UN: 115 million child laborers in hazardous conditions

UN: 115 million child laborers in hazardous conditions

2011-06-11 07:21:01 GMT+7 (ICT)

UNITED NATIONS (BNO NEWS) -- Over half of the world's 215 million child laborers are involved in dangerous work that puts them in risk of injury, illness or death, according to a United Nations (UN) report released on Friday.

With World Day against Child Labor falling on Sunday, the UN's International Labor Organization (ILO) new report titled "Children in hazardous work: what we know, what we need to do," notes that a child laborer suffers a work-related accident, illness or psychological trauma every minute.

According to the study, between 2004 and 2008, there was a decline in the number of children aged 5 to 17 involved in hazardous work. However, children in the same category aged between 15 and 17 years old, increased by 10 million (52 million to 62 million), which represents a 20 percent increase during the same period.

Last year, the ILO Global Report on child labor warned that efforts to eliminate the worst forms of child labor were decreasing. In addition, the report expressed concern that the global economic crisis could stop its progress toward the 2016 goal of eliminating the worst forms of child labor.

ILO Director-General Juan Somavia emphasized that despite progress during the last 10 years, the number of children in child labor worldwide – and particularly in hazardous work – remains high.

"Governments, employers and workers must act together to give strong leadership in shaping and implementing the policies and action that can end child labor," Somavia said. "The persistence of child labor is a clear indictment of the prevailing model of growth. Tackling work that jeopardizes the safety, health or morals of children must be a common and urgent priority," he added.

The ILO's new report calls for renewed efforts that guarantee all children remain in education institutions at least until the minimum age of employment. It also urges countries to prepare lists of hazardous work as required by ILO child labor conventions.

Furthermore, the report is pushing for training and awareness efforts to ensure children who have reached the minimum working age are informed of the risks, rights, and responsibilities in their workplace.

As hazardous child labor is a world issue, the new report underlines that the problem does not only exist in developing countries, as evidence has shown that the U.S. and Europe also have a high vulnerability of workplace accidents for youths.

To date, 173 of the ILO's 183 Member States have ratified the ILO convention on the worst forms of child labor in a global effort to fight the problem.

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