EFA News
Slavery, prostitution and pornography: World Day against Child Labour spotlights girls
18.06.2009Some 218 million children between the ages of five and 17 are forced to work, a violation of their right to an education and an affront to human dignity, UNESCO statistics have revealed.
The agency reports that more than 100 million girls worldwide suffer from extreme forms of exploitation such as slavery, prostitution and enforced participation in pornography.
On 12 June, the world celebrated World Day Against Child Labour under the title: “Give girls a Chance: End child labour.” The World Day called for urgent action and policy change, with greater emphasis on education as one of the best protections against child labour.
According to UNESCO HQ, child labour is frequently rooted in poverty. Other related areas of marginalization include gender, language, ethnicity, disability and rural-urban differences.
Evidence shows that economic crises lead to increased child labour as parents remove their children from school to supplement family income. As a result, entry to school of the youngest children is delayed. Most often, poor families must choose which children will be educated, and often, girls lose out.
“There is no better investment for a society than education, in particular girls’ education,” said Director-General of UNESCO Mr Koïchiro Matsuura.
Investing in girls has long-term benefits for development. Educated girls are more likely to educate their own children.
“Most fundamentally, education is a basic human right that is currently denied to 75 million children, 55 per cent of whom are girls.”
This year also marks the 10th anniversary of the adoption ILO Convention No. 182, Concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour.
UNESCO is a founding member of the Global Task Force on Child Labour and lead coordinator of the Education for All (EFA) movement. It is committed to eradicating child labour and works closely with the United Nations’ Girls’ Education Initiative, the Inter-Agency Task Force on Adolescent Girls, the EFA-Fast Track Initiative and other partners such as the International Labour Organization (ILO).
Related links:
International Labour Organization (Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific)
Statement of UNGEI Partners in East Asia and the Pacific and South Asia (pdf/174KB)