On the 12th of June is the World Day Against Child Labour. Every year, Stop Child Labour celebrates the work that has been done to eliminate child labour and calls attention to the work that still needs to be done.
We must protect children’s rights. We all agree that children should not be working; they should be in school. While much progress has been made in reducing child labour over the years, global trends have reversed in recent years. It is now more important than ever to join forces to accelerate action to end child labour in all its forms.
This year, 160 million children around the world are still engaged in child labour. This is a gross violation of their rights, a dramatic loss of their childhood and a missed opportunity for development and education. We need to accelerate action to meet the Sustainable Development Goal Target 8.7 deadline to end child labour by 2025, as the international community has committed to do.
The commitments are clear: Make decent work a reality for adults and youth, make children’s right to education a reality and scale up financing and international cooperation. Governments and businesses must protect children’s rights, and businesses must be held accountable. The only way forward for us – and all stakeholders involved – is to continue to address the root causes of child labour and remove the key barriers to its elimination. It is time to turn the page and make the elimination of child labour a reality.
