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

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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ILO Blog
A big team with a clear goal: beat child labour
There are over three million child labourers in the Philippines. Minette Rimando, the ILO's communication officer in the country, reflects on how her own experiences has led her to join the fight against child labour.

  1. Third Global Conference on Child Labour
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Case stories from Bolivia, Mali, Uganda and Indonesia
Out of work and into school
With stories from Bolivia, Mali, Uganda and Indonesia, the ILO shows how different kinds of responses can help combat child labour and get children into school.
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© Khem Sovannara / Cambodge Soir / AFP 2013
Brasilia, 8-10 October
IIIrd Global Conference on Child Labour
"The global number of child labourers has decreased over the last decade, but we have to step-up our efforts to achieve the goal of eradicating the worst forms of child labour by 2016", say ILO Director-General Guy Ryder.
  1. Hold up your #RedCard to child labour!
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ILO Report
ILO says global number of child labourers down by a third since 2000
A new ILO report shows that the fight against child labour is on the right track, but the goal of eliminating its worst forms by 2016 will not be met at the current pace.

  1. Read the report
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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. News item

    SRSG joins other UN child rights experts calling for Violence against Children to be a priority and a cross cutting concern in the post-2015 agenda

  2. ILO Blog

    ‘I want to be President’ – Malawi’s little voices against child labour

  3. Child labour

    Lebanon pledges to end the worst forms of child labour by 2016

  4. News item

    ILO information session on child labour

  5. Third Global Conference on Child Labour

    ILO chief: World needs to turn plans to end child labour into urgent action

  6. Third Global Conference on Child Labour

    Fighting child labour cannot be a temporary effort
List all »

Events

  1. Concert dedicated to the struggle against child labour

    4 December 2013, Caja de Música, Palacio de Cibeles, CentroCentro, Madrid - 8 p.m.

  2. Launch of the “Red Card to Child Labour Campaign" in Japan

    28 November 2013, Tokyo, World Bank Tokyo Development Learning Center, 16:30-19:00 (Tokyo time)

  3. Launch of national action plan to combat child labour

    7 November 2013, Baabda Presidential Palace, Lebanon

  4. © K Sovannara/Cambodge Soir /AFP 2013
    ILO information session on child labour

    24 October 2013, Geneva (Switzerland), ILO, Room IX, R2-South, from 18.00 to 20.00

List all »

Highlights

  1. Conference

    III Global Conference on Child Labour - Brasilia, 8-10 October 2013

    The ILO will participate in the III Global Conference on Child Labour which will bring together representatives from government, social partners, civil society, regional and international organizations to share policies and experiences in the global fight against child labour.

    The Conference – organized by the Brazilian Government – will be an opportunity to reflect on the progress made since the previous global conference was held in The Hague in 2010, and to discuss ways to accelerate global efforts against child labour – especially its worst forms.

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