Child Labor and Forced Labor Reports

Iraq

Iraq
2021 Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor:

Minimal Advancement – Efforts Made but Continued Practice that Delayed Advancement

In 2021, Iraq made minimal advancement in efforts to eliminate the worst forms of child labor. The Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs launched a campaign with the International Labor Organization to raise awareness about child labor among students, families, and employers in sectors in which child labor is present. However, despite new initiatives to address child labor, Iraq is assessed as having made only minimal advancement because it continued to implement a practice that delays advancement to eliminate child labor. During the reporting period, Iraqi and Kurdistan Regional Government authorities may have inappropriately detained or punished children allegedly affiliated with ISIS—some of whom were victims of forcible recruitment and use. Children in Iraq are subjected to the worst forms of child labor, including in commercial sexual exploitation, sometimes as a result of human trafficking, and in forced begging. The government did not provide information on its labor or criminal law enforcement efforts for inclusion in this report. It also continues to lack social programs that focus on assisting children involved in the worst forms of child labor.

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