World Day Against Child Labour
Fast Facts
- The first World Day Against Child Labour was declared in 2002 by the ILO. It is held every year on June 12.
- Along with mining and construction, agriculture is in the top three most dangerous work environments.
- Definition of child labour: work that harms the well being of a child and hinders their education, development and future livelihood.
- One of every eight children in the world is working in the worst forms of child labour, such as prostitution and drug trafficking.
- Seventy per cent of child labourers work in agriculture.
Child Labour in Agriculture
Right now, around the world, more than 218 million children are having their rights violated.[1]
Instead of enjoying activities like playing with their friends or attending school, these children are involved in gruelling and hazardous forms of labour from sunrise to sunset. Join Free The Children, the International Labour Organization (ILO) and many other groups, schools and individuals on June 12, 2007—the World Day Against Child Labour—and help create a worldwide movement against this injustice.
The focus of this year’s campaign is to free children who are labouring in the agriculture sector. More than 70 per cent of child labourers aged 5 to 14 work in farming environments where their health and safety is at risk and threatened by dangerous machinery, harmful chemicals, long work hours and poor living conditions.[2]
United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child
In 1989, world leaders recognized the urgency to protect the wellbeing of children under the age of 18 and created the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which is made up of 54 non-negotiable articles, each carefully designed to safeguard the rights of children.[3] One of the central articles of the convention declares that all children have the right to life, survival and development, which includes access to education.
Child Work vs. Child Labour
A young boy in India packages fireworks. Not all work negatively impacts children’s lives. In most rural areas, participation in developing the local economy of a community is an essential part of the growth of a child into an adult. Like delivering newspapers or doing chores at home, certain forms of work enable a child to develop important practical and social skills.
Within the ILO’s International Programme for the Elimination of Child Labour, ILO’s Convention 138 differentiates between child work, child labour and the worst forms of child labour.[4] Convention 138 is dedicated to creating a long term, sustainable framework against child labour by establishing an internationally-recognized minimum working age. Sadly, however, many countries have still not agreed to this important convention, the United States and Canada among them.[5] More widely ratified is ILO’s Convention 182, which focuses on eliminating the worst forms of child labour, such as prostitution, drug trafficking and working in hazardous environments.[6]
Although the number of working children differs from country to country, child labour abuses exist in both developing and industrialized societies.
Ways You Can Get Involved
Boys mining for diamonds in Kono, Sierra Leone.
- Support the Adopt a Village Alternative Income project. Alternative income gives families a sustainable way to earn a living, enabling them to send their children to school and not to work.
- Be an educated consumer. Many of the products we consume, like cocoa, coffee and tea can potentially be made with child labour. It’s always important to know where and how your grocery store or local market purchases their goods.
- Make your style match your ethics. Wear socially conscious clothes certified to be free from child labour, like those sold by Free The Children’s partner Me to We: [Responsible Style].
Helpful Hints from Helpful Links
United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in easy-to-understand language
United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in over 50 languages
International Labour Organization (ILO)
ILO’s World Day Against Child Labour website
UNAIDS, “AIDS Epidemic Update, Dec 2006,” http://data.unaids.org/pub/EpiReport/2006/2006_EpiUpdate_en.pdf (as accessed March 13, 2007)
http://www.avert.org/worldstats.htm
World Health Organization, “Millennium Development Goals: Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases,” www.who.int/mdg/goals/goal6/en/index.html (5/25/2006)
Free The Children is the largest network of children helping children through education in the world, with more than one million youth involved in our innovative education and development programs in 45 countries. Founded by international child rights activist Craig Kielburger, Free The Children has an established track-record of success, with three nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize and partnerships with the United Nations and Oprah’s Angel Network. |
