† Determined by national law or regulation as hazardous and, as such, relevant to Article 3(d) of ILO C. 182.
‡ Child labor understood as the worst forms of child labor per se under Article 3(a)–(c) of ILO C. 182.

Children at Higher Risk

Children in Kosovo are vulnerable to child trafficking, especially of girls who are forced to work in massage parlors by organized criminal groups. According to a UNICEF study, 88 percent of children engaged in street work are from the Ashkali, Roma, and Egyptian communities, with 39 percent of those children having never attended school. Economically vulnerable Kosovan children also sometimes work in construction and agriculture to support their families.

Barriers to Education Access

Children lacking Albanian or Serbian language skills, especially girls, sometimes experience difficulty accessing education, in part due to a lack of native-language educational materials and insufficient subsidized transportation for rural children. In addition, although the law guarantees educational access to children who lack birth documentation, some children without birth documentation encounter challenges when trying to enroll in school. Children who do not attend school are vulnerable to the worst forms of child labor.

‡ Age calculated based on available information

In 2024, the government adopted seven implementing regulations related to the 2023 Law on Social and Family Services, which expanded existing legislation on the regulation of social welfare programs and continued to require the provision of social services to at-risk populations. However, Kosovo does not meet the international standard prohibiting commercial sexual exploitation of children because the current laws require the child to be deemed a victim of trafficking in order for the perpetrator to be prosecuted.

In 2024, 60 labor inspectors conducted 11,141 worksite inspections, finding 13 child labor violations. The government also conducted 113 investigations into suspected worst forms of child labor crimes, initiated 86 prosecutions, and convicted 12 perpetrators.

† The government had other policies that may have addressed child labor issues or had an impact on child labor.

‡ Program is funded by the Government of the Republic of Kosovo.
† The government had other social programs that may have included the goal of eliminating or preventing child labor.

Download the 2024 Bibliography