World Day against Child Labour celebrated on 12 June 2013

12 June 2013: World Day against Child Labour

World Day against Child Labour was celebrated on 12 June 2013. The theme this year was, No to Child Labour in Domestic Work. According to International Labour Organisation, ILO, throughout the world, there are around 215 million children who work, many of them, full-time. In fact, the ILO is marking the day by calling for action to build a worldwide movement against child labour.

The International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates 10.5 million children around the world are working as domestic workers in hazardous, sometimes slave-like conditions. The ILO report finds 6.5 million of the 10.5 million child domestic laborers are aged between five and 14 years. More than 70 percent are girls. The United Nation’s action plan has proposed that the ILO and its member states continue to pursue the goal of effective abolition of child labour by committing themselves to eliminate all its worst forms by 2016.

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, the 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.