Morocco Pushes for Scalable Global Action to End Child Labor
Rabat – Morocco urged the international community to explore practical, adaptable solutions to eliminate child labor worldwide, drawing on its own progress in tackling the issue.
Speaking in Geneva on Wednesday, Younes Sekkouri, Minister of Economic Inclusion, shared Morocco's experience during a high-level meeting held to mark the 2025 World Day Against Child Labor.
'Morocco has taken concrete steps, and we are still moving forward,' Sekkouri said. 'By hosting the sixth global conference on child labor in February 2026, we hope to influence change far beyond our borders.'
Morocco has recorded a 55% drop in child labor since 2017. In 2023, around 110,000 children aged 7 to 17 were found to be engaged in economic activity, roughly 1.4% of that age group.
The majority of these children, about 60%, worked to support their families, often in rural areas. Although such work may not always fall under formal definitions of child labor, Sekkouri insisted that it should no longer be tolerated.
He pointed to several levers behind the country's progress. Chief among them is Morocco's rollout of universal social protection. Today, the program supports around seven million children and looks to remove the economic pressures that drive families to put their children to work.
The government has also expanded access to early childhood education. A nationwide push to make preschool available to all children aged four and up has relied on partnerships with civil society groups and a flexible model tailored to local realities.
'Investing in early education gives children a chance to thrive, not work,' Sekkouri said.
He also noted the importance of strong governance. Morocco has strengthened its inspection systems, worked closely with the judiciary, and adopted key international conventions and protocols.
Despite these gains, Sekkouri acknowledged the deeper challenge of turning successful national models into global solutions. 'We need to understand what allows local strategies to expand and address the problem globally,' he said. 'This is where the international conversation must go.'
He called for more multilateral partnerships to support creative, context-sensitive approaches. 'No country can solve this alone,' he added.
The event, organized by Morocco's Permanent Mission and the International Labour Organization (ILO), took place alongside the 113th International Labour Conference, running from June 2 to 13 in Geneva.
The gathering brought together ministers from Asia, Latin America, and Europe, as well as senior ILO officials and development partners.
It also saw the launch of a new joint ILO-UNICEF report offering updated global data on child labor. The findings sparked discussions on how to speed up progress and meet international targets.
The ILO, for its part, renewed its call for countries to ratify Convention No. 138 on minimum working age and to fully implement Convention No. 182 on the worst forms of child labor. Tags: child abuseChild LaborMoroccoMorocco child labor
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