In 2016, a fifth of African children (72 million) were in child labour. Nearly half of them were in hazardous work. The continent had both the largest number of child labourers and the highest proportion of children in child labour among the major world regions.

The International Year for the Elimination of Child Labour, 2021 , declared by the UN General Assembly, is a historic opportunity to reaffirm commitments, take action and inspire broad partnerships to preserve the progress made on child labour and related issues such as social justice, inclusion and the reduction of inequalities.

In February 2020, African Heads of States adopted the Ten Year Action Plan to Eradicate Child Labour, Forced Labour, Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery (2020-2030). The plan provides an immediate framework for mobilizing African Union institutions, Member States, Regional economic Commissions (RECs) and other partners on the continent to scale up efforts and accelerate progress towards the achievement of the AU Agenda 2063 and target 8.7 of the Sustainable development goals.

In 2021, while fighting child labour, forced labour, human trafficking and modern slavery, Africa and the global community will need to address the challenges posed by COVID-19.

In this framework, the African Union in collaboration with the International Labour Organization organised the launch of the International Year 2021 in Africa and engaged stakeholders to accelerate the implementation of the African Union Ten Year Action Plan on Eradication of Child Labour, Forced Labour, Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery in Africa (2020-2030).

The event had simultaneous interpretation into Arabic, English, French and Portuguese.

Registration link: https://ilo-org.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Y_cZ7g1tQHSwZ7bhZp4KeQ

Joint Media Advisory: Invitation to the media representatives.