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ILO calls for greater urgency on World Day against Child Labor

Xinhua, June 13, 2015 Adjust font size:

Around 20 to 30 percent of children in low income countries complete their schooling and enter the labor market by the age of 15, a report prepared by the International Labor Organisation (ILO) for Friday's World Day against Child Labor indicated.

According to ILO's latest estimates, over 168 million children are in child labor, of which 120 million are aged 5 to 14 years old.

The labor agency also estimates that 5 million children are trapped in slavery-like conditions, and that the vast majority do not have access to basic education.

Though the number of children in child labor has decreased, down from 246 million in 2000, "the decrease has not affected the 15-17 age group as it affected the lower age group," Head of the ILO's Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work Department Corinne Vargha said, adding that "47,5 million young people aged 15 to 17 find themselves in hazardous work."

Correlating this year's moto "no to child labor, yes to quality education", ILO believes that quality education can play a crucial role in reducing child labor across the world.

"We need to pay closer attention to both education policies and child labor policies," Vargha said, adding that "we are not going to eradicate child labor unless we succeed in meeting education targets as well."

2014 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Kailash Satyarthi also stressed that what is needed "is a sense of urgency when dealing with all forms of violence against children."

This includes tackling child labor as well as the denial to education, health and nutrition.

Satyarthi called for greater investment in education, believing that "the eradication of child labor and ensuring quality education for children are two sides of the same coin."

He indicated that only 4 percent of global Official Development Assistance goes towards education, while only 1 percent of total humanitarian aid is directed to this sector.

"An additional 22 billion U.S. dollars annually can bring all children to school," he said, adding that empirical evidence shows that it is impossible to think about sustainable development without ensuring child education. Enditem