Millions of children
around the world are trapped in child labour, depriving them of their
childhood, their health and education, and condemning them to a life of poverty
and want. Of course, there is work that children do to help their families in
ways that are neither harmful nor exploitative. But many children are stuck in
unacceptable work for children – a serious violation of their rights.
Recent global
estimates based on data of UNICEF, the ILO and the World Bank indicate
that 168 million children aged 5 to 17 are engaged in child
labour. Millions of them suffer in the other worst forms of child labour,
including slavery and slavery-like practices such as forced and bonded labour
and child soldiering, sexual exploitation, or are used by adults in illicit
activities, including drug trafficking.
Despite a steady decline
in child labour, progress is far too slow. At current rates, more than 100
million children will still be trapped in child labour by 2020. The continuing
persistence of child labour poses a threat to national economies and has severe
negative short and long-term consequences for the fulfillment of children’s
rights guaranteed by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child
(CRC) – including denial of education and frequent exposure to violence.
Child labour spans
various sectors, including agriculture, manufacturing, quarrying and mining,
and domestic service. Often, it is hidden from the public eye. For example, the
estimated 15.5 million child domestic workers worldwide – mostly
girls – are often hardly visible and face many hazards. Child labour is the
combined product of many factors, such as poverty, social norms condoning it,
lack of decent work opportunities for adults and adolescents, migration, and
emergencies.
Child labour reinforces
intergenerational cycles of poverty, undermines national economies and impedes
achieving progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
It is not only a cause, but also a consequence of social inequities reinforced
by discrimination. Children from indigenous groups or lower castes are more
likely to drop out of school to work. Migrant children are also vulnerable to
hidden and illicit labour.
Child labour is
preventable, not inevitable. UNICEF believes that effective action against
child labour requires children to be placed squarely at the center of programs
designed to protect children’s rights. Looking at child labour through a
broader lens – addressing the full range of children’s vulnerabilities and
protection challenges – comes as a result of the recognition that these wider
concerns are not always fully addressed in action against child labour. For
more information on UNICEF’s approach to tackling child labour,
click here.
UNICEF supports the
achievement of SDG Target 8.7 which provides that States take “immediate and
effective measures to … secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst
forms of child labour, including recruitment and use of child soldiers, and by
2025 end child labour in all its forms”. Target 8.7 is linked to several other
targets, including target 16.2 aimed at ending abuse, exploitation, trafficking
and all forms of violence against and torture of children, Goal 1 on
poverty, Goal 4 on Education; and Goal 5 on ending violence against women and
girls and gender equality, including harmful practices. To support the
achievement of Target 8.7, UNICEF pursues a multisector approach to child
labour, including legal reform, education, social protection, access to health
services and the data collection, and supports partnerships with UN agencies
and other key stakeholders to mount a sustained effort to accelerate child
labour reduction across regions. UNICEF supports communities in changing their
cultural acceptance of child labour, while supporting strategies and
programming to provide alternative income to families, quality education, and
protective services.
In various countries and
regions, UNICEF and partners have strengthened child protection systems, which
have led to a comprehensive response to children’s issues. In turn, this
has resulted in decreased child labour and an overall improvement of children’s
well-being. Access the most recent data on child labour prevalence by
country and region here.
For more details refer
the following link:
https://www.unicef.org/protection/57929_child_labour.html
Some statistics on Child
Labour are as follows:
·
Worldwide 218 million
children between 5 and 17 years are in employment. Among them, 152 million are
victims of child labour; almost half of them,73 million, work in hazardous
child labour.
·
In absolute terms,
almost half of child labour (72.1 million) is to be found
in Africa; 62.1 million in the Asia and the
Pacific; 10.7 million in the Americas; 1.2 million in
the Arab States and 5.5 million in Europe and Central
Asia.
·
In terms of
prevalence, 1 in 5 children in Africa (19.6%) are in child
labour, whilst prevalence in other regions is between 3% and
7%: 2.9% in the Arab States (1 in 35 children); 4.1% in Europe
and Central Asia (1 in 25); 5.3% in the Americas (1 in
19) and 7.4% in Asia and the Pacific region (1 in 14).
·
Almost half of all 152
million children victims of child labour are aged 5-11 years.42
million (28%) are 12-14 years old; and 37 million (24%) are 15-17 years old.
·
Hazardous child
labour is most prevalent among the 15-17 years old. Nevertheless, up
to a fourth of all hazardous child labour (19 million) is done by children less
than 12 years old.
·
Among 152 million
children in child labour, 88 million are boys and 64 million are girls.
·
58% of all children
in child labour and 62% of all children in hazardous work are
boys. Boys appear to face a greater risk of child labour than girls, but this
may also be a reflection of an under-reporting of girls’ work, particularly in
domestic child labour.
·
Child labour is
concentrated primarily in agriculture (71%), which includes fishing,
forestry, livestock herding and aquaculture, and comprises both subsistence and
commercial farming; 17% in Services; and 12% in
the Industrial sector, including mining.
For more details refer
the following link:
https://www.ilo.org/global/topics/child-labour/lang--en/index.htm