By Neena Bhandari
Sydney, 22.07.2021 (SciDev.Net): Children as young as seven years are working with hazardous chemicals, heavy machinery or carrying heavy loads, endangering their health and lives in Bangladesh’s lucrative leather industry, according to a study.
Globally, about 160 million children were subjected to child labour at the beginning of 2020, with nine million additional children at risk due to the impact of COVID-19, according to UNICEF. Almost half of them were in hazardous work that directly imperils their health and moral development, the UN children’s agency said.
The study, published this month and led by the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), a UK-based international development policy think tank, comes as the world marks 2021 as the International Year for the Elimination of Child Labour.