World Day Against Child Labour 2025: Theme, History, Quotes & UNICEF Warning
Last Updated:
World Day Against Child Labour is observed every year on June 12. The day serves as a reminder of the urgent need to protect children from exploitation and uphold their rights.
World Day Against Child Labour 2025: Every child has the right to grow up in a safe, nurturing environment that supports their well-being and development. No child should be forced into manual labour to earn a living—such circumstances often expose them to physical and mental abuse. Sadly, child labour remains widespread, particularly in developing nations.
To raise awareness and call for global action, World Day Against Child Labour is observed every year on June 12. The day serves as a reminder of the urgent need to protect children from exploitation and uphold their rights.
World Day Against Child Labour 2025 Theme
The theme for this year is 'Progress is clear, but there's more to do: let's speed up efforts!' It reflects the progress made so far in reducing child labour, while also emphasizing the need to intensify global efforts to meet international goals.
World Day Against Child Labour 2025: The Global Picture
According to UNICEF, as of 2024, nearly 138 million children were still engaged in child labour. 'Though progress has been made since 2020, millions are still being denied their right to learn, play, and simply be children," UNICEF shared on X, formerly Twitter. UNICEF and the International Labour Organization (ILO) are urging governments to take stronger, faster action.
World Day Against Child Labour: History
The International Labour Organization (ILO) first observed World Day Against Child Labour on June 12, 2002, at its Geneva headquarters. Since then, it has been marked globally to shine a light on this ongoing crisis. The year 2025 marks the 21st anniversary of this important observance.
World Day Against Child Labour: Significance
This day was launched to support the growing international demand to end child labour. In India, the government has implemented a National Policy on Child Labour since 1987. This policy emphasizes both the rehabilitation of affected children and the need to tackle the root cause — poverty — by improving the economic well-being of their families.
WORLD DAY AGAINST CHILD LABOUR 2025: QUOTES
'Every child comes with the message that God is not yet discouraged of man." – Rabindranath Tagore.
'Let us sacrifice our today so that our children can have a better tomorrow." – A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.
'Safety and security don't just happen; they are the result of collective consensus and public investment." – Nelson Mandela.
'Some girls cannot go to school because of the child labour and child trafficking." – Malala Yousafzai.
'You can't regulate child labour. You can't regulate slavery. Some things are just wrong." – Michael Moore.
First Published:
June 12, 2025, 10:32 IST
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
India Gazette
38 minutes ago
- India Gazette
Chhattisgarh Dy CM Vijay Sharma condoles loss of lives in AI-171 crash
Raipur (Chhattisgarh) [India], June 13 (ANI): Chhattisgarh Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sharma on Friday expressed deep sorrow over the loss of lives in the Air India plane crash in Gujarat's Ahmedabad that claimed 241 lives a day earlier. 'May God give strength to the families of the deceased... I am deeply saddened that Vijay Rupani is no more. This is a matter of learning why all this happened,' Sharma told ANI. The AI-171 Boeing Dreamliner 787-8 airplane bound for London's Gatwick had crashed shortly after it took off from the Ahmedabad International Airport on Thursday. The airlines said only one out of the 242 people on board the aircraft survived the crash. The Air India flight to London crashed soon after it took off from the Ahmedabad International Airport, into a medical college complex in Meghaninagar nearby. The aircraft was piloted by Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, a Line Training Captain with 8,200 hours of flying experience, assisted by First Officer Clive Kundar, who had logged 1,100 flying hours. According to Air Traffic Control (ATC), the aircraft departed from Ahmedabad at 1339 IST (0809 UTC) from runway 23. It made a Mayday call to ATC, but thereafter, the aircraft did not respond to the calls made by ATC. The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau is a division of the Ministry of Civil Aviation tasked with probing aircraft accidents in India. A formal investigation has been launched by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) into the deadly crash of Air India flight 171 that killed 241 people onboard, Union Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu confirmed on Thursday. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital and met with Vishwashkumar Ramesh, the lone person to miraculously survive the Air India plane crash a day ago in which all the other 241 passengers died. The Prime Minister, who arrived in the city earlier today, also met with others admitted to the same hospital. Before arriving at the hospital, PM Modi inspected the plane crash site and took stock of the ground situation. He also held a review meeting with the officials at the airport in Ahmedabad. (ANI)
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
Tazkiyat al-Nafs, and the search for Sakinah
'Sufism is to sit without cares with Allah,' said Sufi master Hazrat Abu Bakr al-Shibli (861–946), an important Sufi of Persian descent and one of the pioneers of Islamic mysticism. We all desire a life that is not beset by stress and anxiety. Yet, how many times have we indulged ourselves in this simple joy of being – of sitting without cares. How many times have we chosen to quietly contemplate the glory of the omniscient and omnipresent almighty, who is the creator of everything? Many shall instantly argue that it is not possible to sit without cares, and that we have too many things to worry about. Let us contemplate this. Is it true that one must be in a state of stress all the time? Or can we find an oasis in our being where our mind and spirit are soothed, and we feel that we are enveloped by divine love. The Sufi saints knew that we encounter stress when we allow our mind to be guided by the vicious webs of pride, greed, jealousy, malice and other negative traits which are manifestations of nafs. According to Sufi philosophy, nafsin in its unrefined state is 'the ego', which is regarded as the lowest dimension of a person's inward existence – removed from any spiritual pursuit. We live in times when the world insists on complicating everything so that one is forever in need of intervention and is always a 'consumer'. This new identity of man is so normalised now that we don't even pause to question it. More and more we are pushed into categories where we need to buy one thing or another in our frenzied pursuits of life. One may find pleasures in entertainment, in purchases, and more such activities. But such pleasures are transient only. They do not connect with our deep being, with the need of our soul. Our soul finds solace only when it sets out on the path of divine love. The search for divine love soothes the injuries and hurts we have suffered in life because this path brings us fulfilment and contentment. The eternal quest of the evolved man is the exploration for the oasis of Sakinah – a state of inner peace, tranquillity, and serenity. It's a state of calmness and reassurance, a feeling of being grounded and at peace with oneself and the world. The Sufi wants to be in the space of harmony with oneself and the divine. This highly valued state of being is possible after diligent spiritual practices and meditation. Sakinah is a reflection of God's presence and a sign of inner purification. Hazrat Al-Ḥakīm al-Tirmidhī (The Sage of Termez), one of the great early authors of Sufism, said of Sakinah: 'It is the security that the heart feels when it receives the word of God in it.' It is the result of immense effort upon oneself, because peace of heart comes through the overcoming of inner conflicts and a sustained effort. Through constant endeavour and deep thirst in one's soul, one can set out on the search for the divine. Certainly, the search shall not come to fruition within the narrow confines of our comfort zones. The old Sufi story of King Ibrahim illustrates why it is important to leave our comfort zones and search beyond when we seek the Almighty. The story is of the time when King Ibrahim ibn-Adham still sat on the throne, and he had not yet become a dervish. One night, the king heard heavy footsteps on the palace roof. Who dares disturb my peace?' he wondered, and he went to investigate. On the roof, he saw people, strangers he had never seen before, running back and forth. 'What do you think you're doing?' he shouted. 'We're looking for camels,' they said. 'Camels?' exclaimed the king. 'Who looks for camels on the roof of a palace?' 'And who looks for God while sitting on a royal throne?' they replied. According to the story, the strangers vanished thereafter, but the king had the answer to the dilemma in his head. Sufi saints emphasise that deliberate and sustained efforts are vital for cleansing the heart and the soul of all negative tendencies that may be born of nafs. The process of cleansing and the purification of the self is known as tazkiyat al-nafs. It is only after moving through this process of cleansing that one can strive for the attainment of spiritual growth and seek divine love. Persian Sufi saint Hazrat Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (1058–1111), a prominent and influential philosopher and mystic, wrote that a human being is born in a natural state of purity (fitrat al-Islam). The child holds within the possibilities of good or bad, and his life experiences determine the course of his journey. Sufi masters underscore the importance of tazkiyat al-nafs because it can lead man on the quest towards cultivating noble qualities such as compassion, virtuous conduct and the seeking of divine love. Such refinement is possible only by consciously letting go of all contaminants in our being. One has to move from a state of self-centrality towards an inner illumined being which is pure and submits to the will of the Divine. The Sufi story of the chickpea and its struggle against the cook illustrates this journey well. The chickpea was boiling in the pot, and it shouted at the cook. 'What are you doing? You paid good money for me in the market, but now you're boiling me!' 'I'm boiling you to fill you with flavor!' replied the cook. 'When you were green and grew in the garden, you drank water, but now you need both fire and water. You must surrender to the maker of fire and water. You came from cloud and sun and sky, and now you will become soul and act, speech and thought. Boil, chickpea, boil! Boil in time! Boil in spirit!' This cleansing, this purification, leads the soul to Sakinah and the ultimate union with God the Almighty. Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email Disclaimer Views expressed above are the author's own.
Hans India
3 hours ago
- Hans India
Residents jumped off building
Ahmedabad: Ramila, a local resident, tearfully recounted how her son narrowly escaped death. 'My son had gone to the hostel for lunch. I thought I had lost him. But by God's grace, he jumped from the second floor and survived with only minor injuries,' she said. Several eyewitnesses claimed that people jumped from upper floors to escape the fire. Rescue personnel reported that the black box of the aircraft has been recovered and will be crucial in determining the exact cause of the crash. The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, carrying 230 passengers and 12 crew members, took off at 1:38 PM from runway 23.
