100 Million Reasons to End Child Labour by 2025
By The Girls Education First Staff
30 years gone, and so is my childhood
When I was 10 years old, my parents who were living in poverty in Iganga, eastern Uganda, had no choice but to send me to work, where I was the property of my masters I worked 16 hours a day without any regard for the scorching sun of the day or the trembling chill of the night. I was banished, braised, and bruised whenever I raised my voice to claim my lost childhood. All this went on until 2007 when I was 18 years old.
Now that I am 30 years old, I work as a house cleaner where I earn $12 a day. I am very poor and wish I had the opportunity to complete my education. Whenever I see all the children facing the same destiny as mine, it makes me think about how I grew up. without love, care, or affection. My education didn’t come from books or stories but from pointy tools and a merciless environment. I was treated as the property of my masters, passed on from one hand to another without any dignity, or rights.
Now that I am older, I am keenly aware of all of the children who sell on the streets or work under my master at the same eatery. I constantly see the children who remain hidden in homes and fields, whose shadows are visible from the windows of brothels. I see the children who can be found in dingy workshops like we were still in the 16th century.
My eyes cannot dismiss them. My eyes cannot ignore them. Can you? Will you?
Child labour is an chronic problem with severe impacts girls
The United Nations has declared 2021 as the International Year for the Elimination of Child Labour; which will provide an opportunity to address the current challenges and accelerate progress towards the goal set by SDG Target 8.7 to end child labour in all its forms by 2025. Globally, over 100 million children aged 5 to 17 are still in child labour. About half of them (72.5 million) perform hazardous work that places their health, safety, and mental development at risk. Although the overall numbers are trending in the right direction with a decrease of 38% since 2000, from 246 to 152 million children, this is still a serious international crisis.
Poor labour conditions can lead low-income families to keep young girls at home. According to UNICEF gender plays a determining factor as to whether or not a child will be engaged in labor. And to the estimates of the International Labor Organization (ILO), approximately 100 million girls are involved in child labour today.
Too often, girls are not sent to school because their families don’t view it as a ‘good investment’. In more traditional communities, there is even an expectation that daughters will marry and leave the home, so providing an education doesn’t matter.
When child labour does occur, girls often start working at younger ages than boys. And this is especially true in rural areas. In addition to labor, girls also tend to do more housework than boys due to traditional gender roles. Cooking and cleaning are the most common kinds of labor for girls under 16. More than 90 percent of children working in domestic service are girls. This is compounded by the fact that in some countries, such as India and Ghana, domestic work can be seen as good preparation for marriage.
Domestic work is largely unregulated and informal, with little to no oversight. This is why girls around the world are oftentimes the victims of violence, exploitation, and abuse. That same lack of oversight can also lead to child trafficking.
Additionally, girls involved in child labour face challenges specific to their gender. A higher percentage of female child workers are unpaid than boys. And in situations when child labourers are paid, girls are often paid less than boys for doing the same job. No matter what the circumstances are, girls are often expected to work and take care of housework (cleaning, cooking, childcare, collecting water and firewood), when they are home.
Giving Girls Better Opportunities For Education
Many girls in poor and rural areas are denied an education and sent to work at a very young age. However, according to a study carried out by the World Bank, one additional school year can increase a woman’s earnings by 10% to 20%. This means that good education can help these girls attain more social mobility as well as financial independence. And that’s exactly the kind of progress that the Girls Education First Foundation is committed to enacting.
Children are not just objects who belong to their parents, they are human beings and individuals with their own rights!
Raising Awareness For Education Everywhere
At Girls Education First Foundation, we strongly believe that education is the best path to social and economic mobility. We are working toward ending child labour so girls can live independently in a world that offers better possibilities. We are committed to supporting a wide array of initiatives that will stop child labor and promote safe, fair, and quality education for underserved girls. We want to help girls around the world, especially those in low-income communities. To live up to that mission, we are collaborating globally with other grassroots organizations and academic institutions to expand our reach and efficiently work with accurate and up-to-date data. Girls around the world need your help and support. Please consider making a donation on our website. Ninety percent (90%) of every dollar goes directly to helping underserved our girls.