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Child
Labor Statistics from the ILO |
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According to the
International Labor Organization (ILO), there were an estimated 211 million
children, ages 5 to 14, working around the world in 2000.
The majority of the world's
working children, according to the ILO, are found in Asia (127.3 million),
followed by Africa (48.0 million), Latin America and the Caribbean (17.4
million), and the Middle East and North Africa (13.4 million). While Asia has
the highest number of child workers, Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest
proportion of working children.
See: ILO-IPEC
Every
Child Counts: New Global Estimates on Child Labor (Geneva: International
Labor Office, April, 2002) |
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New and Noteworthy
July 27, 2004: Solicitations for Cooperative
Agreement Applications for Child Labor Education Initiative Projects
The Labor Department published a Solicitation for Cooperative Agreement Applications in the
Federal Register (SGA 04-10).
Under its international child labor Education Initiative (EI), ILAB intends
to fund four-year projects to improve access to basic education in areas where there is a high
incidence of child labor. Up to $9.5 million is available for EI projects in Colombia, Guinea,
and Niger. The deadline for submission of applications is August 26, 2004.
July 14, 2004: Request for Information on Efforts by
Certain Countries to Eliminate the Worst Forms of Child Labor
The Labor Department published a Federal Register Notice
[Text]
[PDF]
requesting submissions of information from the public on efforts by certain trade beneficiary
countries to eliminate the worst forms of child labor. The information is to be used by the
department in preparation of an annual report on these countries' implementation of international
commitments to eliminate the worst forms of child labor. This will be the fourth such report
by the Department of Labor under the Trade and Development Act of 2000 (TDA).
May 28, 2004: Notice of Intent to Fund Child Labor
Education Initiative Projects
The Labor Department published a Federal Register
Notice of Intent to provide $5.5 million to organizations to develop and implement formal,
non-formal, and vocational education programs as a means to combat exploitative child labor in
the following countries: Colombia, Guinea, and Niger. Specific solicitations for cooperative
agreement applications are to be published in the Federal Register.
May 11, 2004: Labor Department Releases Report on
Child Labor in Trade Beneficiary Countries
The Labor Department released the 2003
Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor, the Department's third annual report under the
2000 Trade and Development Act. The report presents findings on the worst forms of child labor
in 144 countries and territories that receive U.S. trade benefits.
February 4, 2004: Labor Department Releases 13th
ILAB Report on Child Labor
The Labor Department released a Congressionally-mandated
report comparing military and basic
education expenditures by governments in 73 developing countries for each year from
1990-2001. The report also assesses trends since 1989 related to the amount of funding that
the World Bank and other international financial institutions have committed to these
countries to prevent abusive child labor and improve access to basic education.
December 20, 2003: Secretary Chao’s Trip to Africa
U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao visiting the
Terre de Hommes Center for Trafficked Children in Cotonou,
Benin, to announce Department of Labor educational programs to
rehabilitate trafficked children. (Photo/Sean P. Redmond)
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U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao traveled to
West and Central Africa in December 2003 to
highlight efforts to combat the worst forms of child labor, including the use of children as
soldiers and trafficking of children, and to promote programs in the workplace to stop the
spread of HIV/AIDS. During the four-day visit, Secretary Chao stopped in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo,
Benin, and
Ghana to launch several new initiatives
funded by the Department of Labor’s Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB) and to visit
with beneficiaries of ongoing programs.
December 18, 2003: Child Soldiers Conference
Information
Information concerning the U.S. Department of Labor's
"Children in the Crossfire: Prevention
and Rehabilitation of Child Soldiers" conference on May 7-8, 2003 is now available from this
Web site. Additional information may be requested from our
International Child Labor Program.
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