Home » The global elimination of child labor that cannot be “suspended” – Shangluo Window

The global elimination of child labor that cannot be “suspended” – Shangluo Window

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No ‘pause’ for global child labor eradication

Working in jobs with poor conditions, low remuneration and high risks, not only life safety cannot be guaranteed, but also physical and mental health is seriously threatened… This is a true portrayal of the survival of the vast majority of child laborers.

June 12 is World Day Against Child Labour. There are still 160 million child laborers in the world, accounting for almost one tenth of all children in the world.

The number of child workers could also rise, warnings from the International Labour Organization say the coronavirus pandemic could reverse years of global progress in eliminating child labor.

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At the 90th International Labour Conference held in June 2002, it was decided to designate June 12 every year as the World Day Against Child Labour. This year’s theme is “Universal Social Security and Elimination of Child Labour”.

Over the past 20 years, the world has made considerable progress in reducing child labor.

Statistics from the International Labour Organization show that from 2000 to 2020, the number of child laborers decreased by 85.5 million, and the proportion of the total number of children fell from 16% to 9.6%.

But over time, the process started to slow, and even stalled between 2016 and 2020.

In 2021, the number of child workers worldwide will rebound for the first time in 20 years, rising to 160 million. Especially in the age group of 5 to 11 years old, the number of child workers has increased significantly.

At present, Africa ranks first in both the incidence of child labor and the number of child labor, with one-fifth of children in child labor, with an absolute number of 72 million; Asia and the Pacific ranks second, with a child labor incidence of 7%, an absolute The number reached 62 million.

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The remainder of child labor is found mainly in the Americas (11 million), Europe and Central Asia (6 million), and the Arab States (1 million). In terms of the incidence of child labor, it is 5% in the Americas, 4.1% in Europe and Central Asia, and 3% in the Arab countries.

Statistics show that child labor is the largest in agricultural production, accounting for 70% (112 million), followed by services (31.4 million) and industry (16.5 million), accounting for 20% and 10% respectively; in addition, child labor is more common among boys than girls. child labour is more prevalent in rural areas (14%) than in urban areas (5%).

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From May 15th to 20th local time, the Fifth Global Conference on the Elimination of Child Labour was held in Durban, South Africa.

This is the first time the Global Conference on the Elimination of Child Labour has been held in Africa. The meeting adopted the “Durban Action” Declaration on the Global Elimination of Child Labor by 2025, calling on all countries to work to promote decent work for all, eliminate child labor in agriculture, eliminate and prevent child labor, safeguard children’s right to education, and take universal social protection against child labor. as well as increased financing and international cooperation.

Over the years, the international community has made substantial efforts to address child labor.

In 1973, the International Labour Organization adopted the Minimum Age for Employment Convention (Convention No. 138), which stipulates that the minimum age for employed persons is 15 years old (except in special circumstances).

On August 5, 2020, the International Labour Organization issued a communiqué announcing that all 187 members of the organization have ratified the Convention on the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour (Convention No. 182). For the first time in the history of the ILO, an International Labour Standard has been ratified by all members.

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Statistics show that the incidence of the worst forms of child labor fell by nearly 40 percent between 2000 and 2016.

However, in 2021, the new crown pneumonia epidemic will cause the number of child workers worldwide to increase for the first time in 20 years.

The International Labour Organization and UNICEF released a report last year saying that due to the new crown epidemic, by the end of 2022, 9 million children worldwide will be at risk of child labor.

In this regard, the International Labour Organization said that social security is both a human right and a powerful policy tool to prevent families from using child labor in times of crisis.

Before the outbreak of the new crown epidemic in 2020, only 46.9% of the global population had at least one effective social security benefit, while the remaining 53.1%, or as many as 4.1 billion people, had no protection at all.

Social security coverage for children is even lower. Nearly three-quarters of the world‘s children, or 1.5 billion people, lack social protection.

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Although low-income countries have the highest rates of child labor, in reality, middle-income countries do not have much child labor. Statistics show that 84 million child laborers live in middle-income countries, accounting for 56% of the total. In addition, 2 million child laborers live in high-income countries.

In the United States, the most developed country in the world, the phenomenon of child labor is alarming.

Like the slave trade and racial discrimination, the problem of child labor in the United States has a long history. More than 100 years ago, American mines, tobacco farms, and textile factories began employing child-expressive labor. Historically, the youngest child laborer in the United States was even three years old.

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The problem of child labor is still rampant in the United States today. The United States is the only country in the world that has not ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

According to statistics, there are still about 500,000 child laborers engaged in agricultural labor in the United States, among which child labor is extremely common in the tobacco industry. Statistics from the U.S. Government Accountability Office show that between 2003 and 2016, there were 452 child labor deaths in the United States, of which 237 were on farms, accounting for more than half.

“The tragic experience of child labor in the United States is only the tip of the iceberg of systematic human rights violations in the United States.” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said in response to a question at a regular press conference on June 9, respecting and protecting children’s rights and freeing them from It is the consensus of all countries to engage in heavy labor. However, as the most developed country in the world, the United States has repeatedly been named and criticized by the International Labor Organization for its serious child labor problem.

Efforts to eliminate child labor are “an investment in a generation”. Previously, a statistic from the International Labour Organization showed that although the investment is not small, the economic benefits of eliminating child labor may be nearly 7 times higher than the cost.

As ILO Director-General Guy Ryder said, “There is no doubt that child labor is a violation of fundamental human rights, and our goal must be that every child, everywhere, be free from child labor.”

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