Child labour
Ministry of Labour, ILO, UNICEF, Save the Children launch study on plight of working children on streets in Lebanon
ILO, UNICEF, Save the Children International and Ministry of Labour in Lebanon jointly launch new study.
A new International Labour Organization (ILO)-led study to be launched in Beirut sheds light on the plight of working street-based children in Lebanon.
“Children Living and Working on the Streets in Lebanon: Profile and Magnitude,” to be launched under the patronage and in the presence of the Minister of Labour, is the first of its kind to comprehensively shed light on the size and characteristics of the increasingly visible phenomenon which constitutes one of the “worst forms of child labour.”
The study was commissioned by the ILO, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and Save the Children International (SCI) upon the request of the Ministry of Labour to understand the reasons behind the increasingly visible numbers of children living and/ or working on the streets of Lebanon. The work performed by these children includes begging, street-based trade and services, as well as forms of illicit activities.
The study identifies four main driving factors that cause children to live or work on the streets of Lebanon: social exclusion, vulnerability of households, the influx of Syrian refugees into Lebanon, and organized crime and exploitation of children. Out of an estimated 1,510 children within the study sample size covering 18 districts, 700 street-based children were interviewed.
The study also identifies recommendations to tackle the phenomenon of street-based children within the framework of Lebanon’s National Action Plan for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour, launched in 2013.
“Children Living and Working on the Streets in Lebanon: Profile and Magnitude,” to be launched under the patronage and in the presence of the Minister of Labour, is the first of its kind to comprehensively shed light on the size and characteristics of the increasingly visible phenomenon which constitutes one of the “worst forms of child labour.”
The study was commissioned by the ILO, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and Save the Children International (SCI) upon the request of the Ministry of Labour to understand the reasons behind the increasingly visible numbers of children living and/ or working on the streets of Lebanon. The work performed by these children includes begging, street-based trade and services, as well as forms of illicit activities.
The study identifies four main driving factors that cause children to live or work on the streets of Lebanon: social exclusion, vulnerability of households, the influx of Syrian refugees into Lebanon, and organized crime and exploitation of children. Out of an estimated 1,510 children within the study sample size covering 18 districts, 700 street-based children were interviewed.
The study also identifies recommendations to tackle the phenomenon of street-based children within the framework of Lebanon’s National Action Plan for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour, launched in 2013.