The estimated number of children in child labor globally rose by 8 million between 2016 and 2020, reversing the previous downward trend between 2000 and 2016. Some 160 million children were estimated to be in child labor globally at the beginning of 2020, with 79 million children – nearly half of all those in child labor – engaged in hazardous work that directly endangers their health, safety and moral development.

The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) emphasize the leading role of governments in enforcing and achieving the SDGs, including Target 8.7 efforts to eliminate child labor. However, civil society also has a critical role to play in achieving sustainable progress in such areas. This includes action by trade unions, labor activists, and anti-child labor, anti-slavery, and community-based organizations. When civil society organizations have the capacity and are afforded the space to play this role, they can be a powerful force in accelerating transformational change.