Launched by International Labor Organization (ILO) in 2002, the World Day Against Child Labour brings attention to a global issue that, according to the ILO, involves more than 120 million children between the ages of five and 14 around the world.
Despite being a vibrant economic zone, Asia Pacific is the region with the largest incidents of child labour, with a reported 18.8 percent of the 650 million working children around the world.
Children around the region are found to be working in a broad range of economic sectors, from garment factories in Bangladesh, to sugarcane plantations in Cambodia, and fishing boats in the Philippines. Other sectors include seafood processing, entertainment, mining, scavenging and domestic labour.
Many factors influence the prevalence of child labour, with poverty being the root cause of children having to work. Multiple humanitarian organisations identify education as the most important component in reducing the rampant incidents of child labour. Africa and Asia account for an estimated 90 percent of total child employment around the world.
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