Imagine that childhood memories are in gray scales… No fun and yes, instead, a lot of work, abuse, financial responsibility, family pressure, unhappiness…
Around 160 million children around the world live with this reality that has worsened, between 2019 and 2023, in more than eight million infants in these vulnerable conditions, according to data from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). , for its acronym in English).
The most frequent thing is child labor in girls from five to 11 years old, and in boys from 15 to 17. Alarming.
Given the need to raise awareness about the magnitude of the problem, in order to eradicate it, the International Day against Child Labor is celebrated every June 12, a date chosen in 2002 by the International Labor Organization (ILO).
Both Unicef and the ILO include, within the concept of “child labor”, work carried out by people who are too young (under 15 years of age), which hinders their physical, mental, educational or social development.
Although there are mechanisms that establish the rights of children, the minimum age for admission to employment, the prohibition and immediate action to eliminate the worst forms of child labor, there are regions where the situation is especially serious, such as in sub-Saharan Africa.
The poorest countries in the world are more likely to involve children in these types of activities. According to the latest Unicef report on child labor, carried out in 2023, poverty is one of the factors that cause these violations, although it does not justify them.
These data underline the urgent need to accelerate actions to meet goal 8.7 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
In this regard, the general secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), Luc Triangle, declared that “the world has made a promise to boys and girls to end child labor by 2025”, although the figures dictate otherwise.
In Cuba, the legal system includes the true premise of the prohibition of child labor, which penalizes and more than observes the principles outlined by the ILO and Unicef, through the Constitution of the Republic, the Labor Code and the Penal Code.
The Island defends its development as a territory free of child labor, despite its adverse economic contingencies, taking the well-being of children as a priority.
However, at the international level, although progress has been made in raising awareness and fighting against this phenomenon, it still persists, depriving millions of children of the possibility of a better future, challenging collective efforts and compromising the dignity and potential of the world’s youth.
