What is Child Labour?

 

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) defines “child labour” as work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity, and that is harmful to physical and mental development. It refers to work that

 

• is mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous and harmful to children; and

• interferes with their schooling by depriving them of the opportunity to attend school; obliging them to leave school prematurely; or requiring them to attempt to combine school attendance with excessively long and heavy work.

 

In its most extreme forms, child labour involves children being enslaved, separated from their families, exposed to serious hazards and illnesses and/or left to fend for themselves on the streets of large cities – often at a very early age.

 

Numbers on Child Labour

 

168 million girls and boys between the ages of 5 and 17 across the world are child labourers. They have little or no time to play; are often deprived of quality education and many do not receive proper nutrition or care. They are denied the chance to be children.

 

More than 85 million of them are exposed to the worst forms of child labour such as slavery, work in hazardous environments, drug trafficking and prostitution, as well as involvement in armed conflict.

 

11% of all world children between 5 and 17 years are in child labour. 98 million girls and boys are in agriculture, which is where you will find most child labour. Asia-Pacific has 78 million child labourers, the region where you will find the highest number of children at work.