A joint new report issued by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the International Labor Organization revealed that the number of children working in Africa reached 86.6 million in 2024, which represents more than half of the 160 million children working all over the world.
According to the International Labor Organization, the number of working children has decreased significantly in the past years, as it decreased from 245 million in 2000, to 160 million in 2020, to 138 million in 2024.
The report indicated that the number of children who were working in dangerous work has decreased from 79 million to 54 million, although this situation is not in line with the United Nations plans that were aimed at eliminating children’s employment by 2025.
In this context, UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said, “A very large number of children are still working in mines, factories and fields, and they often do dangerous work for survival.”
The report stressed that it is not possible to achieve the elimination of child labor without taking into account the conditions that drive families to send their children to work and their dangerous work in order to survive, such as poverty and lack of education.
Cultural norms and the necessities of living contribute to keeping a large number of children in the labor market, especially in sectors such as agriculture and mining. Researchers pointed out that many children do not consider this work a form of exploitation.