"This year's World Day against Child Labour puts the spotlight on the plight of 115 million children involved in hazardous work – more than half of the estimated 215 million child labourers in the world. ... It is unacceptable that economic growth and development should permit complacency or resignation about child labour or be premised on the expendability of the lives of the most vulnerable."
Juan Somavia
Director-General of the International Labour Organization
Message for World Day Against Child Labour, 12 June 2011
Full text
Two young boys working in a carpentry workshop in Casablanca. (UN Photo/Jean Pierre Laffont)
The International Labour Organization (ILO) launched the World Day Against Child Labour in 2002 to focus attention on the global extent of child labour and the action and efforts needed to eliminate it. Each year on 12 June, the World Day brings together governments, employers and workers organizations, civil society, as well as millions of people from around the world to highlight the plight of child labourers and what can be done to help them.
The ILO’s adoption of Convention No. 182 in 1999 consolidated the global consensus on child labour elimination. Millions of child labourers have benefited from the Convention, but much remains to be done. The latest figures estimated that 215 million children are trapped in child labour, and 115 million of these children are in hazardous work. The ILO’s member states have set the target for eliminating the Worst Forms of Child Labour by 2016. To achieve this goal requires a major scaling up of effort and commitment.
A future without child labour is at last within reach. Significant progress is being made worldwide in combating child labour. The new global estimates of trends reinforce this message of hope. However, a strong and sustained global movement is needed to provide the extra push towards eliminating the scourge of child labour. This is no time for complacency.
The theme for 2011 World Day Against Child Labour is Children in Hazardous Work. The 2011 World Day Against Child Labour will provide a global spotlight on hazardous child labour, and call for urgent action to tackle the problem.