FAO at the 6th Global Conference on the Elimination of Child Labour
During the week of 11 to 13 February 2026, the Government of Morocco will host the 6th Global Conference on the Elimination of Child Labour. Led by the International Labour Organization (ILO), the Conference is a pivotal moment to accelerate global action towards ending child labour in all its forms.
Despite progress in many regions, more than 138 million children worldwide are still engaged in child labour, deprived of their fundamental right to a safe and protected childhood. Agriculture remains at the heart of the challenge: 61 percent of all child labour occurs in the agricultural sector, affecting millions of children across agrifood systems.
The Conference will bring together governments, international financial institutions, social partners, civil society, think tanks, academia, and the private sector in Marrakech to strengthen collective action and call for the scaling up of effective solutions.
Building on the Durban Call to Action, which placed the elimination of child labour in agriculture at the center of the global agenda, this sixth edition marks a decisive step forward. Participants will assess progress, renew commitments and strengthen accountability to mobilize resources, and advance integrated solutions that protect the most vulnerable children – anchored in education, decent work, social protection, rural development, and digitalization.
Spotlight on agriculture
Child labour overwhelmingly occurs in agriculture, with 85 million boys and girls currently engaged in child labour in crop production, livestock, forestry, fisheries or aquaculture, often working long hours and in hazardous conditions.
Child labour in agriculture – Statistical briefing note
27/01/2026
This statistical briefing note examines the scale, characteristics and drivers of child labour in agriculture, drawing on the 2024 ILO–UNICEF Global Estimates. It shows that agriculture remains the sector employing the majority of children in child labour worldwide, with particularly high prevalence among younger children and in rural, low-income and crisis-affected settings.
The 6th Global Conference acknowledges the importance of focusing on the agricultural sector, through the following dedicated events:
High-level thematic session: From commitment to impact – Scaling up solutions to end child labour in agriculture
Livestream available here
11 February, 11:15–13:00 CET
Joint FAO-ILO side-event: Transforming fisheries and aquaculture to end child labour – under the umbrella of the International Partnership for Cooperation on Child Labour in Agriculture
11 February, 16:30–17:30 CET
Interactive FAO-World Bank session: Invest in change – Leveraging investments and the role of IFIs to end child labour in agriculture
12 February, 16:30–18:30 CET
Innovation fair: Session on DIGICHILD and REEFI
11–13 February
Facilitated by FAO, these sessions aim to:
- SHOWCASE innovative solutions which have proven successful;
- AMPLIFY the voices and commitments of agrifood stakeholders;
- SCALE UP investments and successful approaches, while identifying pathways to intensify coordinated action.
Together, these discussions will help drive real change where it is most urgently needed.
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Child labour risk assessment tool for investment programmes in agriculture
28/01/2026
Understanding how public and private investments may affect child labour is a crucial step towards developing appropriate safeguards and mitigation measures. By offering indicators and guidance tailored specifically to agriculture and its subsectors, this publication serves as a project design tool to strengthen child labour risk assessments, taking into account the specificities of these sectors and rural contexts.
Policy guidance on eliminating child labour in fisheries and aquaculture
10/10/2025
This policy guidance outlines the drivers of child labour, the international and national frame works that address it, and the strategies and practices that can be adapted to different contexts.
Key messages for partners
- BUILD YOUR CAPACITY ON CHILD LABOUR IN AGRICULTURE
Extension agents can request and participate in training on child labour prevention and elimination in agriculture. Existing practical tools and materials, such as visual guides and e-advisory content, can be adapted for field use to help them communicate effectively with farmers and communities. - ENGAGE, ADVISE AND SUPPORT
As trusted advisors, extension agents can engage with producers, cooperatives and families to identify and promote alternatives to child labour, encourage decent rural youth employment and facilitate school-to-work transition programmes for adolescents. - JOIN EFFORTS WITH LABOUR INSPECTORATES
Extension agents can complement the work of labour inspectorates, particularly in remote areas where inspectors have limited access. Their advisory approach allows them to promote voluntary compliance, build trust and encourage the adoption of safer practices. - BUILDING PARTNERSHIPS WITH CIVIL SOCIETY AND COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANIZATIONS
By collaborating with local organizations, extension services can further enhance their outreach capacity and ensure that child labour prevention strategies are locally relevant and sustainable. - CALL FOR MORE RESOURCES
To be effective, awareness-raising and training must go hand in hand with structural support, including access to education, social protection, fair crop prices and decent employment opportunities for adults and youth. Extension agents can help identify families at risk and advocate for the financial and technical resources needed to reduce dependency on child labour.
- RECOGNIZE THE DIVERSITY OF CHILD LABOUR
Tailor interventions to specific subsectors (crop farming, fisheries and aquaculture, forestry, livestock). It is crucial to obtain data is disaggregated by sector so that interventions can be adapted to the unique characteristics, needs, and challenges of each subsector. - AWARENESS IS ESSENTIAL
Mainstream child labour prevention into agricultural policies and programmes, and support community-driven solutions that address root causes while creating the enabling conditions for safer, more sustainable practices. - REDUCE RURAL POVERTY
Support small-scale producers to increase productivity and build resilient livelihoods, diversify incomes, access technical knowledge and markets, and strengthen cooperatives. Targeted, rights-based, gender- and youth-inclusive investments in sustainable agrifood systems can reduce reliance on child labour. - ENSURE INTER-MINISTERIAL COLLABORATION
Eliminating child labour in agriculture requires coordinated action across relevant ministries such as labour, agriculture, education, social protection, health and environment. stablishing institutional mechanisms that facilitate collaboration, enhance data sharing and joint capacity building can improve the design and implementation of effective interventions in rural and high-risk areas. - FOCUS ON KEY ENTRY POINTS
Ministries of agriculture can tackle child labour by integrating child labour and occupational safety into extension services, supporting youth employment and school-to-work transitions, promoting labour-saving technologies, and linking climate-smart resource management with targeted social protection.
- RAISE YOUR VOICE
Producers and their organizations can advocate for the inclusion of child labour concerns in agricultural, sectoral, and local development policies and plans. Their involvement in policy dialogue ensures that farmers’ perspectives shape national commitments and practical solutions. - SUPPORT THE FAMILIES
Producers’ organizations can enhance adult workers’ skills, improve livelihoods and help agricultural families become more resilient. By partnering with communities, they can extend outreach to marginalized groups such as landless labourers, women farmers, migrant families and Indigenous communities.
- MAKE IT VISIBLE
Producers' organizations have direct access to rural and remote areas and can play a key role in identifying child labour within supply chains. Through awareness-raising, peer learning and the dissemination of good practices, they can help communities recognize and act against child labour. - SOW THE SEEDS OF THE FUTURE
The future of agriculture and the producers’ organizations membership base depends on attracting and retaining young workers in decent employment. Producers’ organizations can promote youth training, mentorship and safe entry into agricultural professions while strengthening the perception of agriculture as a modern and rewarding sector. - INNOVATION AND SAFETY ARE KEY
By supporting farmers in adopting labour-saving and safer technologies, producers’ organizations can reduce reliance on child labour and create better conditions for both youth and adults. Innovations that improve efficiency and safety directly contribute to sustainable and child-labour-free agricultural systems.
- REDUCING CHILD LABOUR IS RELEVANT TO BOTH LARGE AND SMALL-SCALE COMPANIES
Eliminating child labour is not only a legal requirement but also a sound business strategy. It strengthens market access, productivity and reputation. - DATA COLLECTION AND RISK ASSESSMENT ARE KEY
Although mostly found in the lower tier of agri-food value chains, child labour can also be found at all stages of agri-food value chains and within producing communities. To take appropriate actions, a first step is for companies to undertake data collection and risk assessment on where and why child labour is and may occur. - A 'SMART MIX' OF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND LIVELIHOOD SUPPORT
Collaboration across the value chain is essential. Companies can combine prohibition with livelihood support by promoting fair prices and wages, supporting producer organizations and investing in education, decent work for youth and social protection. - MONITOR
Companies should map where and why child labour may occur in their value chains and design targeted responses. Regular monitoring using direct observation, community-led approaches and digital tools ensures that actions have real impact. Partnering with local actors such as producer organizations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and extension services strengthens these efforts. - UPSCALE CHILD LABOUR ELIMINATION EFFORTS
Companies should adopt business strategies foreseeing responsible investment in agriculture (i.e. CFS RAI, PRAI) and public-private partnerships having child labour elimination as a direct objective. This will enable to access adequate resources to create a virtuous cycle of child labour-free value chains and sustainable business development.
- BE AWARE THAT INVESTMENTS ARE NOT CHILD LABOUR NEUTRAL
Recognize that investments can either reduce or unintentionally increase child labour. Integrate child labour risk assessments in due diligence processes to design programmes that maximize positive impacts while minimizing risks. - APPLY A CHILD-LABOUR LENS TO YOUR AGRICULTURE PORTFOLIO
Conduct systematic risk assessments of child labour in all funded projects, integrate safeguards and monitor outcomes.
- COMMIT MORE RESOURCES
Allocate dedicated funding to build staff capacity and implement activities to prevent and address the root causes of child labour. Consider key performance indicators and incentives that prioritize child-labour-free outcomes. - DIRECT YOUR CAPITAL WHERE IT IS MOST NEEDED
Target interventions to high-risk households, value chains and regions, engaging agrifood and labour actors in programme design. - USE YOUR VOICE TO DRIVE CHANGE
Advocate for integrated policies across education, labour, social protection and rural development. Share lessons learned to influence other investors and promote broader sectoral change.
- MAKE SMALL-SCALE FISHERIES VIABLE BY ADDRESSING CHILD LABOUR
Aquatic foods are essential to poverty reduction, food security and nutrition. Child labour in fisheries and aquaculture limits children's skills acquisition and, in the end, traps fisheries-dependent communities in the vicious cycle of overcapacity, depletion of fisheries resources and poverty. - INCREASING AWARENESS ABOUT HEALTH AND SAFETY ALONG THE SEAFOOD VALUE CHAIN
Fisheries is one of the most hazardous sectors worldwide. While not all tasks performed by children are child labour and some of them can help them acquire important skills, some tasks and operations are extremely dangerous and may have irreversible long-term consequences. Raising awareness of fisheries-dependent communities on the consequences of the risks and hazards in fisheries and aquaculture is key to addressing child labour in the sector. - FISHERIES AND AQUACULTURE AUTHORITIES HAVE A DECISIVE ROLE TO PLAY TO ADDRESS CHILD LABOUR
National fisheries and aquaculture authorities are key to addressing the root causes of child labour by including child labour elimination in national fisheries and aquaculture policies and strategies; improving access to social protection of fishers and fish-farmers communities to improve their resilience and limit negative coping strategies; improving livelihoods of fishers and making value chains profitable for fishers and fish workers; and by strengthening the organizational capacity of fishers organizations. - FISHERIES SUSTAINABILITY ENTAILS ZERO CHILD LABOUR
Addressing child labour in global seafood supply chains, besides being an international obligation for seafood companies, is key to reducing reputational risks and positioning sustainable seafood in export markets. Governments and private actors can come together to promote, respect and remedy child labour in seafood through due diligence risk assessments and other appropriate measures.
- RAISING AWARENESS ABOUT THE RISKS POSED BY PESTICIDES
Agriculture is among the most dangerous sectors, with pesticide exposure posing serious risks. As child labour is concentrated in agriculture, preventing children’s exposure to pesticides must be a priority, as pesticide handling is hazardous work prohibited for anyone under 18.
- CHILDREN ARE THE MOST VULNERABLE
Exposure to pesticides is uneven, with children particularly vulnerable due to biological and socio-economic factors. Children may be exposed directly or indirectly, with long-term developmental impacts, making multi-level awareness essential to reducing these risks. - EVERYONE HAS A ROLE TO PLAY
Eliminating pesticide-related hazards and child labour requires the engagement of diverse stakeholders, including producers, workers, researchers, educators, labour actors and regulators, at all levels. Coordinated action and increased visibility of successful practices can build momentum and scale sustainable, potentially game-changing solutions. - FACING OSH CHALLENGES IN THE AGRICULTURAL SECTOR
In remote rural areas, farmers are often unprotected by labour law and lack access to health services, training, information, and personal protective equipment. Promoting occupational safety and health (OSH) measures and enforcing OSH legislation in agriculture is essential to reduce risks from pesticides. - NEED FOR RELIABLE DATA
Deaths, injuries, and occupational diseases in agriculture are often under-reported and misdiagnosed. Reliable data on pesticide exposure, incidents, and high-risk scenarios are lacking due to limited case definitions, poor traceability, under-reporting by healthcare providers, and restricted access to rural healthcare.
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Working together to end child labour in agriculture – A handbook on cross-sectoral collaboration for agrifood and labour actors
28/01/2026
This handbook offers practical guidance to strengthen collaboration between labour and agrifood actors to prevent and eliminate child labour in agriculture. It addresses a key implementation gap by positioning child labour in agriculture as both a labour and rural development issue and promoting coordinated, cross-sectoral action on its structural causes.