World Day Against Child Labour 2023: ILO Myanmar calls for concerted actions to promote social justice in the fight against child labour

To mark World Day Against Child Labour on 12 June, ILO Myanmar calls for concerted actions among all key stakeholders to address the root causes of child labour and ensure social justice for all working children and their families.

Over one million children in Myanmar between 5 and 17 years old are trapped in child labour, with over half of them involved in hazardous work that directly endangers their health, safety, and moral development.

Poverty and crises are key to driving children into work, while decent work and social justice can help address the root causes of child labour and keep children out of labour.

“The current social, economic, and political crises in Myanmar have profoundly heightened the vulnerability of families resorting to child labour, with the children of the poorest families having been impacted the most, we need to increase our effort to protect children now more than ever and promote social justice,” said Mr Donglin Li, ILO Myanmar Liaison Officer/Representative.

The abolition of child labour is a cornerstone of the aspiration for social justice, through which every worker can claim freely and on the basis of equality of opportunity and treatment their fair share of the wealth that they have helped to generate.

Reaffirming its commitment to promote decent work for all workers and social justice for all in the fight against child labour in Myanmar, ILO Myanmar through its child labour projects and in partnership with communities and civil society actors is supporting the establishment of community-based child labour monitoring system and providing direct support services to children engaged in work or at risk of child labour and their families in pilot areas in various states and regions in Myanmar.

World Day Against Child Labour activities in Myanmar

Aligning with this year’s World Day Against Child Labour theme, ‘‘Social Justice for All. End Child Labour!”, ILO Myanmar will engage social partners, civil society and development partners in training and awareness raising activities to be conducted throughout Myanmar until August.

A photo exhibition ”A boy with many jobs” will take place from 13 June to 17 June at the Goethe-Institut Myanmar, while an online essay competition “Hidden dreams and voices” and community based events across various states and regions will take place over the coming months. More details will be announced via the ILO Myanmar Facebook page.