Terre des Hommes Netherlands (TdH NL) has launched a global campaign calling on immediate action in the fight against child labour.
This comes as countries around the world commemorate the World Day against child labor which is held every 12th June.
The campaign dubbed #TheClockisTicking, which starts on World Day against Child Labour 12 June 2022, aims to spread awareness about child labour through a manifest for world leaders to take action and encourage companies to join the Responsible Mica Initiative (RMI).
The campaign comes three years to a target set by world leaders in 2015 to end child Labour by 2025 through the Sustainable Development Goals.
While the SDGs were formed in 2015 and were aimed to be reached by 2030, the collective agreement among 193 member states of the United Nations was to end child labor by 2025, five years prior to the other goals.
The organization is concerned that every day 160 million children are still working in illegal mines, are forced to do domestic work, subjected to begging on the streets, are being sexually exploited, and risking their lives.
“The number of Malagassy companies that export mica has grown severely. But they keep the kilo price for the mica very low. That's why the mica labourers only get around 5 cent USD per kilo”, said Maggie de Jong, Project Leader of TdH NL mica team in Madagascar and India.
Through the #TheClockisTicking campaign, the child rights organization is calling on the public to sign a petition for world leaders to take immediate action and to support companies that focus on a fair, responsible and sustainable supply chain, specifically the mica supply chain which involves hazardous work from children in dangerous conditions.
Terre des Hommes Netherlands is an international child rights organization that focuses on sexual exploitation of children, the worst forms of child labour, child trafficking and migration, sexual and reproductive health, and rights and on child protection in humanitarian crises.
For each of these forms of child exploitation, the organization is developing and implementing projects and programmes through local partners in East Africa and the Asia region.