June 10, 2021

Andrew Campbell 

The United Nations report "Child Labour: 2020 Global Estimates, Trends, and the Road Forward," released on June 10 by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF), as co-custodians of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Target 8.7, takes stock of where we stand in the global effort to end child labor. Meanwhile, the United Nations has designated 2021 as the International Year for the Elimination of Child Labor, urging immediate action to meet a 2025 deadline for eradicating child labor.

According to a new United Nations research, the number of young people working has risen above 160 million for the first time in two decades, an increase of 8.4 million in four years, while millions more are at risk due to the COVID-19 epidemic. The study cautions that progress toward alleviating child labor has halted for the first time in 20 years, reversing a previous downward trend that saw the number of children employed drop by 94 million between 2000 and 2016.

UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta H. Holsman Fore recommends governments and international development banks emphasize spending on programs that help children exit the labor force and return to school, as well as enhanced social support services for families. In addition, Guy Ryder, Director-General of the ILO, warned that we are at a pivotal moment and much depends on how we respond in order to prevent putting a new generation of children at risk.

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