World Day Against Child Labour
‘There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children.’ (Nelson Mandela, 1995)
Each year on 12 June, we mark the World Day Against Child Labour, which the International Labour Organization (hereinafter: ILO) established in 2002 and which serves as a call to action to safeguard children from exploitation and to promote their right to education, health, and a dignified childhood. This year’s commemoration, under the slogan ‘Red card to child labour: Fair play for children, decent work for adults’, draws attention to the need to simultaneously eliminate child labour and promote fair and secure working conditions for adults as complementary goals.
What child labour actually is?
We must not fall into the trap of labelling all children’s work as child labour that needs to be eradicated. Some work is, in fact, beneficial to children’s development and well-being, allowing them to develop skills and gain the experience required to become productive members of society. In contrast, child labour is work that endangers the child and is in conflict with national and international standards. This includes all the worst forms of child labour, such as slavery or practices similar to slavery, the use of children for the purposes of prostitution or other illegal activities on one hand, and any other work, generally speaking acceptable, but performed by children who have not yet reached the minimum age for such work, as prescribed by national legislation or international standards on the other.[1]
International legal protection
Speaking of the foundations, we can single out three legal instruments, which together constitute the three pillars of international protection. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child of 1989 (hereinafter: CRC), which is also the most ratified human rights instrument in the world, establishes in Article 32 the protection of the child from economic exploitation, as well as the prohibition of any work that may be hazardous, not limiting itself to physical dangers, but also emphasising jobs that would jeopardise education, or have a harmful effect on the child’s health, as well as their physical, psychological, spiritual, moral and social development. Furthermore, paragraph 2 imposes obligations on the States Parties with a view to protection, including a minimum age for employment, regulation of working hours and working conditions, alongside appropriate sanctions to ensure its effectiveness.[2] Geraldine Van Bueren emphasises the specificity of Article 32 of the CRC, from which a distinction can be read between work and economic exploitation, thereby simultaneously protecting children from hazardous labour, whilst not absolutely prohibiting every form of child work, thus leaving open access to appropriate and non-exploitative work that does not jeopardise a child’s development.[3]
Alongside the CRC, we will single out two ILO Conventions: the first is the ILO Convention No. 138, Minimum Age Convention (1973), which serves as the foundational instrument for establishing a system of age limits for access to the labour market. Article 1 stipulates that each Member State is obligated to implement a national policy that aims to eliminate child labour and raise the minimum age for employment to a level that ensures the fullest psycho-physical development of young persons.[4] Further articles specify that the minimum age limit may not be lower than the age at which compulsory schooling ends, and in any case may not be lower than 15 years, except for exceptionally poor states which may temporarily retain it at 14 years. It is important to note that the legislation specifically differentiates between dangerous types of work for which the age limit is set at 18, with the possibility of lowering it to 16, but only upon fulfilment of strict conditions that protect the health, safety and morals of young persons.[5] The second instrument is the ILO Convention No. 182, Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (1999), which has achieved a universal ratification by all 187 ILO Member States, a landmark in international labour instrument history and a global consensus on the unacceptable nature of the worst forms of child exploitation.[6] The term ‘worst forms’, as referred to in the Convention, encompasses slavery and comparable practices, the exploitation of children in pornography and prostitution, the involvement of children in illicit activities, and any other work that, by its nature or the circumstances in which it is carried out, is likely to endanger the health, safety or moral development of the child.[7] The Convention’s Preamble expressly acknowledges that the primary causes of child labour are predominantly rooted in poverty, thereby emphasising that its effective and lasting elimination requires sustained economic growth that fosters social progress, primarily through the reduction of poverty and ensuring the accessibility of education for all children.[8]
Where are we today? Progress Without Completion
‘Child Labour: Global Estimates 2024, Trends and the Road Forward’, a joint report by the ILO and UNICEF published on 11 June 2025, presents the most comprehensive and contemporary overview of the state of child labour in the world.According to the report, in 2024, the number of children aged 5 to 17 involved in child labour reached approximately 138 million, which accounts for almost 8 per cent of all children globally, of whom as many as 54 million were engaged in dangerous work that posed potential hazards to their health, safety and development. The figures indicate a reduction of more than 22 million compared to 2020, confirming the continued decline in child labour even during the years when regression was expected due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and for an even broader context, we can consider the fact that since the turn of the century, that is, in the period from 2020 to 2024, the number of children in labour has almost halved from around 246 to 138 million.[9]
It should be emphasised that regional disparities are significant, with the Sub-Saharan Africa region bearing the heaviest burden, accounting for around 87 million children, which represents two-thirds of the total, while the Asia and Pacific regions have demonstrated the most notable progress with around 43 per cent reduction in child labour.[10] Agriculture continues to dominate as the sector with the largest share of child labour, accounting for 61 per cent of all cases, while the service sector accounts for 27 per cent and industry for 13 per cent.[11] The gender dimension is particularly interesting because, although boys statistically predominate in the recorded cases (9 per cent of boys compared to 7 per cent of girls), with the gap growing even wider in boys’ favour as age increases, the report warns that if we include the domain of household chores, in which girls are significantly overrepresented, taking that category into account would change the picture of the gender gap in favour of the predominance of female child labour.[12]
Despite the progress that has been recorded during the aforementioned period, and the positive trend that is evident from the statistical indicators presented above, it is necessary to maintain a critical approach and emphasise that the results achieved are still insufficient. In 2015, the United Nations adopted Resolution A/RES/70/1, entitled ‘Transforming our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’ and this comprehensive development framework comprises 17 Sustainable Development Goals and 169 associated targets. Within the context of the issue of child labour, particularly relevant are Goal 1, which provides for the eradication of poverty in all its forms and at all levels, and Goal 8, which is aimed at promoting sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment, and decent work for all. Within the latter Goal, Point 8.7 merits particular attention, as it stipulates the international community’s commitment to implementing effective and urgent measures to, inter alia, prohibit and eliminate the worst forms of child labour, following the complete elimination of child labour in all its forms.[13] This indicates that, despite the progress that has been made, internationally set standards have not yet been met. Given that the ILO and UNICEF’s calculations show that, worryingly, achieving this target by 2030 would require accelerating the current rate of progress by as much as eleven times, this illustrates the considerable gap between current efforts and the level of action required to eliminate child labour within the envisaged timeframe.[14]
Between Promises and Reality – Concluding remarks
Despite the near-universal acceptance of international standards prohibiting child labour, its persistence demonstrates that legal commitments alone are insufficient. Many states that have ratified the conventions continue to face significant capacity and resource constraints in enforcing child labour laws, and the ILO and UNICEF warn that potential reductions in funding for social protection and education programmes could jeopardise the progress achieved thus far.[15] ILO Convention No. 182 recognizes that poverty remains the root cause of child labour, which is further worsened by the vicious circle between child labour and education, meaning children who work are less likely to attend school, or do so at all, thereby depriving them of the tools needed to escape poverty, which in turn leads to the intergenerational reproduction of the same situation. The ILO and UNICEF therefore emphasise that ensuring free, high-quality and accessible education is one of the key means of combating child labour.[16]
While we should acknowledge and celebrate the achievements so far, at the same time, we must not be content with it, but we must use it as a platform to accelerate and make further progress. Thus, the issue of child labour is not only a legal one, it is also a matter of political will, responsibility and solidarity. Each of us has a role to play in ensuring that those 138 million children welcome the new day not in the fields, mines or factories, but in school.
[1] United Nations (n.d.) World Day Against Child Labour–Background [Online]. Available at: https://www.un.org/en/observances/world-day-against-child-labour/background (Accessed 4 June 2026)
[2] UN General Assembly, 1989, The Convention on the Rights of the Child, Art. 32
[3] Van Bueren, 1998, p. 264.
[4] ILO, 1973, Minimum Age Convention, Art. 1.
[5] Ibid., Arts. 2–3.
[6] United Nations, 2020
[7] ILO, 1999, Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, Art. 3.
[8] Ibid., Preamble
[9] ILO and UNICEF, 2025, pp. 8–11, 15.
[10] Ibid., p. 20.
[11] Ibid., p. 33.
[12] Ibid., p. 29.
[13] UN, 2015, UN Doc A/RES/70/1, pp. 1, 14–20.
[14] ILO and UNICEF, 2025, p. 9.
[15] UNICEF USA, 2025
[16] ILO and UNICEF, 2025, pp. 43–47.
References
International Labour Organization (ILO) (1973) Convention No. 138 concerning Minimum Age for Admission to Employment (Minimum Age Convention, 1973). Adopted 26 June 1973, entered into force 19 June 1976. Geneva: ILO. Available at: https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/minimum-age-convention-1973-no-138 (Accessed: 10 June 2026).
International Labour Organization (ILO) (1999) Convention No. 182 concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour (Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999). Adopted 17 June 1999, entered into force 19 November 2000. Geneva: ILO. Available at: https://normlex.ilo.org/dyn/normlex/en/f?p=NORMLEXPUB:12100:0::NO::P12100_ILO_CODE:C182 (Accessed: 10 June 2026).
International Labour Organization and United Nations Children’s Fund (2025) Child Labour: Global Estimates 2024, Trends and the Road Forward, pp. 6–61. Available at: https://data.unicef.org/resources/child-labour-global-estimates-2024/ (Accessed 10 June 2026).
UN General Assembly (2015) Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, Resolution 70/1, UN Doc A/RES/70/1, pp. 1–35. Available at: https://files.acquia.undp.org/public/migration/ua/Agenda2030-eng.pdf (Accessed 11 June 2026).
UNICEF USA (2025) ‘Despite Progress, Child Labor Still Affects 138 Million Children Globally’ [Online]. Available at: https://www.unicefusa.org/press/despite-progress-child-labor-still-affects-138-million-children-globally-ilo-unicef (Accessed 12 June 2026).
United Nations (2020) ‘Convention on worst forms of child labour receives universal ratification’, UN News. [Online]. Available at: https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/08/1069492 (Accessed: 10 June 2026).
United Nations (n.d.) World Day Against Child Labour–Background [Online]. Available at: https://www.un.org/en/observances/world-day-against-child-labour/background (Accessed 4 June 2026).
United Nations General Assembly (1989) Convention on the Rights of the Child, Resolution 44/25, 20 November 1989, entered into force 2 September 1990, UNTS vol. 1577, p. 3. Available at: https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/convention-rights-child (Accessed: 10 June 2026).
Van Bueren, G. (1998) The International Law on the Rights of the Child, International Studies in Human Rights, 35, The Hague: Kluwer Law International, pp. 1–435.
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