Campaign to combat child labour launches at the opening of the 2014 Football World Cup

GENEVA – As billions of people prepare for the opening of the 2014 FIFA Football World Cup in Brazil on 12 June, the International Labour Organization – the UN’s agency for the world of work, will launch the 2014 edition of its Red Card to Child Labour Campaign.

With 168 million children in child labour worldwide, the ILO will use the iconic red card symbol to signal that child labour is something that is unacceptable. The Red Card campaign was first launched to coincide with the 2002 African Cup of Nations and to highlight the use of child labour in the football stitching industry, which came to light during the UEFA Cup in 1996.

Hazardous work

About half of all children in child labour are simply too young to be working at all. Most children in child labour perform unpaid work on family farms. And 85 million children aged 5-17 years are doing work on farms or in mines and sweatshops that puts their health and safety, sometimes even their lives, in danger. Millions of child labourers are in domestic work. Others are victims of commercial sexual exploitation, or are exploited in the drugs trade or begging on the streets. Some 5.5 million children are in modern-day slavery, including victims of human trafficking and children forced to become soldiers in government armies or private militias.

“We know what works in the elimination of child labour. There’s been progress. The numbers of children in child labour are falling faster than before, so there is no excuse not to step up the effort. The Red Card to Child Labour campaign began with the connection to football and a child’s right to play. And that’s why we’re re-launching it to coincide with the opening of the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil which actually falls on World Day Against Child Labour – 12 June,” said Corinne Vargha, Director of the ILO’s International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC).

Global launch

A new song, written by Grammy-nominated musician Mike Einziger and internationally acclaimed violinist, Ann Marie Simpson, will be released on 12 June.

It features several award-wining artists committed to the cause including Travis Barker, drummer from Blink-182; Minh Dang, activist and survivor of human trafficking; Dominic Lewis, composer; LIZ, R&B pop-artist; Pharrell Williams, Grammy award-winning singer/producer; and Hans Zimmer, Oscar award-winning film composer.

“We hope this song will inspire people to join the global movement against child labour and take action to make a difference in the lives of child labourers,” said Marcia Poole, the ILO’s Director of Communications.

The campaign’s launch will also feature an aerial art event in Rio de Janeiro with over 1,000 people coming together to form a giant human pinwheel – the IPEC emblem – against the backdrop of the Sugar Loaf mountain.

And in New York, the giant screens on Times Square will display the campaign’s messages throughout the day, inviting passers-by to join the fight against child labour.

For more information about the campaign: http://www.ilo.org/redcard.

Child labour: 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).