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Child Labour

child-labour

Child Labour

Apr 2020

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

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