Skip to top

eLearning course on the Roadmap for Achieving the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour by 2016

International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC)

From Lebanon

What drives street-based child labour?

The ILO, UNICEF, Save the Children and the Lebanese Ministry of Labour launch a first-ever study assessing the scope and characteristics of the increasingly visible phenomenon of one of the worst forms of child labour.
Curbing child labour in Kosovo: Let children be children

Poverty pushes a high number of children in Kosovo to drop out of school and enter child labour as early as 10 years old. The ILO supports efforts of Kosovo&rsquo;s public institutions and social partners to eliminate child labour, with an emphasis on its worst forms.
Campaign

Discover the "Music against child labour" initiative

The global Initiative was launched in 2013 and calls on orchestras, choirs and musicians of all genres worldwide to dedicate one concert to the struggle against child labour. Sign up to the Manifesto and pledge to dedicate a concert!
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.
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.

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

Stories from street children in Lebanon

16 February 2015
© Tabitha Ross/ILO 2015

New study sheds light on plight of working street-based children in Lebanon

16 February 2015
Launch of the study: "Children Living and Working on the Streets in Lebanon"

12 February 2015
© Armend Nimani / AFP 2015

Curbing child labour in Kosovo: Let children be children

09 February 2015

Events

"Today Festival - Say NO to Child Labour" concert

20 February 2015, Conservatorio di Musica “L. Canepa”, Sassari, Sardinia, Italy
Ministry of Labour, ILO, UNICEF, Save the Children launch study on plight of working children on streets in Lebanon

16 February 2015, Gefinor Rotana Hotel, Beirut - Lebanon
Lullaby to sing to sleep a child who never rests, by Pilar Jurado

17 December 2014, Teatro de la Zarzuela, Madrid, Spain
Christmas concert by the Fanny Hensel Music School, Berlin, dedicated to the Initiative

14 December 2014, Lutheran Church in Berlin’s Humboldthain district, Germany

Just released

Children living and working on the street in Lebanon: Profile and magnitude

16 February 2015

The study provides the Government of Lebanon and non-governmental organizations with evidence-based research on the magnitude and profile of children living or working in the streets of Lebanon, and their socioeconomic situation.
Youth-orientated version of ILO Conventions on Child Labour

23 January 2015
Let’s join hands to fight child labour: SCREAM module on HIV, AIDS and child labour in Uganda

22 January 2015

Highlights

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.

Skip to top