Child Labour
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Child Labour

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Of 17.2 million child domestic workers, 67.1% are girls and 65.1% are below 14 years
For the second time, the ILO has produced global estimates of children in domestic work based on data from national household surveys.
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Forced and Child Labour
Why definitions matter
Definitions are important in developing reliable data and in guiding action on forced and child labour. They mean we can be held accountable for our efforts to generate change in the name of those who are the most exploited in the world today.
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Learn about
The reintegration of child soldiers
How to help them access decent work
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ILO Blog
'I want to be President'-Malawi's little voices against child labour
Malawi is one of the world's poorest countries, with high rates of child labour, but the situation is slowly improving, partly due to the ILO-IPEC's SNAP project.
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From Pakistan
A dream comes true in a motorbike repair shop
Changing perceptions is sometimes the biggest challenge when it comes to fighting child labour. But dialogue and cooperation is always a good start.
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Third Global Conference on Child Labour, Brasilia
World needs to turn plans to end child labour into urgent action, says ILO chief
“More than ever our focus must be on action and results as well as process,” says Guy Ryder at the end of the Third Global Conference on Child Labour.

  1. Third Global Conference on Child Labour
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Facts and figures

  • Global number of children in child labour has declined by one third since 2000, from 246 million to 168 million children. More than half of them, 85 million, are in hazardous work (down from 171 million in 2000).
  • Asia and the Pacific still has the largest numbers (almost 78 million or 9.3% of child population), but Sub-Saharan Africa continues to be the region with the highest incidence of child labour (59 million, over 21%).
  • There are 13 million (8.8%) of children in child labour in Latin America and the Caribbean and in the Middle East and North Africa there are 9.2 million (8.4%).
  • Agriculture remains by far the most important sector where child labourers can be found (98 million, or 59%), but the problems are not negligible in services (54 million) and industry (12 million) – mostly in the informal economy.
  • Child labour among girls fell by 40% since 2000, compared to 25% for boys.
Source: Marking progress against child labour - Global estimates and trends 2000-2012 (ILO-IPEC, 2013).

News

  1. CNN's "Quest Means Business"

    Ending child labour: "We know what works"

    27 February 2014

  2. Instructional material

    Skills and livelihoods training – A guide for partners in child labour projects

    06 February 2014

Key resources

  1. Global estimates and trends 2000-2012

    Marking progress against child labour

    This is the fourth issue of the ILO’s report series: Global Estimates on Child Labour. The present Report provides new global and regional estimates on child labour for the year 2012 and compares them with the previous estimates for 2000, 2004 and 2008.

  1. Publications and resources on child labour

Campaigns

  1. Red Card to Child Labour

    10 October 2013 - 1 September 2016

  2. "Music against Child Labour" Initiative

    8 October 2013 - 31 December 2014

ILO videos on child labour

ILO Programmes against child labour

  1. International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC)

    Created in 1992, IPEC has grown to become the biggest dedicated child labour programme in the world and the largest technical cooperation programme within the ILO. It is now operational in some 90 countries, benefiting millions of children worldwide.

  1. Bureau for Workers' activities (ACTRAV)
  2. Bureau for Employers activities (ACTEMP)

Good practices in combating child labour

  1. in Africa
  2. in Latin America
  3. in Asia
  4. in Europe
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