According to a new survey by the International Labor Organization (ILO) and the UN Children’s Fund, 1.5 million children were subjected to child labor in 2021.
Despite this worrying data, the survey has shown that the number of child laborers has decreased by 2.2 million since 2021.
This is a significant progress in keeping with the big enthusiasm for the number of child laborers in 20 2016 and 2021, but it is still a huge challenge.
The international community set the goal of eliminating child labor by 2021 and from the current data it is clear that it is currently out of reach. However, in 2000, the number of child workers was 24.6 crore, which has now increased to Tk 13.8 crore.
Gilbert Hongkbo, director general of the UN Labor Organization, said the results of this report could be expected and showed that progress was possible, but we have to understand that the long way has to be determined.
Various forms of child labor
Some kids take care of the fields in the burning sun, many children clean the house of a stranger or share their hands on the shops, rash, then they break the work or collect garbage.
According to the report, Percent 1 percent of the children are working as a worker in agricultural work, after which services like domestic work or markets are a place of purchase. 5 percent of child laborers are working in the mining and production sector.
A large number of countries suffer from child labor problems, but in each case it is not the same.
The total number of child labor in sub-Sahara Africa is about two-thirds, that is, 1.7 million workers. The rate of child labor has dropped from 21.5 percent to 20.5 percent, but the number has not changed, and the progress has weakened due to population growth.
In the Asia-Pacific Ocean, the rate has dropped from 5..6 percent to 5.5 percent and the number of children workers has decreased. It has now reached Tk 1.5 crore to 2.5 crore.
Latin America and the Caribbean have also advanced and the number of child laborers has decreased by 5 percent.
Economic crisis
Behind every information, the agony of economic disadvantages is hidden. Many parents have to send their children to work, no alternative. It is difficult for the family to survive every day for the family, and in such a situation, lowercase financial support is also important without educational and appropriate employment, without social security measures.
The Executive Director of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) emphasized that child labor can be completed by expanding legal defense systems, expansion of social security projects, creating employment opportunities for adults and investing in quality education.
However, he warns that the direction of the progress that is still recorded till now can reverses global funds for humanitarian purposes.
If the budget is shrinking for education and the social security systems are weak, a large number of families may be forced to send their children to work instead of school.