Leaders and representatives from around the world gathered virtually at the global launch event for the International Year for the Elimination of Child Labor 2021, chaired by Guy Ryder, Director General of the International Labor Organization (ILO); Henrietta Fore, Executive Director of UNICEF; Kailash Satyarthi, Nobel Peace Prize; and Amar Lal, activist and former child worker. Countries and governments, as well as institutions and organizations of all levels and sectors, reaffirmed their commitment and willingness to act to advance towards the achievement of goal 8.7 of the 2030 Agenda, which calls for ending child labor by 2025. 

Guy Ryder recalled that the world has already committed to eliminating child labor in all its forms by 2025 and that this is the time to ensure that we deliver on that commitment. He emphasized that although child labor has been reduced, progress can be continued; And for this, it is urgent to do more to continue successfully towards the goal.

For her part, Henrietta Fore said that the health crisis, the closure of schools and persistent gender inequalities have exacerbated the vulnerability of children and adolescents. Therefore, from UNICEF, he made a call to invest more in child protection and prevent all kinds of violence, abuse and exploitation; also, to reinvent education, to improve quality and its scope.

Kailash Satyarthi argued that civil society, including NGOs, workers' organizations, companies and the media have played a significant role in the fight against child labor, but that in post-pandemic times we should not lose all the progress and achievements made in The last decades.

Along these lines, Amar Lal declared that a lot has been done to date against child labor, but that it is still not enough. He indicated that in 2021 a commitment to implementation is needed and, to achieve this, he called not only to imagine a world without child labor but to act and make it a reality. 

In this way, 2021 begins with an important global mobilization that focuses on the protection of the rights of children and adolescents around the world against the consequences of child and adolescent labor, especially in its worst forms. A reality that affects 152 million minors worldwide -10.5 million in Latin America and the Caribbean- and that, due to the current health and economic crisis, could intensify, putting at risk the important advances of The last decades.

During the opening event, expectations and plans from different parts of the world were shared to “Act, Inspire and Climb”, pillars of the International Year 2021 to make visible, engage and promote the action of more and different actors. Along these lines, the event expanded the urgent call to define Action Commitments 2021 that contribute to ending child labor and that can be achieved in December of this year. Some examples of Commitments of Action are the allocation of budgets, the formulation and approval of laws, the improvement of social protection, among other necessary and achievable measures, which will allow to give an impetus towards the V World Conference on the Sustained Eradication of Child Labor , which will be hosted by the Government of South Africa in 2022. 

On the part of the region, the Minister of Labor and Social Welfare of Chile, María José Zaldívar, representing the 30 countries and tripartite members of the Regional Initiative Latin America and the Caribbean Free of Child Labor, expressed the joint commitment to “ intensify the tripartite action of the Regional Initiative Latin America and the Caribbean Free of Child Labor to accelerate the achievement of goal 8.7, with special attention to the context of recovery from the COVID-19 crisis and prioritizing decent work ”.

For the Regional Initiative and its members, it is a priority to ensure the adequate growth and development of children and adolescents, especially now that children and adolescents must be at the center of the priorities for action in response to and recovery from crises . For this, it is important to highlight that, on the road to goal 8.7, Latin America and the Caribbean has been implementing effective actions together with its development partners for several years.

The sustained commitment of the Andalusian Agency for International Development Cooperation (AACID), the Brazilian Agency for Cooperation (ABC), the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) and the United States Department of Labor (USDOL) , has played a fundamental role in intensifying the prevention and elimination of child labor in the region, going from 14 million children and adolescents in child labor in 2008 to 10.5 million in 2016. Thanks to this continuous support, Latin America and the Caribbean has positioned itself as the region with the greatest possibility of reaching target 8.7.

In this framework, it should be noted that the proposed declaration of the International Year for the Elimination of Child Labor 2021 was an initiative and commitment assumed by the Regional Group of Latin America and the Caribbean (GRULAC) during the IV World Conference on the Sustained Eradication of Child Child Labor (Argentina, 2017). Its global approval, sponsored by 78 United Nations Member States, was held during an event organized by the International Labor Organization (ILO) and Alliance 8.7, within the framework of the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development in 2019.

You can see the recording of the event here .

For more information, visit the official website of the International Year for the Elimination of Child Labor 2021: www.endchildlabour2021.org