World Day Against Child Labour
Next: June 12, 2027
Every child deserves a childhood.
The story
Where it comes from
The International Labour Organization launched the World Day Against Child Labour on 12 June 2002, to draw attention to the millions of children who work instead of learning and playing, and to what can be done to help them. Ending child labour has been one of the ILO's aims since its founding in 1919. The day built on two of its conventions: No. 138, which links the minimum age for work to the end of compulsory schooling, and No. 182 of 1999, on the worst forms of child labour.
How it's celebrated
Governments, employers, trade unions, schools and campaigners hold events, publish new figures and push for practical steps: good schools within reach, support for poor families, and decent work for adults. Since 2002 the ILO has used football's red card as a symbol, first raised at that year's Africa Cup of Nations in Mali, and supporters around the world hold one up to send child labour off the pitch.
Did you know
- On 4 August 2020, when Tonga ratified it, Convention No. 182 became the first ILO convention ratified by every one of the organisation's member States.
- By the ILO and UNICEF's estimates for 2024, the number of children in child labour had almost halved since 2000, from 246 million to 138 million.
- Asia and the Pacific made the biggest gains of any region after 2020, halving their child labour rate from 6% to 3% by 2024.
Coming up next
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- World Blood Donor Day · June 14, 2027
- Global Wind Day · June 15, 2027
- Bloomsday · June 16, 2027
- International Day of Family Remittances · June 16, 2027
- Desertification and Drought Day · June 17, 2027