For millions of children, childhood ends too early. According to the data provided by the International Labor Association (ILO), 218 million children between 5 and 17 years are in employment worldwide and among them, 152 million are victims of child labor. Moreover, about73 million work in hazardous child labor.
June 12th is observed as the day against child labor, and the theme for 2019 is: Children shouldn’t work in fields but on dreams!
Almost half of all 152 million children victims of child labor are aged 5-11 years
42 million are 12-14 years old; and 37 million are 15-17 years old.
Child labor 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.
Unfortunately, child labor has many other faces as there are children affected by the worst forms of child labor such as slavery, child trafficking, debt bondage, forced labor, serfdom, sexual exploitation, and illegal activities.
Sustainable Development Goals, adopted by world leaders in 2015, include a call to the global community to take “immediate and effective measures to eradicate forced labor, end modern slavery and human trafficking and secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labor, including recruitment and use of child soldiers, and by 2025 end child labor in all its forms."
You can take action to help children get an education, play and live a normal childhood. If you have an idea or project that champions SDG 8 and 16, you can focus also on target 8.7: Take immediate and effective measures to eradicate forced labour, end modern slavery and human trafficking and 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
Or target 16.2: End abuse, exploitation, trafficking and all forms of violence and torture against children.
In the meantime, if you are involved with initiatives or projects that champion the other SDGs and have a special focus on child education and well-being, you can join the Entrepreneurship Campus and enter our competitions. You will have the opportunity to expand your network with other people that share the same interests, ideas and projects. On the other hand, you can inspire other people to start another similar movement in a different country.
Credit: ILO, un.org
