This year 2021, there has been a significant change in what child labor is concerned and that is that it has been reduced to 38%. But we still have a lot to do and that is that 152 million children continue to be subjected to this reality.
Many countries are working on Target 8.7 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG): “Adopt immediate and effective measures to eradicate forced labor, end contemporary forms of slavery and human trafficking, and ensure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour, including the recruitment and use of child soldiers, and, by 2025, end child labor in all its forms”.
We mention some of them who are Malawi, Mauritania, Mexico, Nepal, Tunisia. Each one is implementing a different policy, seeking to eradicate child labor from their territories.
Despite the progress achieved, the results in the regions have been different. Almost half of the cases of child labor are recorded in Africa (72 million children), followed by Asia and the Pacific (62 million); 70% of working children do so in the agricultural sector, mostly in activities to support themselves or their families. At least half of children do work that poses a risk to their health or life.
Unfortunately, the progress made is clouded by the situation brought about by Covid-19, increasing poverty in many regions, pushing families to go out in search of daily sustenance, where young children have to contribute to support themselves. Also in this regard women and children are vulnerable to exploitation.
We hope that the year 2022 will be a time when the different governments reconsider their policies and compare the results they have achieved with what they have worked so far, so that the change in their regions is increasingly significant.
Works Cited
“Five Other Pathfinder Countries Leading the Fight Against Child Labour.” https://endchildlabour2021.org/en/five-other-pathfinder-countries-leading-the-fight-against-child-labour/
“2021: International Year for the Eradication of Child Labour.” ILO, 15 January 2021, https://www.ilo.org/global/about-the-ilo/newsroom/news/WCMS_766354/lang–en/index.htm.
Accessed January 18, 2022.
