Dear Speech Repository Community,
Child labour is an extremely sensitive and enduring issue. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) launched the World Day against Child Labour in 2002 to focus attention on the global extent of child labour and the action and efforts needed to eliminate it. Each year on 12 June, the World Day brings together governments, employers’ and workers’ organisations, civil society, as well as millions of people from around the world to highlight the plight of child labourers and what can be done to help them.
Child labour is work carried out to the detriment and endangerment of a child, in violation of international law and national legislation. It either deprives children of schooling or requires them to assume the dual burden of schooling and work.
The European Commission has set out a ‘zero tolerance policy on child labour’ for every new trade agreement that it signs, and combines this with the highest standards of climate, environmental and labour protection. The aim is to bring sustainable development to the centre of the bilateral trading relationship.
According to an ILO (International Labour Organisation), report, more than 160 million children worldwide – 1 in 10 children aged 5-17 – are still engaged in child labour, and progress to combat it has been stalled since 2016. These trends were present even before the COVID-19 crisis. It is estimated that without mitigation strategies, the number of children in child labour could rise by 8.9 million by the end of 2022, due to higher poverty and increased vulnerability.
The European Union is firmly committed to achieving Sustainable Development Goal Target 8.7, which seeks to end child labour in all its forms by 2025. However, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has compromised possible improvements.
Did you know that:
- The agriculture sector accounts for 70 per cent of children in child labour (112 million), followed by 20 per cent in services (31.4 million) and 10 per cent in industry (16.5 million);
- Of all children in labour, nearly 28 per cent of the age group 5 to 11 years and 35 per cent of the age group 12 to 14 are not in education;
- Child labour is more prevalent among boys than girls in all age groups. However, when household chores performed for at least 21 hours per week are taken into account, the gender gap in child labour narrows;
- The prevalence of child labour in rural areas (14 per cent) is close to three times higher than in urban areas (5 per cent).
We invite you to check out the following speeches touching upon this subject:
Children: asset or liability? | Speech Repository (europa.eu)
Užívať si s čistým svedomím | Speech Repository (europa.eu)