Rome, [Italy] : Effective action and strong leadership are essential to end child labour by 2025, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said on Tuesday. Qu Dongyu, the FAO Director-General, was among UN agency chiefs addressing the opening of the Global Solutions Forum on child labour. The two-day virtual meeting aims to identify and expand solutions to stamp out the practice, a serious violation of human rights, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Some 160 million boys and girls worldwide, almost one in 10, are forced into work. The majority, 112 million, or around 70 per cent, work in crop production, livestock, forestry, fisheries and aquaculture. But with the 2025 deadline fast approaching, Qu stressed that effective action and “strong and coherent leadership from agri-food stakeholders across the globe, is critical”. Child labour is a serious violation of human rights, FAO explained. It deprives boys and girls of their childhood, their potential and dignity, while also being harmful to their physical and mental development. Although not all work carried out by children is considered child labour, much of it is not age-appropriate, the agency said, and many vulnerable families, especially in rural areas, have no choice.
