Child Labour

Global Estimates of Child Labour

Understanding child labour statistics

While the percentage of children in child labour has remained unchanged over the four year period, the absolute number has increased by over 8 million.
© Adam Lai
Global Child Labour Conference agrees Durban Call to Action to end child labour

The ‘Durban Call to Action’ includes strong commitments on action against child labour while raising concerns that existing progress has slowed and is now threatened by the COVID-19 pandemic, armed conflict, as well as food, environmental and humanitarian crises.
- 5th Global Conference on the Elimination of Child Labour
5th Global Conference on the Elimination of Child Labour

A global conference for the fight against child labour

During the week of 15 to 20 May 2022, the Government of South Africa will host the 5th Global Conference on the Elimination of Child Labour. It comes at a critical time, with the COVID-19 pandemic threatening to reverse years of progress in the fight to end child labour.
© UNICEF/UNI123128/Khan

Child Labour: Global estimates 2020, trends and the road forward

Published for the first time jointly by the ILO and UNICEF, as co-custodians of Target 8.7 of the Sustainable Development Goals, the report takes stock of where we stand in the global effort to end child labour.

Advancing Decent Work to end Child Labour in SupplyChains

1 - 2 December 2022

The meeting will bring together businesses across sectors, as well as representatives of governments, employers’ and workers’ organizations and international organizations. The programme will focus on business responses to tacking the systemic root cause of child labour from adequate wages and income, equal opportunities for women and youth employment.
African Regional Meeting in preparation for the 21st ICLS & Regional Capacity Building on Statistics concerning Child Labour and Social Protection

12 - 16 September 2022

The main purpose of the Preparatory Regional Meeting is to bring the consultation and technical discussions to countries in Africa, to ensure that the revised draft standard to be prepared by the ILO adequately reflects the labour markets and labour force data priorities of countries in the region.
ILO-IOM-IPA collaborate to expand the evidence base on child labour, forced labour, and human trafficking to achieve policy impact

27 - 29 June 2022

The International Labour Organization (ILO), International Organization for Migration (IOM), and Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) join forces to host a conference on 27-29 June 2022 showcasing new research findings on child labour, forced labour, and human trafficking.

Publication

Global Research Agenda: Building the evidence base for informed policy action against child labour, forced labour, and human trafficking

04 November 2022
Publication

Conducting and contributing to Evaluations of National Action Plans on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work: A step-by-step guide

20 October 2022

These guidelines attempt to highlight the key stages in which we can appropriate integrate all Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work along the evaluation process of National Action Plans (NAPs) on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work (FPRW).

eLearning tools on child labour

The eLearning tools are designed to help to better understand what child labour is and the key role ILO stakeholders can play.

In the world, 160 miliion children are in child labour accounting for almost 1 in 10 of all children worldwide.
Read the full report.

ILO Flagship programme

International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour and Forced Labour (IPEC+)

In line with Sustainable Development Target 8.7, IPEC+ focuses on the elimination of child labour in all its forms by 2025 and the eradication of forced labour, modern slavery and human trafficking by 2030.
International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC)

Created in 1992, IPEC has grown to become the biggest dedicated child labour programme in the world and the largest technical cooperation programme within the ILO. It is now operational in some 90 countries, benefiting millions of children worldwide.

ILO