ILO discusses child labour in agrifood value chains
At an event which marked the Word Day Against Child Labour, ILO-Brussels Director, Lieve Verboven stressed the importance of sharing best practices and concrete interventions in order to tackle child labour.
12 June 2023
BRUSSELS (ILO News) – At an event hosted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to mark World Day Against Child Labour, ILO-Brussels Director Lieve Verboven provided the latest trends in child labour worldwide and emphasised the need to accelerate coordinated action towards the implementation of the Durban Call to Action and the achievement of SDG 8.7.
Global progress against child labour has stagnated since 2016. The ILO-UNICEF Global Estimates indicate that 160 million children were in child labour globally in 2020, accounting for almost 1 in 10 of all children worldwide. Nearly half of all those in child labour are in the most hazardous form of child labour. The work that these children do directly endangers their health, safety and moral development. More specifically, 70% of all child labour occurs in agriculture.
In her opening remarks, Ms Verboven welcomed the ILO and FAO’s long history of collaboration, which aims to promote sustainable agriculture and rural employment, with particular attention to improving livelihoods and promoting decent and rural employment.
She also referred to the upcoming EU-funded joint programme with FAO and UNICEF, in collaboration with ITC, which will aim to address the root causes of child labour in supply chains focusing particularly on coffee through an integrated area-based approach.
The drivers of child labour are complex. While poverty and social vulnerability remain the greatest forces driving children into the workplace, the risks of child labour are increased by gaps in legislation, a lack of social protection and decent work opportunities and limited access to quality schooling. Decent work and adequate wages for parents, and quality education for children are needed in order to break the generational cycle of poverty.
The Director also outlined the ILO policy guidelines for the promotion of decent work in the agri-food sector. “We are at a critical juncture in the global fight against child labour, and we all have a responsibility to eliminate this scourge,” she concluded. Watch the recording of the event.
Global progress against child labour has stagnated since 2016. The ILO-UNICEF Global Estimates indicate that 160 million children were in child labour globally in 2020, accounting for almost 1 in 10 of all children worldwide. Nearly half of all those in child labour are in the most hazardous form of child labour. The work that these children do directly endangers their health, safety and moral development. More specifically, 70% of all child labour occurs in agriculture.
In her opening remarks, Ms Verboven welcomed the ILO and FAO’s long history of collaboration, which aims to promote sustainable agriculture and rural employment, with particular attention to improving livelihoods and promoting decent and rural employment.
She also referred to the upcoming EU-funded joint programme with FAO and UNICEF, in collaboration with ITC, which will aim to address the root causes of child labour in supply chains focusing particularly on coffee through an integrated area-based approach.
The drivers of child labour are complex. While poverty and social vulnerability remain the greatest forces driving children into the workplace, the risks of child labour are increased by gaps in legislation, a lack of social protection and decent work opportunities and limited access to quality schooling. Decent work and adequate wages for parents, and quality education for children are needed in order to break the generational cycle of poverty.
The Director also outlined the ILO policy guidelines for the promotion of decent work in the agri-food sector. “We are at a critical juncture in the global fight against child labour, and we all have a responsibility to eliminate this scourge,” she concluded. Watch the recording of the event.