World Day Against Child Labour 2020

World Day Against Child Labour 2020

Today is the World Day Against Child Labour, which focuses all attention on the global extent of child labour and the actions and efforts needed to eliminate it. 

Every year, on the 12th of June, the World Day unites governments, employers and workers organisations, civil society, alongside, millions of people from around the world to highlight the plight of child labourers around the world and what can be done to help them.

This year’s theme focuses on the impact of the crisis on child labour. The COVID-19 health pandemic and the resulting economic and labour market shock are having a huge impact on people’s lives and livelihoods. Unfortunately, children are often the first to suffer as a result of this.

The crisis can push millions of vulnerable children into child labour. Already, there are an estimated 152 million children in child labour, 72 million of whom are working in hazardous conditions.

It’s the @UN World Day Against Child Labour on 12 June. This week, we feature some projects which try to help combat it. CCPA and @ssfa_com provide access to football activities for children affected by decades of war and conflict. Read more: https://t.co/anQvKuqUKQ pic.twitter.com/qm756n0hu0

— UEFA Foundation (@UEFA_Foundation) June 9, 2020

The Black’n’Blue project

EFDN member Inter Campus and partner UEFA Foundation for Children have collaborated together, to develop children’s resilience through education and football via the Black’n’Blue project. The project will run primarily in four sub-Saharan countries, with the involvement of Italy through its coordinating partner Inter Futura.

Inter Campus pledges to respect the ten fundamental values and principles set out in the UN Global Compact and to promote sustainable solutions.

The Project aims are to:

• promote children’s right to play by organising regular training sessions;
• support education through leisure and sports activities;
• support social and sanitary programmes;
• ensure gender equality by encouraging the participation of girls;
• develop a new football-related social methodology, closer to children’s local needs and local coaches’ on-the-pitch experience;
• create a strong network among the four sub-Saharan countries involved to lower barriers and take advantage of cross-cultural capabilities.

The Black’n’Blue project, which will run for two years, will involve four partners in four different Sub-Saharan countries: Salesianos Dom Bosco in Angola, CSC in Camerun, Alba Onlus in Congo, and St.Joseph Primary School in Uganda.

The project’s goal is to help socially deprived children combat the problems they encounter in their everyday lives. This may be violence, poor sanitary conditions or nutritional deficiencies affecting their physical development. Working on and off the pitch, with a good network of partners and strong support from its local partners, Inter Campus hopes to alleviate these difficult conditions and create a virtuous circle from which future generations can benefit.

Based on local partners’ knowledge and Inter Campus’ experience, in every country the project will have a specific focus:

• Angola: health improvement and crime prevention
• Cameroon: improvement of ethnic integration
• Democratic Republic of Congo: targeting street children in rural areas and giving them assistance as early as possible.
• Uganda: improvement of gender equality to help to reduce poverty among women

The representatives of each partner will have the opportunity to meet and share their personal knowledge, by taking part in Inter Campus’ training weeks. Not only will this be a learning experience but it will also help to break down barriers between different communities. Read more.

Make a stance against child labour with Supporter of Each Other

With the campaign Supporter of Each Other, EFDN aims to inspire people, clubs, leagues, FAs and all interested organisations to look out for and support each other. Through the campaign channels, we are communicating tips on how to stay healthy and physically active whilst staying at home and informing society about the activities and initiatives taken by people, players, clubs, leagues and FAs from all around Europe.

Show that you are a ‘Supporter of Each Other’ by sharing how you are supporting your community and doing your bit to help combat child labour around the world, (Just like EFDN member Inter Campus and partner UEFA Foundation for Children) on your social media channels.

Be sure to use the hashtags #SupporterofEachOther / #WorldDayAgainstChildLabour. Also, don’t forget to tag Supporter of Each Other, EFDN and your team so that we can all continue to support each other, during this difficult time. 

We will share your content on EFDN/ Supporter of Each Other media accounts:

• Twitter: @EFDN_tweets / @supporterofeach
• Instagram: @efdnfoundation / @supporterofeachother
• Facebook: European Football for Development Network / Supporter of Each Other

More than 90 clubs, leagues, FAs and organisations have already become Supporters. To learn more about how to become a Supporter of Each Other, you can visit this page.