Global supply chains major user of child labour: UN report

News: A report titled “Ending child labour, forced labour and human trafficking in global supply chains”, for the first time, has examined child labour in global supply chains.

Facts:

About the Report:

• It was conducted by the International Labour Organization (ILO), Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), International Organization for Migration (IOM), and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
• The report was compiled in response to a call by the Group of Twenty (G20) Labour and Employment Ministers to assess violations of core labour rights in global supply chains.

Key Takeaways from the Report:

• According to the latest global estimates, 152 million children are in child labour and 25 million adults and children are in forced labour, including in global supply chains.
• The level of child labour in global supply chains differ region to region. Eastern and south-eastern Asia has been found to be the worst with 26% of child labour in supply chains.
• Latin America and the Caribbean followed with 22%. Elsewhere, the figures are 12% for central and southern Asia and 9% for northern Africa and western Asia.

Additional Information:

• Target 8.7 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) calls to end child labour by 2030.