Half of world’s children in labour do hazardous work

Dar es Salaam. About half of the 152 million children’s involved in child labour are engaged in hazardous work, the International Labour Organization (ILO) global estimate report has revealed.

According to the report 73 million children aged 5 to 17 are engaged in hazardous work, toiling in mines and fields, factories and homes, exposing them to pesticides and other toxic substances putting their life at risk

To mark World Day against Child Labor which happens on 12 June each year ILO has given the spotlight to the importance of ending hazardous child labor as well as campaigning against safety and health work for youth of legal working age.

“Children are more vulnerable to risk than adults. Urgent action is needed to ensure no child under the age of 18 is in hazardous child labor,” says ILO Director-General Guy Ryder on the occasion of World Day against Child Labor.

Hazardous work to children whose bodies and minds are still developing, any risk is amplified leading to many of them suffering lifelong physical and psychological consequences.

The report reveals that although the overall number of children in hazardous work has decreased over the past years, progress has been limited to older children in hazardous work and between 2012 and 2016, there was almost no reduction in the number of children aged 5 to 11 in child labour.

The 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda reaffirms the urgency of eliminating the worst forms of child labour, which includes hazardous work, the need to promote safe and secure working environments for all workers, and sets the target of ending all forms of child labour by 2025.

“All child labour must be eradicated. Reaching SDG Target 8.7 of ending child labour in all its forms by 2025 requires integrated approaches and massively accelerated progress, including to prevent the youngest children from entering child labour in the first place”, reads the report

 The World Day Against Child Labour was first launched in 2002 by ILO to focus attention on the global extent of child labour and the action and efforts needed to eliminate it.