With one in every 10 children working, the world is on the brink of “losing ground in the fight against child labor“
While we are making progress. Child labour has decreased by 38% in the last decade; 160 million children are still in child labour. 79 million of which are in hazardous work that threatening their overall well-being due to the various forms of exploitation’s as well as their future.
RELEVANT SUSTAINABLE GOALS
WHAT IS CHILD LABOR ?
Child labor is work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity. It harms children mentally, physically, socially, and morally. It interferes with their schooling, preventing them from attending or concentrating. It may involve them being enslaved, separated from their families, and exposed to serious hazards and illnesses. Child labor deprives children of their right to go to school and reinforces intergenerational cycles of poverty.
The COVID-19 pandemic has considerably worsened the situation and pushed millions more children into child labour. The pandemic and associated lockdowns had negatively affected their family income. Their parents lost jobs when businesses shut down, lost access to markets due to transportation restrictions, or lost customers due to economic slowdowns. Many children entered the workforce for the first time to help support their families. Some said they decided to work because their families didn’t have enough food. Some kept working even after the situation eased.
Many children feel they have no choice but to work to help their families survive, but a rise in child labor is not an inevitable consequence of the pandemic,
Nationwide school closures have contributed to an increase in child labor. The majority of the children interviewed had limited or no access to distance learning, so had little to occupy their time.
New analysis suggests a further 8.9 million children will be in child labour by the end of 2022 as a result of rising poverty driven by the pandemic (source : ILO, 2021). Almost half of child labour happens in Africa (72 million children), followed by Asia and the Pacific (62 million).
There was nothing to do at home since school shut down. And with everybody at home, we started to run out of food quickly. I decided to go to work because what else was I going to do ?
Joint and decisive action can reverse this trend. Here are 10 organisations you can support to eradicate child labor :
1. KILOS BAYANIHAN (PHILIPPINES)
Kilos Bayanihan—or KB, for short—is a non-profit organization that originated from Las Vegas, United States. They provide aid for people and especially children living in poverty across the Philippines through donations and educational assistance in order to help them create a better life. They have an extensive timeline of their actions on their website and you can also check out their work via their Instagram profile.
2. EMANCIPATE INDONESIA (INDONESIA)
Emancipate Indonesia is an organization initiated and led by youths from varying cities across Indonesia with a great focus on modern-day slavery issues including, but not limited to, child labours. They hold various events, seminars and regularly posts educational content to raise awareness. You can check out Emancipation Indonesia via their website or their organization’s Instagram account through here.
3. ACE (JAPAN / INDIA)
A Japan-based NGO/NPO working to address the issues of child labour both within their own nation and worldwide with project areas located in Japan, India, and Ghana. Because 70 percent of child labours are put into the agricultural field, ACE focuses their work on cocoa and cotton industries. As of 2015, ACE prides themselves from having saved about 1,200 children in India and Ghana from child labour, with additional educational support for up to 13,000 children through their Field Programs.
4. HAQ : Centre For Child Rights (HAQCRC) (India)
Founded and directed by mostly women in the late ‘90s, HAQ: Centre for Child Rights (HAQCRC) is an NGO based in New Delhi with a focus on children’s rights in India. works towards the recognition, promotion and protection of rights of all children. They have been very active in their cause, in “building an environment where children’s rights are recognised and promoted without discrimination,” As stated on their site.
5. Youth Against Slavery (YAS) (BRUNEI DAR ESSALAM)
Youth Against Slavery or YAS for short, is a page dedicated for social issues with a focus on modern-day slavery and human trafficking. Their committee itself was launched on October 4, 2015 during their first Human Trafficking Exhibition, “Stories of Migrants”. In the following years after their initial creation, YAS Brunei has been very active in raising awareness and creating change in their nation through donations, exhibitions, direct aid and more.
6. YAYASAN PLAN INTERNATIONAL INDONESIA
Plan Indonesia is a branch of Plan International, an organization founded in Spain in 1937 and has started their work in Indonesia back in 1967. The organization focuses its work on up to 71 countries in advancing children’s rights and equality for girls. They have a program focusing on creating a better life for girls called the Girls Get Equal campaign. In Indonesia, this translates into a mission of aiming for 1 million young girls in 1000 villages across the nation to receive equal power, equal freedom, and equal representation.
7. SAVE THE CHILDREN
With members all across the globe and programmes across South America, Africa and Asia including Russia, Save the Children have had a massive impact on putting a stop to child labouring since their creation in 1919.
8. SAFER KID PH (PHILIPPINES)
While child labor is obvious in industries such as agriculture, manufacturing and service; there a significant growth that children are involved in the production, manufacture or distribution of child pornography. According to the ILO Convention No. 182 Article 3, child pornography and prostitution as among the worst forms of child labour.
SaferKidsPH works with children and their families, the Philippine Government, civil society and the private sector to ensure that children are safe and protected online.
You can contribute to equip and improve 1 child’s holding area in court houses for vulnerable children, and improve workspaces for social workers via button below :
9. Yayasan Yaku Mosikola (INDONESIA)
Also called Yayasan Mosikola, this organization have focused their work on providing a safe and healthy environment for child growth since its establishment in 2015. They are based in Palu, Central Sulawesi in Indonesia and have educated, provided support as well as advocated for the wellbeing and rights of families and children
10. LOVE 146
Based in the United States, Love146 is an organization that focuses on child trafficking and exploitation on children. Their work surrounds caring for the survivors and providing them with aid as well as prevention education, training and collaborations with external parties. They pride themselves for having impacted the lives of over 65,000 children across the United States, The Philippines, the United Kingdom, and several countries in Africa.
It’s time to accelerate the pace of progress; to shift from commitments to action to eliminate child labor for good.
