Child labor worldwide: progress that is not enough!

Child labor worldwide: progress that is not enough!

The current report from UNICEF and the International Labor Organization (ILO) found that more than 20 million children worldwide have been able to escape child labor since 2020. Nevertheless, the report with the title shows“Child Labor: Global estimates 2024, trends and the road forward”that despite this progress, millions of children remain far from education, play and a carefree childhood. Loud Small newspaper Around 138 million children and young people are still affected globally.

The figures also show that the number of children affected by child labor in Asia and the Pacific region has been reduced from 49 million to 28 million. There are also improvements in Latin America and the Caribbean, where the number affected has been reduced from eight to seven million. In sub-Saharan Africa, however, the situation is more dramatic: around 87 million children there are still involved in child labor, which accounts for almost two thirds of the global total.

Progress and setbacks

The report highlights that the proportion of children in work fell from 24 to 22 percent. Nevertheless, the absolute number remains little changed, which is due, among other things, to population growth. Sectors such as agriculture are the largest area where children work at 61 percent, followed by services (27 percent) and industry (13 percent).

A look at the gender distribution shows that boys are more commonly affected in all age groups. However, this changes when unpaid housework of 21 hours or more per week is taken into account. Shocking figures from recent years show that global child labor has almost halved since 2000. Nevertheless, the goal of completely eliminating child labor by 2025 is seen as having been missed; For this to happen, the rate of reduction would have to be eleven times faster.

A call to action

Gilbert F. Houngbo, Director General of the ILO, says children must be returned to schools and that parents need support to avoid sending their children to work. Catherine Russell, Director of UNICEF, draws attention to the dangers children face in mines, factories and fields.

The organizations demand that governments provide sustainable funding for education, social security systems and livelihoods. Cuts to these supports could force vulnerable families to send their children to work. According to the findings of UNICEF Around 54 million children alone do dangerous work that affects their health and development. The policy measures needed to sustainably end child labor are a central theme of the report.

Particularly worrying is the role of crises such as the coronavirus pandemic in further exacerbating the problem of child labor. As a result, millions of people have fallen into extreme poverty, which means that more children have to work. Since 2000, 2020 was the first year in which the number of children affected increased again.

The legal framework

The legal basis for combating child labor is based, among other things, on the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which was passed on November 20, 1989 and has been ratified by almost all UN member states except the USA. This Convention contains four fundamental pillars: the right to survival and development, the right to non-discrimination, safeguarding the interests of children and the participation of children. Child labor goes against these principles and affects millions of children worldwide. Loud Statista It is estimated that 160 million children are affected by child labor, including 79 million in hazardous work.

Although global numbers are declining in the long term, there are persistently high child labor rates in some regions such as sub-Saharan Africa. The challenges are great and further efforts are necessary to secure the rights and future of children worldwide.