This Sunday, like every June 12, marks the World Day Against Child Labor. The day invites different social protection systems and plans to establish child protection measures, since more than 160 million children are in this situation.
This year, under the slogan “Universal social protection to end child labour”, the International Labor Organization invites on this World Day Against child labor to establish social protection investments to preserve children from these labors and prioritize their right to education and play.
The figures of child labor
Thanks to a report provided by UNICEF, the bleak numbers on the child exploitation. First, the agency states that 160 million girls and boys between the ages of 5 and 17 work. Of them, almost half of them perform jobs risky.
Likewise, The report assures that the number of girls and boys who, due to dangerous work, put both their health and their lives at risk has increased to 6.5 million.. On the other hand, they indicate that due to the pandemic, work in boys and girls from 5 to 11 years old grew by 9 million.
In this regard, the United Nations Children’s Fund predicts: “By the end of 2022, nearly nine million more children are at risk of being forced into child labor as a result of the pandemic.” It also adds: “That figure could increase to 46 million if social protection measures are not adopted.”
Regarding the absence of schooling, UNICEF distinguishes: “28% of children between 5 and 11 years of age in child labor are not in school, a third in the 12 to 14 year-old bracket”. Finally, the agency reports that the child labor in rural areas, it triples the frequency of jobs in urban areas.
