Child Labour

Facts and figures

  • Global number of children in child labour has declined by one third since 2000, from 246 million to 168 million children. More than half of them, 85 million, are in hazardous work (down from 171 million in 2000).
  • Asia and the Pacific still has the largest numbers (almost 78 million or 9.3% of child population), but Sub-Saharan Africa continues to be the region with the highest incidence of child labour (59 million, over 21%).
  • There are 13 million (8.8%) of children in child labour in Latin America and the Caribbean and in the Middle East and North Africa there are 9.2 million (8.4%).
  • Agriculture remains by far the most important sector where child labourers can be found (98 million, or 59%), but the problems are not negligible in services (54 million) and industry (12 million) – mostly in the informal economy.
  • Child labour among girls fell by 40% since 2000, compared to 25% for boys.

News

  1. Sustainable Development Goals - Alliance 8.7

    Alliance 8.7: Time for a rethink in fighting forced labour in Africa

    08 September 2016

  2. Web page

    Alliance 8.7

    07 September 2016

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Publications

  1. SDG Alliance 8.7 - Joining forces globally to end child labour, forced labour, modern slavery and human trafficking

  2. The twin challenges of child labour and youth employment in the Arab States: an overview

Videos on child labour

Good practices

Events

  1. Abidjan to host the regional consultation on SDG Alliance 8.7 in Africa

    8 - 9 September 2016

  2. Tackling child labour in supply chains - Child Labour Platform (CLP) Meeting

    17 - 18 October 2016

A mobile application against child labour

  1. Eliminating and preventing child labour: Checkpoints for Companies

    This app allows business managers and auditors to create interactive checklists that will help them ensure a child labour-free operation. There are 18 checkpoints in total, divided into six categories. Each checkpoint provides best-practice recommendations for taking action.