Today, June 12th, 2021 is World Child Labor Day, an awareness and reminding day to collective responsibility and to the commitments made globally to prevent, eradicate, ban and stop this scruple scourge which is child labor.

“Child labor is any work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity and that is harmful to physical and mental development’’ - ILO. Anything that can be harmful or dangerous to the child's mental, physical, health, social and moral development as well depriving or preventing them to take profit of their childhood.

Child labor doesn’t mean all work done by children; No, activities that enable child’s positive development and provide skills and experience for them to become mature and productive members of their community are not child labor.

From the 2002 Child Labor Day awareness campaign launching date till now, so much has to be done in terms of awareness but still, we seem to be at the starting point.

IFM-SEI and its member organizations around the world as well as its partners involved in the awakening of children and young people are outraged by this scourge which is happening in everyone’s full view without measurements put in place to STOP it

This is an opportunity to remind governments and institutions of their full responsibility in the face of this practice which is a pure violation of children's rights and an attack on the growth of humanity.

IFM-SEI calls upon governments, institutions and organizations involved in child protection to respect their commitment in favor of children.

IFM-SEI from its establishment to the present day, counting almost a century, has always advocated children's rights as a fundamental principle.

IFM-SEI has childhood at the heart of its projects and initiatives, everything harmful or dangerous relating to child development and growth is an obstacle to its principles and values.

IFM-SEI has taken several decisions and initiatives against child labor.

IFM-SEI advocates any initiative contributing to the promotion of children, their education, inclusion and participation. The recent decisions were at IFM-SEI International Committee meeting in 2021 to join the fair Share to end Child Labour Campaign and to advance IFM-SEI advocacy on the topic, Check out the Resolution in this link.

Selling or making a child work or forcing them to do any kind of work is an attack on their person, their body and their mind.

Those who abuse children by making them like a labor force act in our houses, streets, fields, markets, workshops; those cowards are around us, they are our friends, relatives, partners...

Either you denounce them or you become one of them, so let's denounce anyone who engages in such a practice. Both child labor and its promotion are a flagrant violation of children’s rights.

We encourage our member organizations and partners to continue promoting children's rights, their participation and inclusion in entertainment and educational activities are highly appreciated.

We are convinced that by combining efforts collectively we can put an end to this scourge. Together, everything is possible, that’s why we have to face Child Labor daily

We, member organizations of IFM-SEI believe that the time for speeches and awareness is over, because it is about the survival, the present and future of innocent beings, call on governments and institutions to step up more sanctions against those at fault.

This year, we’re proudly standing with child labour survivor advocates to demand an end to child labour once and for all.

While many of the world’s children wake up each day to go to school and play with their friends, 160 million children are living in such extreme poverty that they must work for hours to survive. This all comes at the expense of their basic rights and their chance to build the future they want for themselves.

Over the last few decades, the world had seen huge progress towards eliminating child labour; since the year 2000, 94 million children had been taken out of child labour. But even before COVID-19, the number of children in child labour was actually growing once again.

With the ongoing economic impact of COVID-19 on countries in the Global South, the world’s poorest families have been devastated. The International Labor Organization (ILO) has just reported shocking figures that even before the pandemic, child labour rates had risen by 8.4 million children in four years.

Now, UNICEF and the ILO are warning that the impact of the pandemic could drive a further 50 million children into child labour in the next two years unless urgent action is taken now.

What causes child labour?

Child labour is directly caused by extreme poverty. When families are too poor to survive, they are left with the impossible choice of sending their children to school or out to work to put food on the family table.

When there are weak laws and protections in place, these vulnerable families are easily exploited as children are put to work.

But we know extreme poverty is not inevitable. It is the direct result of an unfair system rigged against the most marginalised children and young people.

World Day Against Child Labour 2021

This Saturday June 12th marks the World Day Against Child Labour, a day to focus the world’s attention on the injustice of child labour and to encourage action towards eliminating it once and for all.

2021 is a particularly important year as the UN has declared it the International Year for the Elimination of Child Labour. This is intended to accelerate progress towards the SDG Target 8.7 to end child labour in all its forms by 2025.

Child rights organisations like ours have a unique opportunity to seize the momentum around this important day and important year, and mobilise children and young people everywhere to defend the rights of every child to be free from the injustice of child labour.

Fair Share to End Child Labour

This is why Woodcraft Folk and IFM-SEI are so proud to be a a founding partner of the Fair Share to End Child Labour Campaign, launched this year in support of the International Year for the Elimination of Child Labour.

Together, with other civil society organisations, youth and student leaders, faith and business leaders, and trade unions, we are committed to speaking out and demanding action from world leaders to deliver a fair share of resources, policies, and protections for the most marginalised children and young people.

As passionate believers in youth activism for social justice, we will be inviting our young members to run their own group workshops, connecting to a live video-link with child labour survivor advocates from around the world to hear their testimonies and establish meaningful bonds of solidarity.

We hope that our young members will be inspired and motivated to stand together with these fearless child labour survivor advoactes and take action in their communities and at the national level to demand change from their decision-makers.

To find out more about this exciting and important campaign, visit the Fair Share to End Child Labour campaign website.