World Day Against Child Labour 2020
Protect children from child labour, now more than ever!
Marking the World Day Against Child Labour 2020 under the theme of "Protect child labour, now more than ever!", ILO Cairo Office has developed in cooperation with the social partners a set of awareness materials on the negative impact of child labour and the measures that should be taken to prevent the spread of COVID-19 infection at the workplace.
12 June 2020
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العربية
Cairo (ILO News)- The celebration of the World Day Against Child Labour (WDACL) this year, which comes on June 12 of each year, coincides with the spread of COVID-19 pandemic worldwide. Therefore, the purpose of this year celebration aims to highlight the impact of the crisis on child labour and how to protect children from the global economic and social repercussions that affected the lives of individuals, especially children.
According to the International Labour Organization’s statistics, there are an estimated 152 million children in child labour worldwide, of which 72 million are involved in hazardous work. Those children are now at greater risk of facing circumstances that are more difficult and for longer working hours as they have to contribute to the family’s income at a very early age. However, with the appropriate policies, and accelerated actions to implement it, children could be protected from child labour.
The United Nations General Assembly declared that 2021 is the International Year for the Elimination of Child Labour, calling on all member States, international and regional organizations, civil society organizations, individuals and other relevant stakeholders to organize activities aimed at raising awareness of the importance of eliminating child labour and sharing best practices in this regard.
Eric Oechslin, Director of the ILO Cairo Office stressed that the World Day against Child Labour for 2020, serves as a catalyst for the growing worldwide movement against child labour.
He commended the collaborative efforts made by Egypt to set protecting children from being engaged in dangerous working conditions as a first priority in light of the COVID-19 pandemic by working to update child hazardous work-list. Also, by emphasizing the important role that occupational safety and health standards playing in preventing and curbing its spread.
Mr. Eric Oechslin explained that under the theme of this year’s WDACL: "Protecting children from child labour, now more than ever!”, the ILO- Dutch funded regional project "Accelerating Action for the Elimination of Child Labour in Supply Chain in Africa" (ACCEL Africa) has cooperated closely with the social partners to achieve the objectives of the WDACL 2020 virtual campaign by developing a set of awareness materials. It aimed at raising the awareness of workers, employers, children engaged in child labour and their families on the negative impact of child labour and the measures that should be taken to prevent the spread of COVID-19 infection at the workplace.
The awareness materials include awareness guides, posters, visual materials and short stories on the importance of protecting children from child labour and COVID-19 as well as the importance of continuing in education. In addition to documenting the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on children and the phenomenon of child labour through integrated assessments and studies.
In this regard, Ms. Marwa Salah, the National Project Coordinator pointed out that the ILO ACCEL Egypt Project in cooperation with the social partners work to direct the project activities to support the elimination of child labour and support the families of children involved in child labour.
She added that the project focuses on the long term in Egypt on supporting cotton supply chains free of child labour by improving policy, legal and institutional frameworks to address child labour in global supply chains. It also focuses on the institutionalization of innovative and evidence-based solutions that address the root causes of child labour in supply chains as well as strengthening partnership and knowledge sharing among cotton supply chain actors.
“The World Day Against Child Labour is an opportunity to renew our commitment to contribute to the elimination of child labour and to join the call for ending child labour in supply chains. Accordingly, the ILO Cairo Office invites everyone to be part of this day. Every action counts and together we can make a difference,” emphasized Marwa Salah.
In this context, it is worth mentioning that in 2018, the Egyptian government launched the "National Action Plan for Combating the Worst Forms of Child Labour in Egypt and Supporting Family (2018 – 2025)", in addition to establishing a tripartite steering committee of government, employers’ and workers’ organizations’ representatives to follow up on the implementation of its objectives.
According to the International Labour Organization’s statistics, there are an estimated 152 million children in child labour worldwide, of which 72 million are involved in hazardous work. Those children are now at greater risk of facing circumstances that are more difficult and for longer working hours as they have to contribute to the family’s income at a very early age. However, with the appropriate policies, and accelerated actions to implement it, children could be protected from child labour.
The United Nations General Assembly declared that 2021 is the International Year for the Elimination of Child Labour, calling on all member States, international and regional organizations, civil society organizations, individuals and other relevant stakeholders to organize activities aimed at raising awareness of the importance of eliminating child labour and sharing best practices in this regard.
Eric Oechslin, Director of the ILO Cairo Office stressed that the World Day against Child Labour for 2020, serves as a catalyst for the growing worldwide movement against child labour.
We call for strategies to protect the most vulnerable groups and ensure that children are a priority in the crisis response."
Eric Oechslin, ILO Cairo Director
He commended the collaborative efforts made by Egypt to set protecting children from being engaged in dangerous working conditions as a first priority in light of the COVID-19 pandemic by working to update child hazardous work-list. Also, by emphasizing the important role that occupational safety and health standards playing in preventing and curbing its spread.
Mr. Eric Oechslin explained that under the theme of this year’s WDACL: "Protecting children from child labour, now more than ever!”, the ILO- Dutch funded regional project "Accelerating Action for the Elimination of Child Labour in Supply Chain in Africa" (ACCEL Africa) has cooperated closely with the social partners to achieve the objectives of the WDACL 2020 virtual campaign by developing a set of awareness materials. It aimed at raising the awareness of workers, employers, children engaged in child labour and their families on the negative impact of child labour and the measures that should be taken to prevent the spread of COVID-19 infection at the workplace.
The awareness materials include awareness guides, posters, visual materials and short stories on the importance of protecting children from child labour and COVID-19 as well as the importance of continuing in education. In addition to documenting the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on children and the phenomenon of child labour through integrated assessments and studies.
In this regard, Ms. Marwa Salah, the National Project Coordinator pointed out that the ILO ACCEL Egypt Project in cooperation with the social partners work to direct the project activities to support the elimination of child labour and support the families of children involved in child labour.
She added that the project focuses on the long term in Egypt on supporting cotton supply chains free of child labour by improving policy, legal and institutional frameworks to address child labour in global supply chains. It also focuses on the institutionalization of innovative and evidence-based solutions that address the root causes of child labour in supply chains as well as strengthening partnership and knowledge sharing among cotton supply chain actors.
“The World Day Against Child Labour is an opportunity to renew our commitment to contribute to the elimination of child labour and to join the call for ending child labour in supply chains. Accordingly, the ILO Cairo Office invites everyone to be part of this day. Every action counts and together we can make a difference,” emphasized Marwa Salah.
In this context, it is worth mentioning that in 2018, the Egyptian government launched the "National Action Plan for Combating the Worst Forms of Child Labour in Egypt and Supporting Family (2018 – 2025)", in addition to establishing a tripartite steering committee of government, employers’ and workers’ organizations’ representatives to follow up on the implementation of its objectives.