World Against Child Labour Day

The International Labour Organization(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 health.”

It is categorized into three forms:

1. Work that deprives children of the opportunity to attend school

2. Work that forces children to leave school at an early age

3. Work that requires children to attend school but with a heavy workload.

The World Against Child Labour Day was launched in 2002 by ILO to focus on the extent of child labour worldwide and the actions needed to eliminate it. In fact, next year, i.e., 2021, is the International Year on the Elimination of Child Labour.

Ending child labour has been included as a global commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs). They want everyone to “Take immediate and effective measures to eradicate forced labour, end modern slavery and human trafficking and secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour, including recruitment and use of child soldiers, and by 2025 end child labour in all its forms.”

While multiple organizations make efforts, we must take up the responsibility to curb child labour.

This is why every year on 12th June millions of people from all across the world come together to spread awareness about the difficulties faced by child labourers and what we can do to help them. The aim is to provide children with a safe and sustainable environment to grow, the right to education and live a dignified life, and gain support from governments, civil societies, media, etc., to join the fight against child labour.

Theme for 2020

Today, the whole world is battling with the COVID-19 health pandemic. This crisis has badly affected the economy and has impacted millions of livelihoods. In such a situation of economic shock, children are bound to suffer more than ever, pushing multiple children into child labour. This will be accompanied by poor working conditions and long working hours.

This is why the theme for World Against Child Labour Day 2020 is “Protect children from child labour, now more than ever!”. The focus is on the impact of this crisis on child labour.

ILO, International Labour Organisation, is organizing a live High-Level Debate on “COVID-19 and Child Labour: Looking forward in times of crisis” on 12th June 2020. You can watch this virtual debate on their official YouTube channel.

For more details about the debate, visit here.

Kailash Satyarthi

Kailash Satyarthi is well known as the co-recipient of the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize and Malala Yousafzai ‘for their struggle against the suppression of children and young people and the right of all children to education.

He has been campaigning against child labour in India and advocating the universal rights to education for more than three decades. He founded the Bachpan Bachao Andolan in 1980, intending to create a child-friendly environment. He promotes children’s and adult education through the Global Campaign for Education, which he formed in 1999. The Kailash Satyarthi Children’s Foundation(KSCF), established in 2004, spreads and advocates for beneficial policies for children’s rights. He even established GoodWeave International, a network of non-profit organizations dedicated to ending illegal child labour in the rug-making industry.

Kailash Satyarthi conceived and led the 80,000 km long Global March against child labour. The march went across 103 countries and put forth a global demand against the worst forms of child labour. This social movement became one of the largest ever on behalf of exploited children.

Sources:

• ILO-International Labour Organization official website
• Wikipedia
• United Nations official website