Every year on June 12 the World Day Against Child Labor is observed to raise awareness of the plight of child laborers world-wide. Hundreds of millions of girls and boys around the world are affected.

Child labor is a problem in both developing and industrialized countries.

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What do people do?

Every year, numerous events are held around the world on June 12 to mark the World Day Against Child Labor and call attention to the probem.

Public life

The World Day Against Child Labor is a global observance and not a public holiday.

Background

Child labor is especially rampant in many developing countries – but even in industrialized nations many children are forced to work. According to UNICEF, children in the United States “are employed in agriculture, a high proportion of them from immigrant or ethnic-minority families.” There have also been a number of incidents of westerns companies exploiting child laborers in developing countries to save production costs.

In 2011, there were an estimated 215 million child laborers in the world – 115 million of which were involved in hazardous work. To combat child labor around the world the International Labour Organization (ILO) initiated the World Day Against Child Labor in 2002.

External link

Learn more about the World Day Against Child Labor

World Day Against Child Labour Observances