12 June was the International Day for the Elimination of Child Labour. It was also the first World Day since the universal ratification of the International Labour Organization’s Convention No.182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labour. Earlier on 10 June, the UNICEF and ILO released a joint report titled “Child Labour: Global estimates 2020, trends and the road forward.” The report indicates that the number of children in child labour has increased to 160 million, an increase of 8.4 million children in the past four years, with more millions at risk due to the impacts of the COVID-19. The UN has also declared 2021 as the International Year for the Elimination of Child Labour.
What is child labour? Not all work done by children is considered child labour. The International Labour Organization defines child labour ” as work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential, and their dignity, and that is harmful to their physical and mental development.
The information below is an excerpt from the website of the International Year for the Elimination of Child Labour on the situation of child labour worldwide.
What does child labour look like? Globally, 152 million children (this number has now increased to 160 million, according to the recent UNICEF/ILO report) aged 5 to 17 are in child labour. About half of the children (72.5 million) perform hazardous work that places their health, safety, or moral development at risk.
- One in five children in Africa is involved in child labour, making it the region where the risk of child labour is greatest
- Half of the affected children live in lower-middle and upper-middle-income countries
- The problem is more prevalent in countries experiencing conflict and disaster
- 70% of children in child labour work in agriculture, mainly in subsistence and commercial farming and herding livestock
- A third of children in child labour are entirely outside the education system, and those that do attend school perform poorly
How can we end child labour? With the right policy approaches and practical responses, the end is in sight. Here’s what we need to do:
- Advance the legal commitment to ending child labour
- Promote decent work for adults and young people of legal working age
- Build and extend social protection systems, including floors, to help low-income families
- Expand access to free, quality public education as the logical alternative to child labour
- Address child labour in supply chains
- Protect children in situations of fragility and crisis
Learn more:
UNICEF 2021 report on Child Labour; https://bit.ly/2SwggOx
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