World Day Against Child Labour 2024, History and Theme

Every year, World Day Against Child Labour is observed on 12 June worldwide. The day is observed to focus global attention on the issue of child labour and take measures to protect them and to end their employment in the hazardous sector.

Background to the World Day Against Child Labour

The first World Day Against Child Labour was observed by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) on 12 June 2002 in Geneva, Switzerland. The headquarters of the ILO is in Geneva, Switzerland. Since then, 12 June has been observed across the world as World Day Against Child Labour.

Theme of the 2024 World Day Against Child Labour

The theme chosen by the ILO for the 2024 World Day against Child Labour is “Let’s act on our commitments: End Child Labour".

The theme focuses on celebrating the 25th anniversary of the adoption of the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention of the ILO.

The ILO General Conference on 26 June 1973 fixed the minimum legal working age at 15 years.

What is Child Labour?

Accroding to the ILO, not every work performed by children is child labour. Child labour is defined as the work done by the child that is hazardous to a child’s health and development, performed by children who are too young and demand too many hours of work. 

Child Labour in India and Statutory Provision

According to the 2011 census, around 43.53 lakh children between the ages of 5 and 14 worked in the country.

The Indian constitution prohibits child labour. Article 24 of the constitution prohibits the employment of children below 14 years of age in any factory or mine or in any other hazardous employment.

In 1979, the government of India set up the Gurupadswamy Committee to study the issue of child labour and suggest measures to address it

The Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act was enacted in 1986, following the recommendation of the Gurupadaswamy Committee. The act prohibited the employment of children in certain specified hazardous occupations. The law also regulates the working conditions of child labour in other sectors. 

The act was amended in 2016, and it prohibited the employment of Children under 14 years of age in all employment. 

It also prohibited the employment of adolescents(14-18 Years of age) in certain sectors of the economy declared hazardous by law.

Prevalence of Child Labour in the World 

Accroding to the ILO, around 160 million children are working as child labour in the world. The maximum number of child labour is found in the African continent. The ILO figure suggests that around one-fifth of the total child labour in the world, or 72 million child labours are in Africa. After Africa, the Asia-Pacific region has the second highest number of child labour-62, million or 7 per cent of the world's child labour.  They are followed by the Americas with 11 million, Europe and Central Asia with 6 million and Arab countries with 1 million.