The economic crisis creates a risk that progress made over the last decade to reduce child labour could falter, the International Labour Organization said Wednesday, according to dpa. In the first half of the current decade, child labour dropped from 246 million to 215 million, ILO statistics showed, even as populations continued to grow. Latin American efforts to combat child labour were considered particularly effective. "We now risk that these generally positive trends are going to be reversed," said Frank Hagemann, who heads the working group on child labour at ILO. Girls would be at greater risk during the ongoing economic crisis as families in the developing world and emerging markets sank into poverty and were forced to send more youngsters to the work force. Hagemann said that families who could only afford to send some of their children to school, would generally prefer to see the boys receive an education. Girls are estimated to make up 46 per cent of all child labourers. Like boys, at the ages of 5 until 14 most work in agriculture, though over time more girls tend to gravitate towards the services sector. The ILO added a caveat that many girls did much heavier loads of domestic work inside their own homes, keeping more of them away from classrooms. For young girls, working in domestic situations - especially outside their own homes - can pose a risk, as they are away from the public eye and more prone to abuse, the ILO warned. Around 1.8 million children are also thought to be working in the global sex industry. Children face other severe risks when they work in hazardous situations such as mines, rubbish tips or other places where their health and well-being would be jeopardized. By 2016, the ILO - a United Nations-associated organization that is made up governments, employers and workers unions - hopes to eliminate entirely any forms of child labour in such situations. The overarching goal is to have all children under the age of 14, even in the least developed countries, going to school instead of to work. The ILO said governments were responsible for combating child labour and they should make education free for all, while reducing the costs associated with schooling, such as books and uniforms. They should also take steps to reduce poverty, said the ILO, so that families do not feel compelled to rely on their children's toil to survive. Other incentives suggested included offering school food programmes.
