“The years of the pandemic have shown a recovery” after 20 years of constant decline, deplores the NGO World Vision

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“The years of the pandemic have shown a resumption of the phenomena of violence against children”and in particular work, lamented the director general of the NGO Vision du monde, Camille Romain des Boscs, Sunday June 12 on franceinfo, on the occasion of the world day against child labor. “It is estimated that by the end of the year, nine million additional children will find themselves forced to work and thus leave school benches”she pointed out.

>> Covid-19: with the health crisis, child labor was already on the rise last year, including in France

franceinfo: Are there still countries that accept or tolerate child labor?

Camille Romain des Boscs: The good news is that all of the countries participating in the International Labor Organization have ratified the convention prohibiting child labor and in particular its worst forms.

“But today, despite the laws, despite the legal provisions, 160 million little boys and little girls are still working in the world.”

Camille Romain des Boscs, Executive Director of the NGO Vision du monde

at franceinfo

And it is estimated that by the end of the year, nine million additional children will find themselves forced to work and thus leave the benches of school and place a very heavy burden on their future.

In these countries, is it the law that allows child labor or practices that are not necessarily official or legal?

There is a first phenomenon, which is the use, the reproduction, in families which did not know the school and where the children will continue the domestic work. But it is above all poverty that will force families to make children work to feed their brothers and sisters, to feed themselves and quite simply to survive. This is really the main explanatory factor for this phenomenon which is unfortunately growing.

Isn’t the phenomenon in decline on a world scale?

We observed progress over twenty years, so over a long period of time, and it was really very encouraging. But the last four years, and in particular the years of the pandemic, have shown a resurgence of the phenomena of violence against children. One of the very direct consequences of the Covid is the resumption of very great poverty and precariousness for the most vulnerable households. The second phenomenon is deschooling. When you combine poverty and closed schools, the children end up working. We must now put in place measures to get children back to school and absolutely allow them to go to school rather than find themselves working in sometimes extremely difficult situations.

With regard to dropping out of school, we know that on a planetary scale, little girls are often more victims than boys. Is it the same for child labor?

They are victims of the worst forms of labor and exploitation, that is to say that little girls find themselves as domestic servants. Sometimes, too, they find themselves forced to engage in sexual activity. It is therefore the forms of slavery and the worst forms of exploitation of children with physical, mental and psychic consequences, which will damage these children for their entire lives.


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