Laos

A young girl sells jewelry in Laos.

credit: Abigail Falik

It has been estimated that in developing countries 218 million children between the ages of five and fourteen work. Of these children, at least 120 million on a full-time basis. Children who work on a full-time basis cannot attend school, and those who combine school and work often have a tendency to suffer academically and eventually drop out.

There are several international agreements prohibiting child labor, including the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) and the International Labour Organization Convention No. 182 (1999).

Convention on the Rights of the Child
Article 32:
States Parties recognize the right of the child to be protected from economic exploitation and from performing any work that is likely to be hazardous or to interfere with the child's education, or to be harmful to the child's health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development.

ILO Convention No. 182
Article 1:
Each Member which ratifies this Convention shall take immediate and effective measures to secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour as a matter of urgency.

Did you know…

• Twenty-nine percent of children in the least developed countries of the world work.

• By 2006, 162 countries ratified the International Labour Organization Convention on the Worst Forms of Child Labour.

• Several countries have introduced cash subsidy programs to encourage schooling by reducing children’s need to work and others have implemented relevant and flexible education programs.

• An estimated 126 million children between the ages of five and seventeen are victims of trafficking, debt bondage, slavery, prostitution, and other forms of child exploitation.