Combating child labour in Cambodia

Globally, about 120 million children between the ages of five and 14 are involved with child labour, the highest number of which are living in the Asia-Pacific region. In Cambodia, one in five children is working, with almost a third of those children involved in hazardous labour.

According to the International Labour Organisation, the root cause of child labour is poverty combined with a lack of decent work for adults and weak protection systems which fail to ensure that all children are attending school until at least the legal minimum working age.

In Cambodia around 2.5 million young people migrate for work. Socheet from rural Svay Rieng province was just 15 when she dropped out of school to move to the capital, Phnom Penh to support her family.

The focus for this World Day Against Child Labour is highlighting the importance of quality education in tackling child labour. In Cambodia, ChildFund is improving access to education for thousands of children by constructing and refurbishing schools and libraries, training teachers, providing equipment and learning materials, strengthening local education systems and improving community awareness.

ChildFund’s youth program is also helping to ensure young people in rural Cambodia receive the skills they need to create businesses to earn a decent income so they aren’t forced into exploitative child labour. Socheet is one such youth who has participated in this program.

This is where Socheet is now.