Latest news with #childlabor
Arab News
2 days ago
- General
- Arab News
Child labor ‘may continue for centuries at current pace'
NEW YORK: Nearly 138 million children were still working in the world's fields and factories in 2024, the UN said on Wednesday, warning that given the slow pace of progress, eliminating child labor could be delayed by 'hundreds of years.' Ten years ago, upon adopting the so-called Sustainable Development Goals, the world's countries set themselves the ambitious target of putting an end to child labor by 2025. 'That timeline has now come to an end. But child labor has not,' UNICEF and the International Labor Organization said in a joint report. Last year, according to data published every four years, 137.6 million children aged 5-17 were working, or around 7.8 percent of all children in that age group. The figure is equivalent to twice the total population of France. Last year, 137.6 million children aged 5-17 were working, or around 7.8 percent of all children in that age group. The figure is equivalent to twice the total population of France. This nevertheless represents a drop since 2000, when 246 million children were forced to work, often to help their impoverished families. After a worrying rise between 2016 and 2020, the trend has now reversed, with 20 million fewer children working in 2024 than four years prior. 'Significant progress' has been recorded in reducing the number of children forced into labor, UNICEF chief Catherine Russell said. 'Yet far too many children continue to toil in mines, factories, or fields, often doing hazardous work to survive.' According to the report, nearly 40 percent of the 138 million child laborers were employed in 2024 doing particularly hazardous work 'likely to jeopardize their health, safety, or development.' Despite some rays of hope, 'we must not be blindsided by the fact that we still have a long way to go before we achieve our goal of eliminating child labor,' ILO Director-General Gilbert Houngbo said. At the current rate of reduction, 'it will take hundreds of years,' said UNICEF expert Claudia Cappa. Even if countries quadruple the pace of progress recorded since 2000, 'we will already be in 2060,' she added. Progress for the youngest children is particularly slow, the report found. Last year, nearly 80 million children aged five to 11 were working — about 8.2 percent of all children in that age group. And yet the societal elements that reduce child labor are well-known, according to Cappa. One of the main factors, free compulsory education, not only helps minors escape child labor, but also protects children from vulnerable or indecent conditions of employment when they grow up, she said. Another, she added, is 'universalizing social protection' as a way to offset or ease burdens on families and vulnerable communities. But global funding cuts 'threaten to roll back hard-earned gains,' UNICEF's Russell said. According to the report, agriculture is the sector making the most use of child labor (61 percent of all cases), followed by domestic work and other services (27 percent) and industry (13 percent, including mining and manufacturing). Sub-Saharan Africa remains the hardest hit, with around 87 million child laborers. Asia-Pacific has seen the greatest progress, with the number of working children falling from 49 million in 2000 to 28 million in 2024.
LBCI
2 days ago
- General
- LBCI
Despite progress, world still had 138 mn child laborers in 2024: UN
Nearly 138 million children worldwide were still working in 2024, the United Nations said in a report released Wednesday, warning that while there had been progress, eliminating child labor could be delayed by "hundreds of years." "In 2015, the world made a promise to end child labor by 2025. That timeline has now come to an end," UNICEF and the International Labor Organization (ILO) said in their joint report. "But child labor has not." AFP
NHK
2 days ago
- General
- NHK
ILO, UNICEF report says 138 million engage in child labor worldwide
UN organizations say that an estimated 138 million children between the ages of 5 and 17 were engaged in child labor worldwide in 2024. The International Labor Organization and UNICEF revealed the finding on Wednesday in a report titled "Child Labour: Global estimates 2024, trends and the road forward." One of the targets in the UN Sustainable Development Goals calls for an end to child labor by 2025. But the large numbers engaged in the practice indicate that this will be difficult. By industry, the most children worked in agriculture, at 61 percent. By region, nearly 87 million children, or about two thirds of the total, were working in Sub-Saharan Africa. The number for the Asia-Pacific region stood at about 28 million. The report said the number of child workers is in decline thanks to recent initiatives to protect them. The number has almost halved since 2000. But the UN organizations called on governments to continue their efforts to address the problem.
Yahoo
31-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Human rights abuse documented in global leather supply chain
This story was originally published on Fashion Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Fashion Dive newsletter. A new report by the Fair Labor Association and human rights consultancy firm Impactt found human rights abuse at every stage of the global leather supply chain, including child labor, exposure to chemicals, compensation issues and discrimination. The six-month study, which was conducted last year and included a survey of 19 industry stakeholders, identified problem areas and made recommendations on how companies at all levels of the leather processing industry can foster traceability and improve conditions for workers. Based on the findings, the report's authors suggest companies invest in their own traceability solutions, engage with third-party organizations on certifications and assessments, collaborate on solving existing issues, and have an exit strategy when it comes to countries at high risk of geopolitical differences. While leather is often considered a by-product of the meat industry, the FLA report said leather's use continues to grow in the apparel, accessories and footwear sectors. In 2022, the global leather industry was valued at $243 billion, and it's expected to grow at a rate of 6.6% from 2023 to 2030. The study tracked abuse in the meatpacking and leather by-product industries globally, and found a number of countries were using child labor in the production of leather goods and accessories, including Bangladesh, Vietnam, Pakistan, India and Mexico. An additional 15 countries were cited for using child labor, forced labor, or both, to produce bovine or cattle, the main source of leather hides. Report authors created the survey to present an overview of the leather industry in Brazil, and included profiles of both the global leather industry and the leather industry specific to Brazil, in order to determine hot spot problem areas. Authors studied more than 100 research papers, articles, opinion pieces, media reports and other documents to compile results. The study and its findings are meant to establish dialogue between the meatpacking and leather apparel industry, and urge the various stakeholders to conform to global standards as a way to improve worker conditions. 'This report brings much-needed attention to the parts of the leather supply chain where risks to workers are highest and visibility is lowest,' Raquel Fisch, principal consultant at Impactt said in a statement. 'This research shows that workers on farms, in slaughterhouses, and in tanneries often face harsh conditions with little oversight or recourse. Yet these tiers are rarely covered by human rights due diligence. This report offers a valuable roadmap for companies to build traceability and accountability upstream, and to design systems that start with the realities of the workers most affected.' The report cited statistics from The Leather Council, which stated that 47% of leather is used in the manufacturing of footwear and 10% is used for apparel. In addition, the report cited information from the Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations, also called SOMO, which stated that most leather manufacturing is done in China, although Bangladesh, India and Pakistan are also major sources for leather and leather-related apparel. 'By illuminating challenges in upstream supply chains for commodities like leather, we aim to drive accountability and inspire collective actions toward a more equitable industry,' Richa Mittal, executive vice president and chief innovation officer at FLA said in a statement. 'This will help ensure dignity and respect for all workers at all levels of a company's global supply chain – not just Tier One.' Sign in to access your portfolio
The Independent
15-05-2025
- The Independent
Paper routes nixed for younger kids in New York, though teen carriers have mostly faded away
For decades, a carveout in New York's child labor laws allowed kids as young as 11 to legally partake in the time-honored tradition of a paper route. Flipping papers into suburban hedges, bicycling through snow squalls, dodging dogs and getting stiffed for tips became a rite of passage for generations of youths. But a change to the law quietly made via the state budget this month makes clear the job is now not allowed for anyone under 14 years old. The move was first reported by Politico. The change comes even though paper boys and girls have mostly gone the way of phone booths, mimeograph machines and their urban 'newsie' forebears who shouted 'Extra! Extra!' on street corners. While many teens used to take on paper routes as after-school jobs, that became rarer decades ago as more daily newspapers switched to early morning deliveries. Newspapers are now increasingly online and tend to rely on adults with cars to make home deliveries, according to industry watchers. 'The need for a workforce of kids to go throwing newspapers on stoops is just a thing of the past,' said attorney Allan Bloom, an employment law expert with the Proskauer firm. Lawmakers made the change as part of a broader update of child labor laws. Bloom likened it to a 'cleanup' as lawmakers streamlined the process for employing minors and increased penalties for violating child labor laws. Diane Kennedy, president of the New York News Publishers Association, said she was not aware of any newspapers in New York using youth carriers. Christopher Page recalled buying his first guitar on earnings from a paper route started in the late '70s in suburban Clifton Park, north of Albany. 'I just had a 10-speed that I destroyed. It was truly rain or shine. I'm out there riding the bike or even in the winter,' said Page. When dogs chased him on his bike, Page would ward them off with his shoulder bag full of newspapers. At age 13, Jon Sorensen delivered the Syracuse Herald-American on Sunday with his 11-year old brother in the Finger Lakes town of Owasco from the back of their mother's Chevy station wagon. 'That was back when papers were papers — a lot of sections and a lot of weight,' recalled Sorensen, now 68 and Kennedy's partner. 'I can remember trudging through the snow. ... I don't think I ever dropped one, because if you did you had to be heading back to the car and pick up another copy.' Sorensen stayed in the newspaper business as an adult, covering state government and politics for papers including New York Daily News and The Buffalo News. 'The hardest part of the job wasn't delivering the paper, it was collecting,' Sorensen recalled. 'It wasn't always easy to get people to pay up.'
