International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC)

Children belong in school, not in supply chains

The importance of employers in the worldwide movement against child labour has never been clearer. The corporate responsibility to respect human rights, including a child’s right to be free from child labour, is now widely recognized. Today, companies that don’t have a policy against child labour are outside the mainstream.
Dancing together against child labour

An up-and-coming hip-hop dance group, The Zoo Thailand, put their talent to good use and joined the ILO in its campaign to end child labour.
Nobel Peace Prize

Guy Ryder: "This year’s Nobel Peace Prize is a landmark moment in the fight against child labour"

The ILO salutes the winners of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, Pakistani child education activist Malala Yousafzai and Indian child rights campaigner Kailash Satyarthi.
Learn more

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.
Campaign

Red Card around the world

People from every region in the world have been inspired to support the Red Card Campaign. See the highlights.
World Day Against Child Labour 2014

Extend social protection: combat child labour!

This year, World Day Against Child Labour draws attention to the role of social protection in keeping children out of child labour and removing them from it.

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).}

ILO