New ILO Child Labour Report calls for strong focus on Sub-Saharan Africa

ADDIS ABABA/DAKAR/NAIROBI (ILO News) – A new report by the International Labour Organization (ILO) states that the global number of child labourers has declined by one third since 2000, from 246 million to 168 million. But Sub-Saharan Africa continues to be the region with the highest incidence of child labour with more than one in five children in child labour.

Focus on Sub-Saharan Africa

• For the overall 5-17 years age group, child labourers number some 77.7 million in Asia and the Pacific, 59.0 million in Sub-Saharan Africa, 12.5 million in Latin America and the Caribbean and 9.2 million in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), according to the report entitled "Marking progress against child labour: Global estimates and trends 2000-2012".
• Seen in relative terms, however, the biggest concern remains the Sub-Saharan Africa region. There, more than one in five children (21 per cent) in the 5-17 years age group is in child labour. This compares with 9 per cent in Asia and the Pacific and LAC, and with 8 per cent in MENA.
• The largest numbers of children in hazardous work are again found in the Asia and the Pacific (33.9 million) and Sub-Saharan Africa (28.8 million) regions. There are 9.6 million children in hazardous work in the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region and 5.2 million in MENA. The percentage of children in hazardous work is highest in the Sub-Saharan Africa region (10 per cent), followed by the LAC region (7 per cent), MENA region (5 per cent) and Asia and the Pacific region (4 per cent).
• The number of child labourers also decreased in Sub-Saharan Africa (by 6 million). The net impact of these regional trends is that the population of child labourers is becoming more concentrated in the Sub-Saharan Africa region. According to the regional distribution of child labour for the 5-17 years age for 2008-2012, Sub-Saharan Africa accounted for 30 per cent of all 5-17 year-olds in child labour in 2008; four years later this figure had risen to about 35 per cent.

Key facts and data

• Data on child labour are now available for many Sub-Saharan Africa countries, but data on hazardous work remain much more limited, and comparable data over time, needed for monitoring and assessing trends, remain inadequate in the region.
• The risk of child labour is highest for children in sub-Saharan Africa, where one child in every five is in child labour.
• Sub-Saharan Africa continues to be the region with the highest incidence of child labour, even though there has been a decline there. For the overall 5-17 years age group, child labourers number almost 77.7 million in Asia and the Pacific. For the same age group, there are 59.0 million child labourers in Sub-Saharan Africa.
• In relative terms, however, the biggest concern remains the Sub-Saharan Africa region. There, more than one in five children (21 per cent) in the 5-17 years age group is in child labour.
• The net impact of these changes is that the worldwide population of child labourers has become more concentrated in the Sub-Saharan Africa region. While Sub-Saharan Africa accounted for 30 per cent of all 5-17 year-olds in child labour in 2008, four years later this figure had risen to 35 per cent.
• The global number of child labourers has declined by one third since 2000, from 246 million to 168 million. But even the latest improved rate of decline is not enough to achieve the goal of eliminating the worst forms of child labour by 2016 – agreed by the international community through the ILO.

Strategies and policy responses

• The Report identifies the need to reinforce action in relation to age and gender specific responses to child labour, a continued focus on Africa, a continued focus on agriculture and a new focus on manufacturing and services in the informal economy and strengthening national action on monitoring and evaluation of the impact of policies and actions taken on child labour.
• ILO action plans call for a special focus on Sub-Saharan Africa and the statistics presented in the current Report indicate that this call remains valid. Although the decline in child labour during 2008-2012 offers some cause for optimism, Sub-Saharan Africa is still the region where children face by far the highest risk of child labour and also the region where progress has been slowest and least consistent.
• An enhanced focus and support for the development and full implementation of national action plans for the elimination of child labour, especially its worst forms, and the scaling up and replication of pilot projects, knowledge building and integration of child labour into national development agendas is called for as a priority.