KATHMANDU: ‘World Day Against Child Labor’ is being observed across the globe today, with the theme “Children shouldn’t work in fields, but on dreams!”. The day is marked to highlight the plight of child laborers and what can be done to help them.
The International Labor Organization (ILO) launched the World Day Against Child Labor in 2002 to focus attention on the global extent of child labor and the action and efforts needed to eliminate it. Each year on 12 June, the World Day brings together governments, employers and workers organizations, civil society, as well as millions of people from around the world. Yet today, 152 million children are still in child labor.
Child labor occurs in almost every sector, seven out of every ten is in agriculture. On this World Day, the United Nations also look forward towards UN Sustainable Development Goal Target 8.7 set by the international community calling for an end to child labor in all its forms by 2025. In support of Alliance 8.7, we call for immediate action to address the remaining challenges so that the world community can get firmly on track towards eliminating child labor. A newly released ILO report points the way with policy approaches and responses.
2019 also marks 20 years since the adoption of the ILO’s Worst Forms of Child Labor Convention, 1999 (No. 182). With only a few countries still to ratify, this Convention is close to universal ratification. On this World Day we call for full ratification and implementation of Convention No. 182 and of the ILO’s Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138). We also encourage ratification of the Protocol of 2014 to the Forced Labor Convention, which protects both adults and children.
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