A decision by Nigeria’s government to close the camps housing hundreds of thousands of refugees uprooted by the Boko Haram conflict has cost lives, increased human trafficking and labour exploitation in the area, and will make it harder for NGOs to provide humanitarian [...]Read the full article
An entire generation of children in Syria has been forced out of school at an early age and into a war-torn labour market. Many are having to do work that involves very hard labour or puts their life at risk.Read the full article
While Afghan law prohibits child labour, in practice, many Afghan minors work to support themselves and their families, a trend that has been exacerbated by the humanitarian crisis.Read the full article
The political and humanitarian crisis devastating Afghanistan since mid-2021 has exacerbated child labour in the country. These are portraits of children who work to support their families.Read the full article
Jo Becker:“The unprecedented economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, together with school closures affecting 1.4 billion children, has pushed countless children into exploitative and dangerous child labour.”Read the full article
European chocolate makers will make a significant portion of their annual turnover around Easter time thanks in part to cocoa from Côte d’Ivoire, the world’s leading producer. But this ‘brown gold’ is the product of an environmentally destructive industry with precarious working [...]Read the full article
In Lebanon, a country where the pandemic and the explosion at its main port have intensified an already deep economic crisis, child labour is an uncomfortable reality and the result of failed policies for the protection of children, both local and [...]Read the full article
Purva Gupta:“2021 is possibly the last chance for all actors to engage their heads, hands and hearts to make meaningful progress as we embark on the five-year countdown towards zero child labour in 2025.”Read the full article
Despite the government’s stated intention to put an end to the practice, child labour remains a reality in Congo’s mining sector. In the absence of effective political coordination to address the problem, trade union, community and non-profit leaders are working to tackle the root causes as well [...]Read the full article
Guinea has ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and ILO Convention 189 on domestic workers, yet the reality on the ground is that domestic workers, mostly female and some underage, continue to suffer all kinds of abuses at the hands of their [...]Read the full article
In 2013, year zero of the ethical awakening in the fashion industry, absolutely everyone – brands, states, consumers – came to know about the dismal and perilous conditions in the factories that dress our shop windows. The current health emergency is exposing the seams of inadequate [...]Read the full article
The current political upheaval in Bolivia threatens to undo the reforms undertaken by Evo Morales over the last 13 years, as well as the economic turnaround promoted by the former president.Read the full article
“Gender-based violence in school and at home, harmful traditional practices – all aggravated by poverty – are the factors pushing children into domestic work. If we had good and strict laws which prohibit children from working, we will not be where we are [...]Read the full article
Thirteen-year-old Anucha Tasako died last November in a boxing ring in a suburb of Bangkok. Like many Thai children, Tasako was a Muay Thai boxer, the favourite sport in a country where the debate on the protection of minors has only just [...]Read the full article
Hundreds of young girls living on the streets have virtually no access to education or health care. They often go hungry, suffer violence and feel rejected, excluded from society.Read the full article
“Suddenly the planes begin to arrive. We hear them, we know we are in danger because our hearts start to race. We keep quiet and I try to stay in my place…then the person in charge of the school comes and sends us all home. It’s the only thing we can [...]Read the full article
As global inequality widens, so do the various manifestations of extreme exploitation, as this fourth edition of Equal Times’ summer themed-article series illustrates.Read the full article
“This first thing one man who said he wanted to give me a job in Niger asked me was: ‘Do you have parents?’ When I said yes, he walked away from me.”Read the full article
Being a girl in Ethiopia is a full-time job: carting water, cooking, cleaning, collecting firewood and looking after younger siblings. As a result, many girls are not able to play or to enjoy their childhood, and see their education, self-worth and future prospects seriously [...]Read the full article
Despite the roadmap to eradicate child labour by 2022, published by the Indonesian government in 2015, the presence of minors in the country’s factories and plantations continues to be an everyday reality. Pending concrete measures, the development and the lives of thousands of children remain [...]Read the full article