The Road to End Child Labour

To mark the International Day Against Child Labour on 12th June the International Labour Organsation, in partnership with UNICEF launched their latest report – Child Labour: Global Estimates 2024, Trends and the Road Forward. In 2015 through target 8.7 of the Sustainable Development Goals, the world made a commitment to end child labour by 2025. That time limit is now ended but child labour still exists. 138 million children world wide are estimated to be in child labour. This figure includes 54 million children in hazardous work some as young as 5 years old.

This level is unacceptable. Situations such as conflict, climate change and economic instability mean children in many parts of the world are at risk of child labour. The report gives some suggestions regarding the pathway forward to end child labour:

• Ensuring free, high-quality schooling until at least the age of compulsory schooling, offering a worthwhile alternative to child labour and establishing a solid foundation for decent work in adulthood.
• Strengthening legal protections against child labour, aligned with international standards and starting with universal birth registration, to lay the groundwork for effective prevention and enforcement.
• Equipping education systems to support the school-to-work transition, particularly for older adolescents who face heightened occupational safety and health risks in the labour market.
• Universalizing social protection to offset the socioeconomic vulnerability underpinning child labour, and to build resilience against future shocks and crises that could
  drive children into work.
• Expanding access to basic services, including safe water and reliable electricity, to reduce the need for children to carry out arduous tasks and free up their time for school, play and rest.
• Combating child labour in business operations and supply chains, paying particular attention to informal micro- and small enterprises operating on the lower tiers, where child labour risks are often most pronounced.

What can you do?

• In places like West Africa, children work long hours on cocoa farms, handling toxic chemicals and lifting heavy loads—all just to survive. Call on Mondelēz—makers of Cadbury, Toblerone and Oreo—to be more transparent in their cocoa supply chain and do more to eliminate child labour. Sign the petition here.
• Learn more about the issue of child labour in the chocolate industry here and encourage your friends to take action.