World Day Against Child Labor: Our Time to Act is Now

With rapid advancements in technology and the global economy, many children can dream of a better future with the tools to make their aspirations a reality. However, in an inverse reality, there are around 160 million kids who can't afford to even hope for something better. And why is that? It's a devastating pertinent issue - they are forced into child labor. In 2022, the International Day Against Child Labor day is under the spotlight as 8.4 million children were pushed to work due to the COVID-19 pandemic - a sudden rise for the first time in 20 years.?

The global community made significant progress in curbing the issue but the pandemic showcased the evident disparities and a major ‘digital divide.' Children in low-income families were forced into lockdown without internet access and were thus deprived of an education. Many families were forced to make heart-wrenching decisions as their revenues dropped or vanished overnight, pushing their children to step in and earn a living for financial support. This reversed the shrink of 94 million child laborers between 2000 to 2016, which shows the impact of current socioeconomic conditions on children in low to middle-income households.

According to a 2021 report by the International Labor Organization and UNICEF, 160 million children are currently engaged in forced labor worldwide - almost 1 in 10 children. The further alarming statistics are that the majority of child laborers worldwide are between the ages of 5 to 11 with boys accounting for 61% of the global figures. Africa ranks the highest with one-fifth - an absolute number of 72 million child laborers while Asia and the Pacific second with 62 million children. Both regions together account for almost 9 out of 10 children in child labor. Additionally, the data also warns us that another 50 million children are at risk from the pandemic's economic impact in these regions.

Government and non-governmental organizations are now pushed to implement policies and programs that protect children from exploitation and their right to education, which is often a disadvantaged child’s primary way to climb out of poverty. Forced labor deprives them of this fundamental human right and takes away their opportunity to create and pursue their dreams for a better life. The issue is further aggravated as a lack of education forces these children into further exploitation like slavery, sexual exploitation, and human trafficking.?

The World Day Against Child Labor has been marked as June 12 and the theme for 2022 is “Protect Children from Child Labor, Now More Than Ever”. It is a call for increased investment in social protection programs and schemes - the primary goal is “Universal Social Protection to End Child Labor.” They want to establish social protection floors, which is a guarantee of income security for every child to access education and prevent situations that force them into early employment.?

Such policies and frameworks are essential to eradicate dire poverty that pushes families to resort to child labor in a crisis. Since 2020, 53.1% of the global population - as many as 4.1 billion people - are left wholly unprotected without any social protection benefits. Children fare even worse where nearly 1.5 billion lack any coverage whatsoever.?

But It's not an impossible problem to fix and one key successful case is El Salvador’s sugar cane industry. They achieved a 72% reduction in child laborers after an extensive long-term strategy, multi-sector partnerships, and strict codes of conduct. The governmental authorities provided basic social services to affected populations, raised widespread awareness in various sectors, and garnered support from MNCs to implement their policies and programs. Companies like Coca-Cola chose to not partner with sugarcane producers that engaged in child labor to ensure a socially responsible production cycle.??

Social enterprises like Ground Z want to support children from low to middle-income households with opportunities to access education and showcase their ideas, skills, and talent, which are often not commonly available in their communities. This access ensures that children can pursue their education with opportunities to turn innovative ideas into a reality.

As the fight to end this practice goes on, we need to realize that our global community is failing this generation of young thinkers. Without access, opportunity, and protection, these communities will lose their future generation who have the utmost potential to create a better place. We can end this cycle of divide and inequality by focusing on what's important - giving these children their right to an education to begin the life they want and deserve.

Written by Yuvika Bhatia, Content Strategist at Ground Z.?