By Funmi Komolafe

LAGOS—The International Labour Organisation ( ILO) has recorded a drop in the number of children engaged in harzadous work from 246 million to 168 million world wide.

Also, the current number of children in hazardous work, according to the UN agency stands at 85 million, down from 171 million in 2000

A new report of the ILO released in Geneva, Swtizerland which revealed this, however, noted that the drop is not enough to attain the major objective of eliminating the worst forms of Child Labour by 2016.

Nigeria is one of the member countries of the ILO that has ratified Convention 182 ( Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour ).

Director- General of the ILO, Mr. Guy Ryder remarked: “We are moving in the right direction but progress is still too slow. If we are serious about ending the scourge of child labour in the foreseeable future, then we need a substantial stepping-up of efforts at all levels. There are 168 million good reasons to do so,”

The ILO stated: “The latest ILO estimates, published in the lead-up to the Global Conference on Child Labour, which takes place in Brasilia next month, show that most of the progress were made between 2008 and 2012, when the global number fell from 215 to 168 million”.
It noted that more than half of the 168 million child labourers worldwide are involved in hazardous work.

ILO defines hazardous work as that which “ endangers their health, safety and moral development”.
Hazardous work is often treated as a proxy for the Worst Forms of Child Labour, since children in hazardous work account for the overwhelming majority of those in the worst forms.

According to the report, “the largest absolute number of child labourers is found in the Asia-Pacific region (almost 78 million), but Sub-Saharan Africa continues to be the region with the highest incidence of child labour in terms of proportion of the population, at over 21%”.

The ILO has vigorously campaigned against Child Labour with series of programmes and advocacy through its International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour ( IPEC).

Commenting on the report, the director of IPEC, Constance Thomas said, “no one can take sole credit for this result, as many have helped draw attention to the negative impacts of child labour on economic growth, the future of societies and the rights of children. However, the ILO’s role in leading the fight against child labour, through its standards and supervisory system, advice, capacity building and direct action, deserves special mention”