Capacity Strengthening of Governments to Address Child Labour and Forced Labour and Violations of Acceptable Conditions of Work in Sub-Saharan Africa

Global Child Labour Overview

A joint report by the ILO and UNICEF in 2021 revealed that 160 million children worldwide are involved in child labour, with 79 million engaged in hazardous work, one of the most severe forms. At the start of 2020, 160 million children—63 million girls and 97 million boys—were in child labour, representing nearly 1 in 10 children globally. Hazardous work affected 79 million children, nearly half of those in child labour, posing significant risks to their health, safety, and moral development.

Despite notable progress over the past four years in reducing child labour among children aged 12 to 14 and 15 to 17, child labour increased among children aged 5 to 11. Between 2016 and 2020, there were 16.8 million more young children in labour. The COVID-19 pandemic threatened to worsen the situation, potentially pushing an additional 8.9 million children into child labour by the end of 2022 due to increased poverty.

Conditions of Work and Economic Impacts

Child labourers and forced labour victims often work under conditions that do not meet internationally recognized standards, including unsafe environments and wages below the legal minimum. These illegal practices enable producers to reduce costs, giving them and their countries an unfair economic edge. This situation also adversely affects workers and businesses in the United States competing with products made by children and forced labourers.

© ILO

Child Labour in Kenya

In Kenya, children are involved in labour across agriculture, industry, and the informal sector, with some exploited sexually for commercial purposes. Kenya serves as a source, transit, and destination country for children and adults subjected to forced labour and trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation. Contributing factors include gaps in legal frameworks and policies, weak enforcement of labour laws, lack of information on enforcement activities, and insufficient victim assistance services. Kenya also faces challenges in work-week and overtime violations, weak enforcement of occupational safety and health regulations, and inadequate penalties to deter unsafe practices.

Child Labour in Uganda

In Uganda, children are subjected to the worst forms of child labour, especially in gold mining and commercial sexual exploitation, often due to human trafficking. The legal framework is insufficient, with inadequate laws on the minimum age for employment and hazardous work. Furthermore, the lack of a centralized supervisory authority, along with insufficient funding, training, and resources, hampers the capacity of law enforcement to conduct inspections and investigations effectively.

© ILO

Child labour in Uganda's agricultural sector is particularly concerning, with many young children involved. Recently, the issue of child labour in supply chains has gained public attention. Recognizing the ineffectiveness of voluntary guidelines, several states have enacted mandatory due diligence legislation. Many companies have introduced corporate sustainability due diligence into their business models to address child labour. The EU's Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive has prompted efforts to ensure compliance, particularly in the coffee supply chain. However, child labour remains a significant human rights risk for many businesses, often due to a focus on monitoring rather than addressing root causes. Key drivers include weak labour rights, poverty, social vulnerability, low productivity, barriers to free and quality education, and climate change impacts. These issues are further compounded by inadequate social protection, limited decent work opportunities, and insufficient labour protection.