This is the nation of 170 million enslaved children

 170 million enslaved children

Globally over 1.5 billion people live in countries that are affected by conflict, violence and fragility. Meantime, around 200 million people are affected by disasters every year — a third of them are children. And a significant proportion of the 168 million children engaged in child labor live in areas affected by conflict and disaster. These are the facts. Up to you to reflect on the immediate future of humankind.

Conflicts and disasters have a devastating impact on people’s lives, the United Nations reminded, Ipsnews reported.

“They kill, maim, injure, force people to flee their homes, destroy livelihoods, push people into poverty and starvation and trap people in situations where their basic human rights are violated.”

Of this total of 168 million children victims of modern slavery, about 100 million boys and 68 million girls.

Forced labor is estimated to generate around 150 billion dollars a year in illegal profits.

Amid such a huge human tragedy, children are often the first to suffer as schools are destroyed and basic services are disrupted, the world body reports.

“Many children are internally displaced or become refugees in other countries, and are particularly vulnerable to trafficking and child labor. Ultimately, millions of children are pushed into child labor by conflicts and disasters.”

This why on the occasion of the 2017 World Day Against Child Labor, marked June 12, the UN focuses on the impact of conflicts and disasters on child labor.

“Urgent action is needed to tackle child labor in areas affected by conflict and disaster. If the SDG (Sustainable Development Goals) Target 8.7 which aims to “eradicate forced labor, end modern slavery and human trafficking and secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labor” is to be achieved by 2030.”

The UN stresses the need to intensify and accelerate action to end child labor, including in areas affected by conflict and disasters. “And we need to do it together.”

As the world strives to achieve the elimination of child labor by 2025, on this World Day Against Child Labor, said the International Labor Organization (ILO), “let’s join forces to end child labor in areas affected by conflict and disaster!”

Child labor and forced labor in conflicts and humanitarian settings will be discussed at the IV Global Conference on Child Labor (Buenos Aires, 14-16 November 2017).

For its part, the UN Children Fund (UNICEF) warns that child labor deprives children of their right to go to school, exposes them to violence, and reinforces intergenerational cycles of poverty.

“Yet, this serious violation of human rights is not inevitable. Child labor is preventable through integrated approaches that simultaneously address poverty and inequity, improve access to and quality of education and mobilize public support for respecting children’s rights.”

UNICEF also reminded that, worldwide, about 168 million children aged 5 to 17 are engaged in child labor, accounting for almost 11 percent of all children.

The most recent figures, based on statistical evidence from UNICEF, ILO and the World Bank, show a decline of about one third since 2000.

While that is positive news, progress is far too slow, the UN specialized agency reports, adding that the continued persistence of child labor poses a threat not only to the health and well being of children, but also to national economies and the achievement of global development goals.

Child labor is defined as work for which the child is too young —   i.e., work done below the required minimum age.

The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) recognizes every child’s right, “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 that is likely to harm the child’s health or, “physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development.”²

Other international instruments further define a child’s right to be protected from the “worst forms of child labor,” including recruitment in armed conflict, sexual exploitation and drug trafficking.

The lives and futures of millions of children are in jeopardy, UNICEF warns. “We have a choice: Invest in the most excluded children now or risk a more divided and unfair world.”