UNITED NATIONS, Feb 13 (IPS) – While global rates of child labor have declined since 2020, the practice remains a serious and persistent violation of children’s rights, undermining their safety, social development and long-term economic stability. These risks are compounded by structural pressures – poverty, climate shocks, protracted conflict and unsafe migration – that continue to push vulnerable children into crisis, and in some cases by human trafficking and exploitation. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warns that African countries remain among the most affected regions, and underlines the urgent need for coordinated policy action, cross-border cooperation and sustainable investments to protect children in transit and those at risk of labor exploitation.
About 137.6 million children around the world are involved in child labor, representing 7.8 percent of all children worldwide. Of this number, approximately 54 million children are involved in particularly dangerous work, such as mining and construction, or work more than 43 hours per week.
In a newly released data briefly Analyzing child labor trends in East and Southern Africa, UNICEF found that around 41 million children – almost a third of the global total – will be involved in child labor by 2024, representing around one in five children in the region. While this represents progress from the 49 million children registered in 2020, UNICEF warns that this progress remains fragile and could be reversed without strengthened policies and adequate financing.
“Children belong in classrooms, not in the workplace,” said Etleva Kadilli, UNICEF Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa. She emphasized that ending child labor requires an inclusive approach that aims to revitalize education systems and strengthen protection measures for children worldwide.
“Supporting parents with decent work is essential so that children can go to school, learn, play and build a better future,” Kadilli added, urging governments, the private sector, civil society and communities to work together to build a coordinated response that aligns with “national and continental commitments” to permanently end child labor.
The report highlights the severity of the crisis: 13.4 million children in East and Southern Africa are engaged in dangerous work. The country is only second to West and Central Africa when it comes to the prevalence of child labor worldwide. Educational gaps are particularly stark: six in ten adolescents are involved in child labor outside of school, compared to only two in ten of their non-working peers.
According to the report, Eastern and Southern Africa has a disproportionate share of young children involved in child labor compared to other regions. About 65 percent of children victims of child labor in the region are between the ages of 5 and 11, which is in stark contrast to other parts of the world where older adolescents make up a larger share. While there has been notable progress in reducing child labor across all age groups, the decline has been slowest among the youngest children.
UNICEF notes that in East and Southern Africa, child labor is highly concentrated in agriculture, which accounts for about 78 percent of all cases among children aged 5 to 17. This is even more pronounced among younger children, with more than 80 percent of children aged 5 to 11 working in agriculture. However, hazardous work is disproportionately concentrated in other sectors, with 55 percent of child labor in industry and 56 percent in services classified as hazardous, compared to 26 percent in agriculture.
On February 11, during the Sixth Global Conference on the Elimination of Child Labor in Marrakesh, Morocco, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) called on governments to strengthen protection measures, strengthen international cooperation and improve monitoring systems to ensure that migration and human trafficking are central to efforts to end child labor. The agency highlighted that unsafe migration is a major cause of child labor as displaced communities often resort to it due to lack of access to basic services, stable livelihoods and social protection.
“If we are serious about ending child labor, we must confront a reality that is still too often overlooked: migration,” he says Amy Pope, Director General of IOM. “Today, millions of children are on the run, forced by conflict, drawn by poverty, displaced by the impacts of climate shocks. And they are looking for opportunity and safety. Research shows that migrant children are often the most exposed to child labor. They work longer hours, earn less, attend school less often and are at greater risk of injury, exploitation and death.”
According to the latest figures from IOMApproximately 30,000 child victims of human trafficking have been identified worldwide, although the actual number is likely much higher due to widespread under-reporting and gaps in detection. Worldwide, children make up almost one in four detected victims of human trafficking, of whom approximately 20 percent are between the ages of 9 and 17.
Of all identified victims, 61 percent experience sexual exploitation, with girls disproportionately affected. Recruitment into armed groups is common among boys. Traffickers commonly exert control through psychological, physical and sexual abuse, as well as through threats against victims or their families and restrictions on finances, medical care, essential services and freedom of movement.
Pope underscored the urgency of closing systemic gaps in labor management and protection systems that make migrant children vulnerable to human trafficking and exploitation. “These children are often missing from child labor policies, overlooked in protection systems and invisible in the data that drive decisions,” she said. “Along migration routes, children are exploited in agriculture, domestic work, hospitality and construction – and these abuses follow them across borders where protection fails. Protection must move with the child: prevention must reflect real labor and mobility realities, and systems must work together across sectors and borders.”
UNICEF calls on the international community to address both the root causes and consequences of child labor. The plan includes expanding social protection programs for vulnerable families, promoting universal access to quality education, strengthening monitoring efforts to identify at-risk children, ensuring decent work opportunities for youth and adults, and enforcing stronger labor laws to increase corporate accountability and eliminate exploitation in supply chains. Together, these efforts aim to ensure that families are not forced to rely on their children to survive – and that children are free to learn, grow, and just be kids.
IPS UN office report
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