UNICEF and ILO launch new report on child labour
As a result of the pandemic there are now 8 million children more involved in child labour, above the 160 million children at the beginning of 2020. 79 million children of the 160 million were in hazardous work directly endangering their health, safety and moral development, a proportion that continues in 2021. The report stresses the importance of ensuring that every child has a legal identity and is registered at birth. While the majority of children work within their own family unit (72.1%), little information is available about the number of children involved in the worst forms of child labour, such as children in bonded and forced labour or in commercial sexual exploitation due to its underground nature. Further work is needed to achieve SDG 8.7 which requires that States “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 …” It is in this context that the child’s right to identity is particularly at risk, when they are removed from their family environment.
