With nearly half of the world’s child labourers located in Africa, the continent continues to bear a disproportionate share of a global crisis. According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), 160 million children are currently in child labour worldwide, with 79 million engaged in hazardous work.
The agricultural sector alone accounts for 112 million of these young workers, many of whom are as young as five years old.
These came to light during a dialogue session on how to eliminate all forms of child labour including forced recruitment and use of children in armed conflict at the UN Headquarters.
Cristina Isabel Lopes da Silva Monteiro Duarte, UN Under-Secretary-General and Special Advisor on Africa, did not mince words when she described the implications as dire.
“By 2030, half of all new entrants to the global labour force will come from this continent. With the youngest population on earth, Africa holds immense potential. But this demographic dividend will not pay itself. If neglected, it will become a demographic liability—a ticking time bomb that fuels inequality, instability, and fragility”, she said.
Duarte framed child labour as a development failure, a glaring indicator of systemic breakdown and policy inadequacies. “Let us name the problem with clarity. Let us face it with courage. And let us act—decisively, and together,” she concluded.
The ILO Director-General, Gilbert F. Houngbo, emphasized the widespread nature of child labour, particularly in sectors like domestic labour, which he described as being “too often out of sight and therefore out of mind.” Beyond these numbers lies an even grimmer reality—children trapped in armed conflict, subjected to some of the gravest violations of their rights.
The speakers noted that without decisive interventions, Africa’s youth could be lost to the cycle of exploitation and poverty.
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Source: Africafeeds.com
