secondary School, was one of 200 youth at the Children's World Congress on Child Labour.

While in Italy, the 14-year-old heard first-hand accounts from former child labourers. One was Rafana from Cambodia, who spent three years working long hours on a fishing boat. The work prevented her from going to school.

Another girl was a former sex slave from South Africa.

The conference was the first child labour forum in which children from every geographic area could attend.

There are 246 million children caught in the circle of poverty, child labour and illiteracy, Kailash Satyarthi, chairperson of the global march against child labour, said in a statement.

'One-hundred seventy-nine million of them languish in the worst forms of exploitation, including slavery, trafficking, forced labour, armed service and prostitution,' said Satyarthi. 'The world cannot ignore the reverberation of the collective voices of children as they gather in Florence.'

It was hoped the gathering would remind governments of past promises to end child labour, said Satyarthi, referring to the UN Convention of Rights of the Child, where nations promised to end harmful child labour practices and provide all children with basic quality education.

At the end of the conference, a declaration was signed calling on governments to make good on their promises. There was also a protest march through Florence.

'With the hundreds of people in the streets, the march was very powerful,' said Abbott.

Now that she is back from Italy, her first goal is to educate people on what she learned.

'A lot of children think that everyone has a life like me,' said Abbott, adding she hopes to correct this belief of Yukon youth.

Abbott gave a talk at the BYTE solidarity banquet last week. She also plans to share her experiences with the organizations that sponsored her trip.

She said there is a lot people can do to fight against child labour, like writing letters or boycotting products.

Abbott was able to attend the congress because of a little extra initiative on her part.

After developing an interest in child labour issues in Grade 7, Abbott, wanting to learn more, spent time on the Internet researching the issue.

Learning about the conference on-line, Abbott contacted the Canadian Labour Congress, which forwarded her application.

Once Abbott was approved to go, she sought out sponsorship from local businesses to pay for her trip.