160 Million Children Worldwide Engaged in Child Labour: FAO

Rome: Ending the scourge of child labour by 2025 will require effective action and strong leadership, the Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Qu Dongyu, said on Tuesday at the launch of a two-day Global Solutions Forum.
 
A total of 160 million children worldwide – almost 1 in 10 - are engaged in child labour. 
 
About 70 percent of these children (112 million) work in crop production, livestock, forestry, fisheries and aquaculture, according to the latest data available.

Child labour is generally defined as work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity, and is harmful to their physical and mental development. 
 
It is a serious violation of human rights, yet many vulnerable families have no choice. 
 
Though not all work carried out by children is considered child labour, much of it is not age-appropriate and is likely to be dangerous or interfere with children’s education. 
 
A child working in fields where pesticides have been applied, staying up all night on a fishing boat, or carrying loads so heavy that they harm the development of the child's body – are common examples of hazardous work.
 
Some of the key factors that contribute to child labour in rural areas are low family incomes, few livelihood alternatives, limited access to education, inadequate labour-saving technologies, traditional attitudes towards children’s participation in agriculture and limited labour law enforcement. 
 
The COVID-19 pandemic has had devastating effects on the livelihoods of small-scale farmers, especially in rural areas, increasing the risk of many children falling into child labour.
 
Eliminating child labour by 2025 is the declared aim of Target 8.7 of the United Nations'  Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).
 
"Strong and coherent leadership from agri-food stakeholders across the globe is critical to achieve SDG target 8.7," Qu said in his opening address to the Global Solutions Forum: Acting Together to End Child Labour in Agriculture.
 
The Global Solutions Forum, which runs until Nov. 3, is organized by FAO in close collaboration with the International Labour Organization (ILO), together with the International Partnership for Cooperation on Child Labour in Agriculture (IPCCLA) and Alliance 8.7.
 
Its aim is to mobilize global action and identify and expand concrete solutions to eradicate child labour in agriculture.
 
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