12th June 2023 – World Day Against Child Labour
Child Labour day is an international day, launched in 2002 by The International Labour Organisation, to raise awareness about the mental and physical problems children forced into child labour endure, in order to try and eradicate it.
Child Labour is “work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity, and that is harmful to physical and mental development”.
It is estimated that almost 1 in 10 children are victims of child labour across the world. This accounts for 160 million children worldwide. Nearly half of these children engage in hazardous work that endangers their health and development.
Goal 8 of the SDGs aims to eliminate the worst forms of child labour, including the recruitment and use of child soldiers, as well as to end all forms of child labour by 2025. We must continue in our fight to eradicate child labour and sexual exploitation and keep up efforts to ensure that every child has the chance to live a safe, healthy, and fulfilling childhood.
What is Child Labour?
Child labour is classified as children’s work which is of a nature or intensity that it is detrimental to their schooling and/or mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous and harmful to children. Victims of child labour are denied their childhood and their future, end up separated from their families and often work long hours for low wages.
There are four main types of child labour:
