Call for action on child labor reduction
Source: Agencies |
May 9, 2010, Sunday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
THE number of children used in the labor force worldwide has dropped, although it is rising in Africa, the International Labour Organization said yesterday.
But ILO officials are worried that the pace of the reduction has slowed and they say governments must not use the economic downturn as an excuse for inaction.
The number of child workers fell to 215 million in 2008 from 222 million in 2004, a reduction of 3 percent, the ILO's report said. In the previous four-year period the number dropped 10 percent.
"The economic downturn cannot become an excuse for diminished ambition and inaction. Instead it offers the opportunity to implement the policy measures that work for people, for recovery and for sustainable development," ILO Director-General Juan Somavia said.
Some 60 percent of child laborers work in agriculture, and most are unpaid family workers, with only one in five in paid employment.
Besides the moral question of young children working, development advocates say child labor deprives children of education, setting back a country's economic prospects.
Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest incidence of children working, one in four aged five to 17 against one in eight in the Asia-Pacific region and one in 10 in Latin American and Caribbean countries.
The United Nations agency says a goal set in 2006 of eliminating the worst forms of child labor by 2016 will be missed on current trends.
But ILO officials are worried that the pace of the reduction has slowed and they say governments must not use the economic downturn as an excuse for inaction.
The number of child workers fell to 215 million in 2008 from 222 million in 2004, a reduction of 3 percent, the ILO's report said. In the previous four-year period the number dropped 10 percent.
"The economic downturn cannot become an excuse for diminished ambition and inaction. Instead it offers the opportunity to implement the policy measures that work for people, for recovery and for sustainable development," ILO Director-General Juan Somavia said.
Some 60 percent of child laborers work in agriculture, and most are unpaid family workers, with only one in five in paid employment.
Besides the moral question of young children working, development advocates say child labor deprives children of education, setting back a country's economic prospects.
Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest incidence of children working, one in four aged five to 17 against one in eight in the Asia-Pacific region and one in 10 in Latin American and Caribbean countries.
The United Nations agency says a goal set in 2006 of eliminating the worst forms of child labor by 2016 will be missed on current trends.
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