(Photo: International Labor Organization)

1.5 billion people are living in conflict areas and 200 million people, including  60 million children, are affected by natural disasters annually. Half of the 168 million children in child labor are engaged in hazardous work. As homes and schools are destroyed, many households are unable to earn a living, leaving children under the threat of forced labor. Many children, who are deprived of their parents while fleeing conflicts, have become victims of human trafficking and exploitation.  In many cases, children are forced to use guns and be living shields in armed conflicts.

The ILO said under the UN’s 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, all countries have committed to eliminating all forms of child labor by 2025. Since the Worst Form of Child Labor Convention 182 was approved, almost all children in the world will be covered by this Convention and that coverage of Minimum Age Convention 138 will leap from sixty per cent to eighty per cent. 

Over the past decade, the current international regulations on protecting children against labor coercion helped reduce more than 30% of exploited children. Many employers said they will abolish child labor in their production chains, particularly in agriculture, manufacturing, and construction.

Vietnam ratified both the Minimum Age Convention 138 and Worst Form of Child Labor Convention 182. The national program on preventing and minimizing child labor in the 2016-2020 period has detected children in illegal labor, helped them reintegrate into the community, and provided them with development opportunities. Vietnam approved the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals which includes target 8.7 on eliminating all forms of child labor by 2025.

A British anti-slavery organization announced a list of 122 goods produced by child labor in 58 countries. The International Human Rights Observatory proposed an international treaty on ending child abuse in companies’ production assemblies.