eLearning Tools on Child Labour

  1. eLearning tools on child labour

    The eLearning tools are designed to help to better understand what child labour is and the key role ILO stakeholders can play.

Highlights

  1. Conference

    IV Global Conference on the Sustained Eradication of Child Labour, Buenos Aires, 14-16 November, 2017

    The ILO participates in the IV 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.

    Under the framework of the SDG Target 8.7, it was agreed that the IV Global Conference should cover both the sustained eradication of child labour and the elimination of forced labour and, in this context, it will also address the issue of the quality of youth employment.

International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC)

Facts and figures

  • Worldwide 218 million children between 5 and 17 years are in employment.
    Among them, 152 million are victims of child labour; almost half of them, 73 million, work in hazardous child labour.
  • In absolute terms, almost half of child labour (72.1 million) is to be found in Africa; 62.1 million in the Asia and the Pacific; 10.7 million in the Americas; 1.2 million in the Arab States and 5.5 million in Europe and Central Asia.
  • In terms of prevalence, 1 in 5 children in Africa (19.6%) are in child labour, whilst prevalence in other regions is between 3% and 7%: 2.9% in the Arab States (1 in 35 children); 4.1% in Europe and Central Asia (1 in 25); 5.3% in the Americas (1 in 19) and 7.4% in Asia and the Pacific region (1 in 14).
  • Almost half of all 152 million children victims of child labour are aged 5-11 years.
    42 million (28%) are 12-14 years old; and 37 million (24%) are 15-17 years old.
  • Hazardous child labour is most prevalent among the 15-17 years old. Nevertheless up to a fourth of all hazardous child labour (19 million) is done by children less than 12 years old.
  • Among 152 million children in child labour, 88 million are boys and 64 million are girls.
  • 58% of all children in child labour and 62% of all children in hazardous work are boys. Boys appear to face a greater risk of child labour than girls, but this may also be a reflection of an under-reporting of girls’ work, particularly in domestic child labour.
  • Child labour is concentrated primarily in agriculture (71%), which includes fishing, forestry, livestock herding and aquaculture, and comprises both subsistence and commercial farming; 17% in Services; and 12% in the Industrial sector, including mining.
Source: Global Estimates of Child Labour: Results and trends, 2012-2016, Geneva, September 2017.

News

  1. © ILO Asia & the Pacific 2018
    UK Government to support ILO in fighting child labour in South Asia

    27 September 2018

  2. © CIFOR 2018
    ILO, the Netherlands to take joint action against child labour

    26 September 2018

  3. Cook Islands ratifies two ILO Conventions

    21 September 2018

  4. I escaped child labour and can now help others

    21 September 2018

List all

Events

  1. Eliminating child and forced labour in the cotton, textile and garment value chains

    20 November 2018

  2. Child Labour Platform Global Meeting

    11 - 12 October 2018

  3. 5th National Artisanal Small-Scale Gold Mining (ASGM) Summit

    27 - 28 September 2018

  4. Event to mark the World Day Against Child Labour 2018 and the 20th Anniversary of the Global March Against Child Labour

    4 June 2018

List all

Just released

  1. Understanding the health impact of children's work

    25 September 2018

  2. Child Labour Platform Brochure

    17 August 2018

  3. Child labour in herding in rural areas of Swaziland

    15 August 2018

List all