12 June is World Day Against Child Labour.
The situation of child labour in the world remains very alarming. More than 250 million children work, and 150 million of them engage in dangerous activities.
In India, child labour remains a major problem. More than 60 million children are thought to be working, and 10 million of them are slaves.
The World Day Against Child Labour was established in 2002 by the International Labour Organization (ILO) with the goal of raising public awareness and mobilizing all those involved in the fight against child labour in the world.
The International Labour Organization (ILO) is the first organisation to regulate child labour. On 26 June 1973, the General Conference of the ILO adopted a legally binding document setting the minimum legal working age at 15 years: Convention 138, which concerns the minimum age for admission to employment.
On June 17, 1999 in Geneva, the International Labour Organization (ILO) adopted another document: Convention 182, which concerns the worst forms of child labour.
Though these legally binding documents are now in place, and though most world States have signed and ratified these conventions, child labour remains a major problem faced by hundreds of millions of children around the world.
