Subscribe to E-mail Updates	All DOL ILAB   Advanced Search
A to Z Index |  Site Map |  FAQs |  DOL Forms |  About DOL |  Contact Us

DOL Home > ILAB

Previous

Table of Contents

Next

---

Introduction

In 2000, when Congress passed the Trade and Development Act (TDA), the United States affirmed its commitment to eliminate the worst forms of child labor by adding a new requirement to its trade preference programs for developing nations.  Section 412 of the TDA links beneficiary countries’ implementation of commitments to eliminate the worst forms of child labor to their receipt of trade benefits under the Generalized Systems of Preferences (GSP), the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), and the Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act (CBTPA).  This report provides detailed information about the worst forms of child labor as they occur in each of these 139 trade beneficiary countries around the world.  The report also demonstrates the numerous efforts and commitments of developing nations to prevent and eliminate exploitive child labor in their own countries and across borders. 

The Nature and Scope of the Global Child Labor Problem

According to the International Labor Organization, there were some 211 million children ages 5 to 14 years who were economically active in the world in 2000.[22]  Boys and girls work at similar rates, and an estimated 73 million working children are less than 10 years old.  Some of the world’s children work for a few hours a day, alongside their parents in family businesses, or perform light work that is not considered to be exploitive.  Others, however, toil under deplorable and abusive conditions, with little or no pay, and without the opportunity to go to school.  They work on farms with pesticides and machetes, on the streets, in mines, garbage dumps, and brothels in situations that threaten their health, safety, and morals in forms of child labor recognized by the global community to be “worst forms.”  These forms of child labor, which are abusive and exploitive, are the focus of this report.

Why Children Work

Children work for a variety of reasons.  Some work simply to survive and earn income for themselves and their families.  Others work because they cannot afford to study, do not have access to quality educational programs, or are discouraged or prohibited from attending school by cultural norms.  Yet other children are kidnapped and coerced into working by gangs of sex traffickers or armed groups.  In addition, many other political, economic, and social factors, such as government policies on labor enforcement, fluctuations in commodity markets, and religious traditions, influence whether or not children work and what type of labor they perform.  The fact that so many factors contribute to the existence of child labor has made it a complex and challenging problem to solve.

The Categories of Worst Forms of Child Labor

Many child labor experts distinguish between two categories of worst forms, “unconditional” and “conditional.”[23]  Unconditional worst forms of child labor are generally illegal and objectionable forms of work, even for adults.  They include slavery, forced or compulsory labor, debt bondage, trafficking, involvement in illicit activities, commercial sexual exploitation, and the forced recruitment of children into armed conflict.  These forms have been identified as worst forms of child labor by the international community though the development and promotion of ILO Convention 182.  Conditional worst forms of child labor refer to activities that can only be determined to be “worst forms” by relevant national authorities.  Article 3 section (d) of ILO Convention 182 provides a general description of these potentially hazardous forms of labor, and Article 4 makes clear that such work should be defined by national laws.  Some of these hazardous forms could constitute acceptable forms of work, if certain conditions were changed.  Examples include work with dangerous tools or chemicals, or work for long hours or at night.[24]  These two major types of worst forms of child labor, and several examples of the nature and incidence of these forms, are described below   It is important to note that estimates of the number of children involved in each of these worst forms may be low, due to the hidden, often clandestine, nature of this type of work.

Unconditional Worst Forms

Children in Forced and Bonded Labor

Forced labor is defined as work or service that is elicited from a person under threat of penalty and for which the person did not volunteer.  Bonded labor occurs when a person needing a loan and having no security to offer, pledges his/her labor, or that of someone under his/her control as security for a loan.  According to the ILO, 5.7 million children are subject to forced and bonded labor around the world.[25] Children working in forced labor and bonded labor lack basic freedoms, frequently work long hours for little or no pay, may suffer from harsh physical or mental abuse, and are generally deprived of the opportunity to attend school.  In some situations, children are forced to work to pay the debts of their parents, or labor under an agreement that obligates their family to work from one generation to the next.

Trafficked Children

Child trafficking can be associated with forced labor and is defined as the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring, or receipt of a child under the age of 18 years for the purpose of exploitation.  The number of affected individuals is difficult to estimate and current statistics vary widely.  While estimates from the U.S. Government range from 600,000 to 800,000 individuals trafficked annually across international borders,[26] the United Nations estimates that approximately 1.2 million children are trafficked internally or externally each year.[27]  Internal, cross-border, or international trafficking of children can happen through means including coercion, abduction, or kidnapping.[28]  Girls are primarily trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation, domestic service, and even for forced marriages in other countries.  While boys are not untouched by the sex trade, they are mostly trafficked to work in agriculture, mining, manufacturing, organized begging, and armed conflict situations.[29]  Gender and ethnic discrimination make children from various minority groups especially vulnerable.  Children who are victims of trafficking may be exposed to rape, torture, violence, psychological abuse, drug and alcohol addiction, as well as HIV/AIDs and other sexually transmitted diseases.[30]

Children in Armed Conflict

Children are used in armed conflict as soldiers, spies, guards, human shields, human minesweepers, servants, decoys and sentries.  Some girls are forced into prostitution and many children are drugged to make it easier to force them to perform horrendous acts of violence and cruelty.  Some victims are as young as 7 or 8, and many more are 10 to 15 years old.  Children who are orphans, refugees, and victims of poverty or family alienation are particularly at risk.  There are an estimated 300,000 children who are forced to fight by government-sponsored armed forces or by other armed groups in more than 30 conflicts around the world.[31] 

Children in Commercial Sexual Exploitation

Children involved in commercial sexual exploitation work as prostitutes in bars, hotels, massage parlors, or on the streets; participate in various forms of child pornography; and are exploited for sex by tourists as well as armed groups.[32]  Such children are at risk of physical violence, early pregnancy, and sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS.  An estimated 1.8 million children worldwide were involved in commercial sexual exploitation in 2000.[33]  Due to the clandestine nature of the activity and the shame associated with it, estimates such as this are likely to greatly understate the extent of the problem. 

Children in Illicit Activities

Children who are engaged in illicit activities may become involved in the buying and selling of contraband, and often work as dealers and traffickers of drugs.[34]  Some become involved in this type of work after being abandoned on the streets, while others trade illegal substances with the encouragement or direction of peers or family members.  Children who work as dealers of drugs often develop their own addictions to the substances that they sell and find it difficult to escape the web of violence, money, and power that surrounds the drug trade.  An estimated 600,000 children around the world were involved in this worst form of child labor in 2000.[35]

Conditional Worst Forms

Hazardous Labor

Hazardous labor is the broadest category within the worst forms of child labor as specified in Article 3 section (d) of Convention 182.  Some of these forms of work might be acceptable for older children if certain conditions were changed, such as eliminating work at night.  Others, such as work in mines or underwater, are by their nature hazardous activities that cannot be made safe or acceptable for children.  As mentioned above, ILO member countries that have ratified Convention 182 are required to define the types of work that are likely to endanger the health, safety, or morals of a child.  This may include work that exposes children to physical, psychological, or sexual abuses; work at dangerous heights, underwater, or in confined spaces; work that exposes children to dangerous machinery, hazardous substances, agents, or processes; and work for long hours, at night, or in confinement, among other conditions.  Children engaged in hazardous labor may be found in agriculture, mining, garbage dumps, construction, glass making, street work, domestic service, bidi (cigarette) rolling, deep-sea fishing, fireworks production, and a number of other sectors.  The ILO has found that very young children (defined as those below 12 years of age) and a large number of boys are involved in hazardous labor.[36]

The Toll of Exploitive Child Labor on Children and Society

The international community generally recognizes education as the most important and essential daily activity for children.  Although children of a certain age can gain important skills through light work and apprenticeships, such work should complement, and not replace, compulsory basic education in essential skills such as reading, writing, and math.  Education gives children a range of opportunities to acquire the knowledge and skills they need to grow into more productive and well-paid workers, and healthier, more self-sufficient, and effective citizens.  Education is also a wise investment for communities and nations at large, because it contributes to greater political stability; lower birth and mortality rates; reduced criminal activity; and greater economic growth and development. 

In addition to exposing children to physical violence, disease, and psychological and moral abuse, exploitive child labor interferes, either completely or partially, with children’s ability to successfully participate in education.  This not only robs children of needed skills, but deprives their families, communities, and nations of an educated, healthy, and productive citizenry.  Moreover, certain forms of child labor, such as trafficking, facilitate the break down of the family relationships that ensure social stability in a community and nation.  Protecting children from the worst forms of child labor is a humanitarian obligation, and one which the international community has agreed must be addressed with urgency. 

Many governments, aware of the enormous cost of exploitive child labor on their youth and their societies, have taken important steps to address the problem.  This report provides some examples of ways in which U.S. trade beneficiary countries have developed and implemented child labor and education policies and programs in the past year.

Government Policies and Programs to Eliminate the Worst Forms of Child Labor: 2004

Policies to Address the Worst Forms of Child Labor

In 2004, U.S. trade beneficiary countries implemented a number of important policy changes to address the worst forms of child labor.

• The Government of Brazil launched the Child-Friendly President Action Plan 2004-2007, detailing nearly 200 activities to promote children’s rights, including efforts to combat worst forms of child labor such as prostitution.
• The Governments of Cambodia, Indonesia, Mongolia, the Philippines, and Thailand participated in a meeting with other nations of the region and signed the Medan Declaration to combat the trafficking of children for sexual purposes in Southeast Asia.
• In April 2004, the Government of Cameroon ratified the U.N. Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime and its two protocols to prevent trafficking in persons and the smuggling of migrants.  In July 2004, Cameroon’s legislature also strengthened the role and authority of the National Commission on Human Rights and Freedoms, which conducts investigations and implements training programs for law enforcement and judiciary officials on trafficking in persons.
• In Iraq, the June 2004 Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) Order 89 amended the 1987 Labor Law to prohibit the employment of anyone under the age of 18 years in work that is detrimental to the worker’s health, safety, or morals. The CPA also formeda child labor unit at the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs. 
• The Government of Mali signed two separate cooperative agreements with the Governments of Burkina Faso and Senegal to combat the cross-border trafficking of children.[37]  Thus far, the Government of Mali has signed agreements with all three of its neighboring countries, including Côte d’Ivoire.  Under these agreements, individuals are subject to the criminal code provisions addressing child trafficking of both the source and destination countries.
• In 2004, the Government of Mauritania ratified a new labor code, which defines the minimum age for employment as 14 years and identifies the country’s worst forms of child labor as called for in ILO Convention No. 182. 
• The Government of Morocco confirmed its commitment to combat child labor by creating a new labor code that increases the minimum age for employment from 12 to 15 years and prohibits children under the age of 18 from working in dangerous activities. 
• The Government of Panama passed legislation in March 2004 that strengthens penal code provisions against commercial sexual exploitation.
• Recognizing that underage children work in domestic service in the country, the Government of Peru established regulations in the past year that require such children to be provided with access to education. 
• The Government of Turkey enacted a new regulation in April 2004 to complement its new Labor Act, which specifies acceptable forms of work for children ages 15 to 18 years.
• The Government of Uruguay passed a new Children’s Code in September 2004 that sets the minimum age for employment at 15 years and identifies hazardous work for children. 

Programs to Address the Worst Forms of Child Labor

In addition to enacting new child labor and education legislation, and developing strategic plans, policies, and institutional structures to address the worst forms of child labor, many U.S. trade beneficiary countries created and participated in programs to provide direct services to children at risk of entering or involved in the worst forms of child labor in 2004.

• Numerous efforts are underway in Afghanistan to demobilize child soldiers and reintegrate former child soldiers.  With funding from the U.S. Department of Labor, UNICEF is working with the Ministries of Education, Labor, and Social Affairs; national and local level Commissions for Demobilization and Reintegration; UN agencies; and nongovernmental organizations.  Together these institutions are identifying former child soldiers, conducting psychosocial assessments, and providing the children with appropriate services in the demobilization process.  In addition, former child soldiers have opportunities for reintegration that include enrollment in formal education, skills training, or apprenticeships.  As of September 2004, over 3,700 children had been demobilized in the eight provinces of Kunduz, Badakhshan, Takhar, Baghlan, Bamyan, Laghman, Nangrahar, and Nuristan.[38]
• The Governments of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Gabon, Ghana, Mali, Nigeria, and Togo participated in a USDOL-funded ILO-IPEC project to combat the trafficking of children for exploitive labor in West and Central Africa.  The Governments of Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Gabon, Mali, and Togo have committed to participate in this project through 2007.  This regional program was complemented by USDOL-funded projects to combat child trafficking through education in Benin, Burkina Faso, and Mali.
• The Governments of Cambodia, G hana, Kenya, Lebanon, and Madagascar are participating in new USDOL-funded ILO-IPEC Time-bound Programs to combat the worst forms of child labor, while the Governments of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan are involved in a new regional ILO-IPEC project.[39]  Colombia, Central America and the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guinea, Lebanon, Niger, Panama, Turkey, Yemen and other countries of the Middle East Partnership Initiative[40]are collaborating with nongovernmental partners in the implementation of USDOL-funded Education Initiative projects to help working children and children at risk of entering work to gain access to educational alternatives.
• In April 2004, the Government of Costa Rica and Save the Children-Sweden launched an awareness-raising campaign against trafficking and exploitation at Costa Rica’s Juan Santamaria International Airport.[41]
• The Government of the Dominican Republic launched new initiatives in 2004 to combat the commercial sexual exploitation of children.  These include a major media campaign to raise awareness and education services for child victims of commercial sexual exploitation.
• The Governments of Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda are participating in a new USDOL-fundedUSD 14.5 million Educational Initiative project focused on providing education and vocational training to HIV/AIDS-affected children involved in or at-risk of entering into the worst forms of child labor. [42]
• In January 2004, Honduras was formally endorsed for financial support through the Education for All Fast Track Initiative process.[43]  In June 2004, the World Bank announced its Poverty Reduction Support Credit in Honduras, which supports community-based school management, including local education development associations.[44]
• As part of a USD 6 million project funded by USDOL, Save the Children-US and the International Organization for Migration collaborated with the Government of Indonesia to provide educational opportunities to victims or children at-risk of trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation.  The project will rescue, rehabilitate, and reintegrate trafficked children into society.  It will further strengthen the Ministry of National Education's capacity to address the specific education needs of rescued children through improved mechanisms to provide non-formal education.  The Ministry will also lead national and provincial advisory groups and become actively involved in program implementation at the district level.

Where Do We Go From Here?

This report provides a number of examples of new laws, plans, and strategies developed by U.S. trade beneficiary countries to provide universal education and free children from exploitive labor. These efforts to combat the worst forms of child labor are accompanied, in some countries, by significant resource investments and well-designed, integrated, and articulated policies and programs.  In other nations, there is still a need for greater awareness, commitment, investment, and action on the part of governments to make efforts to eliminate worst forms of child labor an immediate priority and integral part of development efforts. 

In a report released by the ILO in February 2004, “Investing in Every Child:  An Economic Study of the Costs and Benefits of Eliminating Child Labor,” researchers examined the cost of eliminating child labor by the year 2020 through universal primary education and the substitution of lost income that children provide to their families.  The study findings indicate that the immediate costs of eliminating exploitive child labor could run an estimated USD 760 billion.  While this amount appears daunting, the ILO believes that the monetary benefits of eliminating exploitive child labor in the longer term could yield an economic gain of USD 5.1 trillion as a result of improved productivity, increased earnings, and better health.[45] 

The ILO study provides evidence of the magnitude of the return that could result from the elimination of child labor around the world.  This effort will require strong commitment, vision, and capacity among local and national stakeholders to implement complex child labor and education interventions in a timely and effective manner.  It will also require additional technical assistance and cooperation from international partners.  Finally, it will entail significant costs and sacrifices that have to be borne by today’s generation, in order for the benefits to be realized in future generations.

Exploitive child labor should not be a legacy that is handed from one generation to the next, nor should it be a child’s only means of survival, nor the result of neglect or misfortune.  With a commitment of resources, careful planning, and the will to change, the nations of the world can do more to help create an environment that protects the well-being of children and enables them to look forward to an adult life full of hope and opportunities.

Frequently Asked Questions |  Freedom of Information Act |  Privacy & Security Statement |  Disclaimers |  Customer Survey |  Important Web Site Notices

U.S. Department of Labor | Frances Perkins Building, 200 Constitution Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20210
www.dol.gov | Telephone: 1-866-4-USA-DOL (1-866-487-2365) | TTY: 1-877-4-889-5627 | Contact Us