Around 1.75 million children, or nearly 10 per cent of children age 5 to 17 in Viet Nam, are child labourers. — Photo baogiaothong.vn

HA NOI (VNS) — Some 1.75 million children, or nearly 10 per cent of children age 5 to 17 in Viet Nam, are child labourers, according to an International Labour Organisation (ILO) report.

The report was released on June 12 to coincide with World Day Against Child Labour.

The report, entitled Paving the Way to Decent Work for Young People, stated that young persons who worked as children were more likely to be found in unpaid family work or low-paying jobs.

The report indicated that between 20-30 per cent of adolescents and young adults in low-income countries have entered the labour market by the age of 15 years as child labourers.

In Viet Nam, nearly 85 per cent of such children live in the countryside and 65 per cent work in agriculture. They also are unpaid family workers. One-third of child labourers have to work more than 42 hours per week, noted the report.

According to ILO, the Government of Viet Nam has made significant efforts in combating child labour, especially its worst forms, through reforms in the national legal system, in conformity with international labour standards and through improvements in the basic educational system.

Viet Nam ratified two ILO basic conventions, including the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention in 2000 and the Minimum Age for Admission to Employment in 2003.

The latest ILO report, entitled Global Child Labour Trends, estimated that in 2012 there were 168 million children aged 5-17 worldwide who are child labourers, accounting for about 10.6 per cent of the world population of children.

The number of child labourers is 9.3 per cent in Asia and the Pacific. — VNS