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Aleta Sprague & Nicolas de Guzman Chorny Our Children, Our Future
According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), there are 168 million child labourers worldwide, including 85 million in jobs that directly endanger their health and safety.

In countries around the world, kids work in gold mines, salt mines, and stone quarries – while millions more toil in fields, factories, or construction sites.

As noted in the first post in our series last week, November 20 marks the 25th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), a landmark UN agreement that laid the foundation for strengthening children’s rights around the world.

Among other fundamental rights, the CRC recognises “the right of the child to be protected . . . from performing any work that is likely to be hazardous” and explicitly calls on ratifying countries to take legislative measures to ensure implementation of these rights.

Yet a quarter century later, how much progress has the world really made toward ending child labor and shielding children from dangerous work conditions?

As it turns out, while a majority of CRC State Parties have passed legislation to prevent hazardous child labour, only 53 percent legally protect children from hazardous work in all circumstances. In nearly a quarter of State Parties, the minimum age for hazardous work is under 18, while 2 percent haven’t established a minimum age whatsoever.

In an additional 21 percent of State Parties, although the minimum age is 18, legal exceptions allow younger children to do hazardous work in certain circumstances.

And while the problem is particularly severe in lower-income countries, child labour remains a global phenomenon – especially in the agricultural sector. In the US (one of only three countries that are not parties to the CRC), federal regulations include exceptions that allow children to perform agricultural work at any age, subject to some limitations on work during school hours. Even when not technically classified as “hazardous”, agricultural work often involves direct contact with poisonous pesticides, strenuous work, and long hours under the sun.

Earlier this year, in a survey of child workers in US tobacco fields ages seven to 17, Human Rights Watch found that most children worked 50-60 hours per week, while 66 percent reported symptoms consistent with acute nicotine poisoning. According to the US Bureau of Labour Statistics, the rate of fatalities for children ages 15-17 engaged in agricultural work is 4,4 times higher compared to children working in other jobs. Yet despite these risks, legal loopholes mean millions of children labour in fields around the world.

The consequences of child labour last a lifetime. Whether the work is hazardous or not, evidence shows that child labourers tend to have poorer health and complete less education than children who do not work.

A study conducted in Guatemala, for example, showed that having worked between the ages of six and 14 increased the probability of health problems as an adult by over 40 percent.

Enacting laws that protect all children from performing hazardous work is a first step toward improving children’s health and access to education.

Yet full accountability for ending child labour and upholding children’s other fundamental rights will also require participation from citizens to ensure adequate protections are both legislated and implemented.

Citizens all over the world should have access to simple tools to monitor their countries’ progress and pitfalls.

That’s why in commemoration of the CRC’s 25th anniversary, the World Policy Analysis Centre is releasing a series of maps, factsheets, and infographics that show where countries currently stand and what they could achieve. With this information, we hope to empower citizens all over the world to make change happen.

Only when policymakers can identify viable solutions to eliminating child labour while supporting adequate family income, and citizens can access tools to hold their leaders accountable for commitments made, will child labour truly become a relic of the past.

• This article first appeared on The Huffington Post: www.huffingtonpost.com