NEW YORK (ILO News) – New research developed jointly by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Walk Free Foundation, in partnership with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), has revealed the true scale of child labour and modern slavery around the world. The report Global Estimates of Child Labour: Results and Trends, 2012-2016, released during the United Nations General Assembly on 19 September 2017, shows that about 152 million children, aged between 5 and 17, are subject to child labour.
These 152 million children – 64 million girls and 88 million boys – account for almost one in ten children around the world. The highest number of children aged 5 to 17 engaged in child labour were to be found in Africa (72.1 million), followed by Asia and the Pacific (62 million), the Americas (10.7 million), Europe and Central Asia (5.5 million) and the Arab States (1.2 million). Approximately one third of children aged 5 to 14 engaged in child labour are outside the education system. 38 per cent of children in hazardous work aged 5 to 14 and almost two-thirds of those aged 15-17 work more than 43 hours per week.
Even though the estimates have shown a continuing trend of reduction (from 215 million in 2008 to 168 million in 2012 to 152 million in 2016), a stark slowdown in the pace of decline has been observed in the last four years, threatening the achievement of the ambitious goal of ending child labour by 2025.
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