The International Labour Organisation (ILO) said on Friday that around 115 million children were engaged in dangerous and life-threatening jobs and called for immediate action to halt this practice.
The report, citing studies from industrialised and developing countries, indicated that a child labourer suffers from a work related accident, illness or psychological trauma every minute. Though the overall number of children, aging from 5 to 17 years and involved in risky work had declined between 2004 and 2008, the report said the number of children between 15 and 17 years of age had actually increased by 20 percent, from 52 million to 62 million during the same period.
“Despite progress over the last decade, children involved in life-threatening work worldwide remained high,” said ILO Director-General Juan Somavia. “Governments, employers and workers must act together to provide strong leadership in shaping and implementing policies that can end child labour,” he maintained. Persistence of child labour was a clear indictment of the prevailing model of growth. Tackling work that jeopardises safety, health or morals of children must be a common and urgent priority,” he added. ILO is providing technical assistance to Pakistan for conducting the second national child labour survey during 2011-2012. The new child labour survey will provide updated statistical information on child labour in the country.
Last year, ILO’s global report on child labour warned that efforts to eliminate the worst forms of child labour had slowed down and said the global economic crisis could worsen the situation. ILO is extremely concerned with the impact of crisis on children, according to a new report.
The report called for renewed efforts to ensure that all children were busy in education at least until the minimum age of employment. The report recommended establishment of a list consisting of life-threatening work, as required by ILO child labour conventions. It also said that urgent action was needed to tackle with this difficult situation and called for awareness campaigns to keep young workers informed of the risks, rights and responsibilities at workplace.
The study noted that problems for children involved in risky work were not only confined to developing countries as evidence from the US and Europe also pointed to a high vulnerability of youth to workplace accidents.