Over 160 million children worldwide are still engaged in child labor, according to a 2020 report by the United Nations, which was endorsed by the International Labour Organisation (ILO).
This figure represents almost one in every ten children globally, highlighting the scale of the challenge.
The report emphasizes the persistent global struggle to eliminate child labour, despite ongoing efforts to safeguard children’s rights. These children are often involved in economic activities that strip them of their childhood and opportunities for education, hindering their development and well-being.
According to the report, “economic growth has not been sufficient or inclusive enough to alleviate the financial pressures faced by many families and communities, forcing them to rely on child labor for survival.”
The ILO defines child labour as “any work that deprives children, or any person below the age of eighteen, of their childhood, potential, and dignity, and that is harmful to their physical and/or mental development. This definition underscores the urgent need for stronger global action to protect vulnerable children.”
In other words, child labour refers to work that is mentally or morally dangerous and harmful to children; and/or interferes with their rights to enjoy their lives as children.
Globally, according to UNICEF, India has the highest prevalence of child labour, however, Sub-Saharan Africa host the highest number of child labourers, with nearly 24% of children ages 5-7 engaged in child labour.
Of the over 160 million children engaged in child labour globally, 79 million of them were working under hazardous conditions according the 2020 report.
This situation, the ILO says must be reversed through the intensification of awareness creation and advocacy using the media to achieve the desired goal.
For three days in the month of September, 16 Journalists from West and East African countries converged on Entebbe, Uganda, for a capacity training workshop organised by the ILO ACCEL-Africa Project.
The theme of the training, “Voices Against Child Labour”, seeks to accelerate the campaign against engaging school age children from economic activities when they should be in school.
The participants were taking through the rudiments of impactful reportage with topics like; “Introduction to the concept of child labour, child work, forced labour and other FPRW related definitions, The ILO’s communications strategy and the ILO brand, Introduction to the main statistics of child labour in Africa, Get to know your audience, Photography and videography theory and practice as well as crafting compelling narratives to inspire action and policy change” among others.
Munoz, the Monitoring and Evaluation and Knowledge Sharing Officer, Ms Angelica ACCEL-Africa Project and one of the facilitators, said that bringing media practitioners together for the training is to build the capacity of the participants to tell the story or stories of child labour using correct data with the aim of influencing policy decisions in their various countries.
“We are not teaching the Journalists anything they do not know already, we just want them to see child labour the way we see it, our own perspective, the prevalence around the globe and to be able to write stories that will be impactful enough to bring a reversal through policy changes hopefully”, Ms Munoz said.
She said that a single training would not end child labour but a collective advocacy through the media could bring results.
“I know you have seen how powerful the media is, if all of you could write articles or produce films about child labour, we would see significant changes and actions”.
Governments across the global are already taking steps to address the menace as Ms Munoz noted “already, governments are taking measures to eliminate the trend, but what ACCEL-Africa is saying is that these measures should be accelerated”.
Nigeria and Uganda are both signatories to ILO Conventions 138 on minimum age for entry into work or employment and 182 on worst forms of child labour.
Both countries said they have put deliberate measures in place to ensure that child labour if not eliminated is reduced to the barest minimum.
Nigeria for instance in partnership with the ILO Office in Nigeria in 2021, launched the National Action Plan for the Elimination of Child Labour and Its Worst Forms 2021-2025.
The document is to serve as a guide for national actions towards ending child labour in Nigeria. Also, the document described child labour as “a global issue, continues to be of concern to governments and other stakeholders who have persistently sought solutions towards its reduction and subsequent elimination”.
For Uganda, it has placed ending child labour at the centre of its National Development Plan IV (NPD IV), Vision 2030.
According to the Assistant Commissioner of Industrial Relations at Uganda’s Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, Mr Apollo Onzoma, “data in Uganda is alarming with increasing cases of child labour in supply chains…children in Uganda are often engaged in hazardous work, driven by poverty and lack of education”.
Addressing participants during the three day workshop in Uganda, Mr Onzoma challenged Journalists on taking the lead in advocacy to giving children the life they should have rather than contributing to the economic well being of their families.
“As Journalists, your roles are crucial in raising issues through public dissemination, education, mobilizing public opinion and highlighting cases for learning and action”, he said.
From all data available, Africa is still lagging behind in the fight against labour compared to the rest of the world, however, the ILO insists that accelerated actions must be taken by governments, authorities and other stakeholders across the globe to fight the menace to secure the world’s future generations.
Olusola Akintonde
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