Breaking a promise made to the children
Today is the 24th International Day Against Child Labour. This day was a hard-won victory in the movement against child labour. But today, my heart aches. I can hear the desperate cries of millions of children who are still trapped in forced labour, toiling in fields, factories, and homes.
At this time in 1998, I was surrounded by hundreds of children who had been rescued from similar conditions. I remember their fearless chants as they walked with me across 103 countries in the Global March Against Child Labour. At the end, we were invited to speak at the International Labour Organization (ILO) headquarters in Geneva, where we placed a simple but urgent demand: 'No more tools in tiny hands. We want books, we want toys!' It was not just my voice; it was the voice of millions of children who wanted freedom and education.
The march made history. In 1999, the ILO adopted Convention 182, the first international law against the worst forms of child labour, including slavery, trafficking, and bonded labour.
The first 16 years of the convention ignited a wave of hope as we witnessed remarkable progress. Between 2000 and 2016, the number of child labourers dropped drastically from 250 million to 152 million. It showed that change was possible. But this was not enough, because in the case of children, every moment matters. One day without school is an opportunity lost, one minute in slavery is a childhood stolen.
An opportunity to revive the movement came in 2016, when the UN adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We spearheaded a campaign to make sure eliminating child labour was included as an SDG. We believed that including child labour into the global development agenda would bring much-needed support. Our efforts bore fruit. The world promised to end all forms of child labour by 2025. The youngest member of our global march was Basu Rai, who would sit on my shoulder as we marched. Despite being only eight, his calls were thunderous: 'Who will stop child labour? We will!' But today, with months left until the 2025 deadline, I think of millions like Basu as I say with a heavy heart. We are failing our children.
In the first four years of the SDGs, until 2020, the number of child labourers increased for the first time in 20 years, reaching 160 million. In Africa alone, 10,000 children are being pushed into labour every day. During the same time, the world became $10 trillion richer, creating at least one new billionaire every week. This was a sign of a lack of compassion. Can we really call this development? Years ago, addressing the United Nations, I had said with confidence that we would end child labour by 2025. But recently, someone asked me, 'Sir, when will child labour end?' I had no answer.
We learnt valuable lessons before 2016 about what truly makes a difference in the movement against child labour. Progress was driven by sweeping public momentum and moral leadership with political will. People raised their voices for children, and governments listened. Many countries invested heavily in education. Brazil, India, Kenya, and South Africa upheld compulsory education as a fundamental right and saw results.
Social protection programmes were expanded for the most vulnerable. Corporations and industries, too, came under pressure, as strong political voices, particularly in Europe and the US, demanded that child labour be removed from supply chains. All these efforts worked together.
Today, the global drive has weakened. The SDGs were meant to align efforts to tackle issues like poverty, gender, and education. Such an approach would expedite progress towards all goals as they are connected. But efforts remain siloed, and departments fail to collaborate. We also treated child labour as a side issue, as only a labour problem, and not a crisis of justice and human rights. So, it didn't receive the attention it deserved.
There are other deeper problems. Many poor countries, especially in Africa, are trapped in unfair tax systems and crushing debt. Corruption, weak governance, and conflicts deepen the crisis. Every dollar lost to injustice is money that could have built a school.
What worries me even more is a dangerous trend I am seeing. In the US, over 30 states have introduced laws to weaken child labour protections. In the EU, a law to hold companies accountable for child labour in supply chains was diluted after member States protested. And in Brazil, similar discussions are ongoing.
Still, there are small but meaningful sparks. The Unicef recently introduced a global child protection fund. But the support is inadequate. The fund met only about 30% of its target, which has affected the availability and quality of child protection services. Without money, how can we help children in need? The world is also facing more conflicts than ever before. The percentage of children living in war zones has doubled since the 1990s. As I write this, 473 million children are living in conflict zones. These children are at high risk of dropping out of school, losing their homes, and being forced into exploitation. Covid-19 intensified the tragedy. The climate crisis directly impacts the most vulnerable populations, leading to an increase in child labour and perpetuating the cycle of poverty and injustice. But hope persists. Many countries have successfully reduced child labour. People across the world are still raising their voices.
I believe India can lead this movement. We have strong laws, good welfare schemes, and political consensus. There is minimal resistance from industry. All the pieces are in place.
What we need now is urgent action.
First, laws must be enforced. A law that exists only on paper is meaningless. Second, child labour must be treated as a cross-cutting issue, connected to education, health, and poverty, and departments must work together towards this goal. Third, investment in education is critical. Quality schooling is the strongest shield against child labour.
Importantly, all efforts must be rooted in a sense of urgency stemming from the deep conviction that these are all our children. They must be rooted in compassion. Compassion is the force born from feeling the suffering of others as one's own and taking mindful and selfless action to end that suffering. We believe that everyone is born with an inherent capacity for compassion. We owe our children a better world. Let us not break our promise again.
Kailash Satyarthi is founder, Satyarthi Movement for Global Compassion. The views expressed are personal.
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