Rise In Child Labour After 20 Years Amid Covid: Report

Children have lost parents and caregivers to the virus, leaving them destitute, without parental care, UNICEF India Representative Dr Yasmin Ali Haque said.

The number of children in child labour has risen to 16 crore worldwide -- first increase in two decades -- with millions more at risk due to COVID-19, according to a new report by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the UNICEF. The report -- ''Child Labour: Global estimates 2020, trends and the road forward'' -- released ahead of the World Day Against Child Labour on June 12, says the progress to end child labour has stalled for the first time in 20 years, reversing the downward trend that saw it fall by 94 million (9.4 crore) between 2000 and 2016. The report points to a significant rise in the number of children aged 5 to 11 years in child labour, who now account for over half of the total global figure. The number of children aged 5 to 17 years in hazardous work --defined as work that is likely to harm their health, safety or morals -- has risen by 6.5 million to 79 million since 2016, the report said.