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Article

25 Feb 2019

Author:
African Union

African Union seeks to eradicate child labour & modern slavery on the continent

"African Union Action Plan towards Eradication of Child Labour and Modern Slavery on the Continent"

The 2016 Global Estimates of Child Labour indicate that Africa is the region of high prevalence of child labour. One-fifth (20%) of all African children are involved in child labour, a proportion more than twice as high as in any other region. Nine per cent of African children are in hazardous work, again highest of all the world’s regions.
Africa has the largest number of child labourers; 72.1 million African children are estimated to be in child labour and 31.5 million in hazardous work, with high prevalence in agriculture (85%) and mining...

In line with commitments that have been made globally and regionally towards ending child labour, various African countries have adopted National Action Plans for the elimination of child labour. However, despite these efforts and the global decline in child labour, it is unfortunate to witness that most of the countries with worst child labour practices are still in Africa. The Africa region has also been among those most affected by situations of state fragility and crisis, which in turn heighten the risk of child labour...

During the two-day consultation meeting, presentations were delivered on Child labour, forced labour and modern slavery in Africa and the world and on AU policy frameworks and institutional setting. It is expected that the outcome of this consultation will include identification of synergy, complementarity and potential cooperation areas and mechanisms; better understanding of the potential roles of the concerned stakeholders on eradication of child labour, forced labour, human trafficking and modern slavery on the continent; as well as improvement of the draft Ten Year Action Plan by the participants from AUC departments and UN Agencies. The Ten Year Plan of Action will be submitted to the forthcoming session of the Au Specialized technical Committee on Social Development, Labour and Employment in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 1-5 April 2019.