Child labour in five sub-Saharan countries
Work that children around the world are routinely engaged in is classified as child labour when they are either too young to work or are involved in hazardous activities that may compromise their physical, mental, social or educational development. A newly published paper in the collection on the “Health and Wellbeing of Street and Working Children”, initated by ISSOP in collaboration with BMJ Paediatric Open, uses publicly available data from Unicef´s 6th round of the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS), implemented similarly in many low-income countries. Here, we analyse data on child labour in Chad, Guinea-Bissau, Malawi, Sierra Leone and Togo. Using Unicef´s age-specific definition of child labour, we conclude that over two out of five children aged 5-17 years are involved in work that exceeds these international norms in these five countries; the highest prevalence rates for all child labour was in Chad (56.1%), lowest in Malawi (28.9%). Not surprisingly, rural children work more than urban ones and those who are less well off. Still, there is no significant difference between girls and boys.
In conclusion, we emphasise that poverty is the single biggest driver for child labour; thus, action on tackling poverty is essential if we want to eliminate child labour. Her a link to the paper: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjpo-2024-002871
Geir Gunnlaugsson, MD, PhD, MPH
Emeritus Professor in Global Health
CHIFA profile: Geir Gunnlaugsson is Professor of Global Health at the University of Iceland. He graduated with a medical diploma (MD) from this university with post-graduate training in paediatrics (PhD) and public health (MPH) at the Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden. Research and publications on, e.g., breastfeeding, infant and child mortality, child development and abuse, measles, cholera, and health systems in Iceland, Guinea-Bissau and Malawi. He was the General Secretary of ISSOP International Society for Social Pediatrics and Child Health in 2009-2017, and currently chairman of Africa 20:20 an Icelandic NGO to promote interest and knowledge on sub-Saharan Africa.