Child labour is the result of a social discrepancy somewhere in the world and somewhere it is the result of the effect of organized crime. Eradication of this economic and social evil is not possible only by making Laws about it. Every year on 12 June, World Day against Child Labour is celebrated by the United Nations(UN) and the International Labour Organization(ILO) to seriously implement the efforts being made to eradicate child labour from the world, and the world can be made aware of all the dimensions of this problem.
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History of World Day Against Child labour
The United Nations body International Labour Organization (ILO) manages the global community to work across the globe. In 2002, the ILO started World Day Against Child Labour for the first time. It ensures a normal childhood for many children between the ages of 5 to 17 by facilitating them with proper education, suitable medical services, leisure time, or just fundamental freedoms.
Significance of World against child labour day
June 12 has been specified as the World Day Against Child Labour to address the international issue of child labour and bring awareness across the World to find out the solutions to eradicate it. This particular day is celebrated to educate the people about the negative mental and physical concerns that children who are dragged into child labour go through across the globe. This day also acts as an opportunity for peoples to create effective measures to handle the cause that contribute to child labour.
World Day Against Child Labour 2023 Theme
The theme of World Day Against Child Labour 2022 is ‘Social Justice for All. End Child Labour!’
What is Child Labour?
If defined in easy words, employment of children who are below 14 years of age either in paid or unpaid form, deprives their innocent childhood, devoid them of their right to education, and is harmful to their physical and mental health. All work done by children under the age of 14 and dangerous work done by children under the age of 18 is illegal. So turning the childhood of innocent children into labour is referred to as child labour
Under Article 24 of the fundamental rights in our Indian constitution, Child labour is banned in India.
Child labour situation around the World
According to the UN, Africa ranks at the top in the percentage of children in Child labour. About a 72million children i.e one-fifth. The remaining population of child labour is divided among the America(11 million i.e 5%), central Asia & Europe(6 million i.e 4%) and Arab states (1 million i.e 3%).
It is unfortunate that globally, a social protection Cash benefit is only received by 26.4% of children. Only 1.1% of GDP is allocated as a national expenditure on the social protection of children. As Africa has the highest percentage of children in child labour but only 0.4% of GDP is spent on the social protection of children. So we need to increase our budget allocation to cater to this lingering problem of Child labour to safeguard the future of children trapped in child labour. It is estimated that without appropriate strategies to counter this practice of child labour, the number of children in child labour could increase by 8.9 million by the end of 2022.
What we have achieved till date to reduce child Labour
globally, important steps have been taken by ILO & UNICEF to decrease child labour in the last 20 years. The number of innocent children trapped in child labour declined by 85.5 million i.e from 16% to 9.6 % between the years 2000 to 2020.
What are the causes of Child labour
The potent cause of child labour is as follows:
- Poverty.
- Social backwardness.
- Lack of educational resources.
- Economic backwardness.
- Several diseases or disabilities.
- discrimination between girls and boys.
- Family Tradition of child labour.
- Poor access to decent work.
- Lack of understanding
- Addiction to alcohol, drugs etc.
Social protection system
The theme adopted by the International Labour Organisation for this year 2022 is “Universal Social Protection to End Child Labour”. On this particular day, 12 June, the ILO and its affiliate seeks to enhance the investment in social protection system and Schemes around the globe to safeguard innocent children from child labour by facilitating them strong protection base
Only Social protection is not the only human right that needs to be provided to end child labour but also an efficient policy needs to be framed to prevent families in the time of financial crisis from turning to child labour. In 2020, before the covid pandemic, only 46.7 % of the world’s population had taken the benefit of at least one social protection scheme. Even in this beneficiary’s children are fewer. About 1.5 billion children i.e. three-quarters of the children are living in absence of this social protection.
Adverse Impact of child labour on children
It deprives them of the right to education and this ruins their future later on they have to suffer unemployment which results in poverty. The children have to go through lots of exploitation, girl child has to face sexual exploitation and rape by adults that result in unwanted pregnancy and abortion, sexually transmitted disease, HIV/AIDS , and addiction to alcohol and drugs. They have to go through physical abuse, they are deprived of family affection and love which leads to loneliness and depression.
Conclusion
Child labour is one of the evils of our society from which we have to get out. It is our moral responsibility that if we see child labour happening, then raise our voice against it. It is not only the responsibility of the international organisation, government or just by making a law, child labour will not be completely curbed, every individual has to take responsibility to weed out this problem from our society. The standard of living of poor people has to be raised by providing them social protection and Cash benefits and also providing easy access to school and quality education to children so that their future becomes bright and helps in the development of the country.
Children are meant to learn not to earn . Stop child labour to save our child’s future.
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