World Day Against Child Labour Observed Globally

Kathmandu. Today, World Day Against Child Labour is being observed in various countries around the world with various programs with the objective of increasing public awareness about the global problem of child labour and the efforts needed to end it.

This day has been observed every year on June 12 since 2002 at the call of the International Labour Organization (ILO).

Although significant progress has been made in the last two decades to end child labour, the current pace is not enough and the global goal of eliminating child labour by 2025 will not be met, the ILO has stated.

According to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the ILO, the number of children engaged in child labour worldwide decreased from 246 million in 2000 to 138 million currently. However, the current rate of progress in ending child labour is very slow, and it has been pointed out that work needs to be done 11 times faster than the current pace to end this problem within the next five years.

Africa bears the largest burden of child labour in the world. About two-thirds of the world's child labourers, or about 87 million children, are engaged in child labour in this region. Although the rate of child labour there has decreased from 24 percent to 22 percent, the total number of affected children has not decreased significantly due to population growth, continuous and new conflicts, extreme poverty, and weak social security systems.

However, the Asia and Pacific region has seen the biggest improvement since 2020. During this period, the rate of child labour has decreased from six percent to three percent, and the number of children engaged in child labour has decreased from 49 million to 28 million. In Latin America and the Caribbean, although the rate of child labour has remained stable, the number of affected children has decreased from 8 million to about 7 million, according to a UNICEF report.

According to the report, the agricultural sector has become the largest center of child labour, with 61 percent of children engaged in child labour. 27 percent of children are employed in the service sector, which includes activities such as domestic work and selling goods in the market. 13 percent of children are employed in the industrial sector, which includes mining and manufacturing industries.

To accelerate the campaign to end child labour, UNICEF and ILO have urged governments to expand programs such as social security and child allowances for families at risk, strengthen child protection systems, ensure access to quality education for all children, create decent employment for youth and adults, and effectively implement labour laws to prevent child exploitation in supply chains.

It has been emphasized that cooperation between governments, the private sector, communities, and international partners needs to be made more effective to end child labour, as it has a serious impact on children's education, health, safety, and overall development.