World Day Against Child Labour

World Day Against Child Labour

Question:When is the World Day Against Child Labour observed?
(a) 15 June
(b) 8 June
(c) 12 June
(d) 10 June
Answer: (c)
Related facts:

  • On 12 June 2020, World Day Against Child Labour was observed globally.
  • This day aims to increase the awareness and activism to eliminate child labour in all its forms.
  • 2020 theme of the day is ‘COVID-19: Protect children from child labour, now more than ever’.
  • It was launched by the International Labour Organization (ILO) in 2002.

What is Child Labour?

  • The term “child labour” is often defined as work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity, and that is harmful to physical and mental development. It refers to work that:
  • is mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous and harmful to children; and/or
  • interferes with their schooling by: depriving them of the opportunity to attend school; obliging them to leave school prematurely; or requiring them to attempt to combine school attendance with excessively long and heavy work.

Constitutional provisions against Child Labour in India:

  • Article 24 of the Indian constitution provisions that No child below the age of fourteen years shall be employed to work in any factory or mine or engaged in any other hazardous employment.
  • Article 45 and Article 21-A(Fundamental Right) inserted by Eighty-sixth Consititutional Amendment Act, 2002 provisions that state shall provide free and compulsory education of all children in the age group of six to fourteen year
  • Also,Article 39(f) establishes that children are given opportunities and facilities to develop in a healthy manner and in conditions of freedom and dignity and that childhood and youth are protected against exploitation and against moral and material abandonment
  • The Right to Education Act 2009 has made it mandatory for the state to ensure that all children aged six to 14 years are in school and receive free education.

Sustainable Development Goals(SDG) 8.7:

  • Target 8.7 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals calls for an end to child labour in all its forms by 2025.

Facts And Figures:

  • Worldwide,there are 152 million child laborers, of which 72 million are engaged in hazardous works.
  • In absolute terms, almost half of child labour (72.1 million) is to be found in Africa; 62.1 million in the Asia and the Pacific; 10.7 million in the Americas; 1.2 million in the Arab States and 5.5 million in Europe and Central Asia.
  • Child labour is concentrated primarily in agriculture (71%), which includes fishing, forestry, livestock herding and aquaculture, and comprises both subsistence and commercial farming; 17% in Services; and 12% in the Industrial sector, including mining.

International Labour Organization:

  • International Labour Organization is the nodal agency to formulate and observe the labour concerns globally.
  • It sets labour standards, develops policies and devises programmes promoting decent work for all women and men.
  • ILO’s International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) was created in 1992. The IPEC currently has operations in 88 countries

By-Amar Mani Upadhyay

Links:
https://www.un.org/en/observances/world-day-against-child-labour
https://www.ilo.org/ipec/Campaignandadvocacy/wdacl/lang–en/index.htm
https://mhrd.gov.in/rte