“Remember, there is no reason, no excuse… child labour is child abuse.” [1]
We must be sympathetic to all children who are forced to leave their education and childhood behind in order to earn a living and help them by all means possible, and this day has been dedicated to the importance of combating child labour and the significance of this problem.
The ILO defines child labour as work that “deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity, and that is harmful to physical and mental development”. In its most extreme forms, child labour can involve youngsters being enslaved, separated from their families, or exposed to hazards and illnesses. [2]
Nearly 1 in 10 children are subjected to child labour worldwide and almost half of them are in hazardous work that directly endangers their health and moral development. Children may be driven to work for various reasons. Most often, child labour occurs when families face financial challenges, sudden illness of a caregiver, or job loss of a primary wage earner. [3]
In some cases, wars, mass migration and lack of quality education are what cause child labour.
It should be noted that not all work done by children is classed as child labour. There is no issue when a child is working to progress their life skills without compromising their health, their well-being or their education, as in doing chores or small jobs to earn pocket money or gain work experience and this sort of work is acceptable. [4]
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, 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. [5]
Several fundraising campaigns are organized yearly to help children in need and their families. This may not be enough to save these children from poverty and get their lives back on track, at least not for all of them, but it is sufficient enough to raise awareness on the matter and support children.
Also read: World Oceans Day.
It goes without saying that child labour is a crime and an unacceptable solution, however, many people think that it is the best choice to earn a living, and that is why it is necessary to mention a few of child labour’s drawbacks.
No matter how much money and experience the child gains through working at a young age, it cannot make up for the harms caused by child labour, such as: A range of both mental and physical health effects on a child that often continue into adulthood, these vary and include long-term health issues due to abuse, injuries, malnutrition, exhaustion, psychological harm or exposure to chemicals, among others.
Skipping school or even dropping out, for several reasons, most important of which are the inability to balance work and school or some families’ perceptions around work and gaining money being more important than education. [6]
Unfortunately, this is not a rare case, this applies to almost every case of child labour. [3]
Society-wide, victims of child labour usually suffer from depression and anxiety, pushing them to destructive habits like smoking, alcoholism, or drug abuse. Abusive environments also trigger a lifetime of low self-esteem, depression, and relationship difficulties, affecting not only the child but the society as a whole. [7]
We should all realize that working children have mostly turned to work due to extreme living conditions, for that they need to be empathised rather than blamed, but at the same time, that does not justify placing a child in a setting, where he or she is exploited and at the expense of their education. Therefore, States must take all necessary actions to curb this phenomenon and strive to ensure education for all children, is the true and most important investment.
No social problem can be solved in a short period of time, especially one such as child labour, because it is a complex of other radical problems as well, however, efforts to solve this problem have been going on for years now and there is, promising, yet subtle, progress.
To continue the fight against child labour, the ILO and UNICEF are calling for:
Ending this phenomenon, robbing children of their lives, requires years of international cooperation. But this does not mean that we can’t aspire for a better reality, let us all use this day and every day to help these children.
We can help by spreading awareness of this phenomenon, which our initiative seeks, or by providing material support and donations, for those who are able to, in order to help out these children.
♀️ Uplifting Syrian Women Initiative aims at sustainable peace building in Syria through targeting women and providing them with free online courses, workshops, discussion sessions and trainings, with a view to achieving the goals of Gender Equality, Quality Education and Decent Work and Economic Growth, which all fall into the interest of society as a whole and serve the purpose of rebuilding it.
References:
[2] The Guardian
[4] Theirworld
[5] United Nation
[6] Humanium