World Day Against Child Labour
12 June marks the World Day Against Child Labour under the theme for the year 2023 ““Week of Action against Child Labour”". On this day, the ILO, together with its constituents and partners, is calling for increased investment in social protection systems and schemes to establish solid social protection floors and protect children from child labor.
While significant progress has been made in reducing child labor over the last two decades, progress has slowed over time, and it has even stalled during the period 2016-2020. At the beginning of 2020, 160 million children – 63 million girls and 97 million boys – were involved in child labor, accounting for almost 1 in 10 children worldwide.
Child Labor in Nepal
Though child labor is declining almost at the rate of 100,000 every year, Nepal still accounts for 1.1 million children between (5-17 years) in child labor. Of these 222,493 are estimated to be engaged in hazardous work. The agriculture sector accounts for more than 85% of the total child labor in Nepal.
Although child labor is declining at a rate of about one lakh per year, there are still 1.1 million child laborers (5 to 17 years) in Nepal. It is estimated that 222,493 of them are involved in hazardous work. Agriculture accounts for more than 85 percent of the total child labor in Nepal. Nepal signed the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1990, expressing its commitment to the rights of the child, but its implementation has been weak.
Apart from this, Human Rights and Trafficking Control Act 2007, Civil Rights Act 1995, Children Act 1992, Child Labor Prohibition and Regular Act 2000, and Kamaiya Labor Act 2002 have ensured child rights in Nepal by making child labor illegal. May Nepal be able to eradicate child labor. Good luck.
Suyog Dhakal
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